Brightening Young Lives

Part of a mural at Bushwick Family Residence, painted by a group of students.

As we get closer to Christmas, it is important to remember that there are many who continue to struggle for such basic needs as shelter and food. Within NYC, according to the INSTITUTE FOR CHILDREN, POVERTY, & HOMELESSNESS, the rate of child homelessness has increased by around 63 percent, showing that families are still increasingly affected by the recession that started in 2008.

For many of these youngsters, life can look rather bleak. Just the daily routine of attending school can bring the contrast in lives right before their eyes. They see other children daily who have extras, while they don't even have the basics. They live in spaces that aren't their own. Even the communal spaces where they can retreat haven't really been personalized and lack that homelike feel.

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Can there be a way to improve, even just a little bit, the situation in which these children and teens find themselves? The need is vast; resources of charitable organizations which provide the shelter can be limited.

Let's take a look at just one place where families can obtain temporary housing. It's a place called Bushwick Family Residence, one of several in the NYC. But over the past month, some groups came together to change a spot for children at the residence, the rec room, with the basic furnishings where children could come for quiet and playtime. It wasn't much but it was something.

Into the lives of this group of children came Willie Geist, from the Today Show, designer Elaine Griffin, BRIGHT HORIZONS FOUNDATION FOR CHILDREN, and THE TREEHOUSE GUYS, plus other volunteers, came together for a makeover. After getting the ideas of the kids who were to benefit, they pulled off a transition that really brightened the future for these youngsters. Now the playroom became a place for children to escape and get a retreat from whatever problems they experienced. They could see that there was hope.

At the end of the day, life was also looking up for 14-year-old Dominique Victor also. She provided a voice for homeless children by talking on the Today Show about living life without a home. A surprise future goal has turned up, courtesy of STEVENS COLLEGE.

One of the volunteers in the rec room makeover tests out the treehouse slide.

Thanks to this article from Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/22/today-show-homeless-kids-playroom_n_6357106.html?utm_hp_ref=impact&ir=Impact. Here's the link to the VIDEO.

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