Chapter 2: The doors open when you envision the possibilities..

Continuation from Chapter 1 prior blog (April 22nd) by T. Valley:

After the animal shelter fundraisers I was feeling anxious as to what would be next for Girls Giving Back or if there would be a next step for GGB. As the animal shelter project finished, pretty quickly a call came in from a friends Mom, she worked at Hopelink, she asked if we would be interested in collecting food for a Spring food drive along with bedding for a Hopelink family shelter in Kenmore.

I was curious about what a family shelter looked like so I asked for a tour of the shelter, she connected me to the social workers at the shelter. I soon was in the Kenmore Hopelink Shelter, it was so shocking, I can still remember the smell of mold, feeling of cold air, seeing dirty and torn carpet, walls needing paint and the broken furnishings. I was shocked to the core, this didn’t feel safe. When people are asking for help to give them such a space to recover in and my deep feeling of sadness and disappointment. I had to do something, so I called a friend and we discussed the possible renovation project. I told her I needed the walls painted, she said she loved to paint and would be able to help with that part. I started see this project in front of me, just like Extreme Home Makeover but in the shelters and I wouldn’t have to build the shelter create a clean, sustainable beautiful shelter home for these families asking for help.

This was it, I was going to take this shelter space in 3 days and turn it around, flooring, paint, lighting and all the interiors that go into a home. Boom! And my daughters idea to help was to create art for the walls with her friends and she was excited to help. I started to make the calls to friends and family about what I would need in each of the rooms and people started to join the GGB movement and we did the first unit over 3 days and it turned out amazing! Everyone loved the transformation and the most incredible part was how it impacted the social workers and the families in the shelter. At that time I realized how important the environment was and how these shelters needed this type of support. It was a huge eye opener in how the shelters in Puget Sound are functioning and how much people have a stigma in regards to the shelters.

This was just the beginning of the GGB journey, now 86 shelter spaces and 9 years later here we are in 2019! I can tell you this, the big aha moment was as I met the social workers and noticed how much more energy they had and their feedback from the families showing the joy this made in their lives. Setting goals for themselves and their families became easier knowing they had a clean, wonderful home to recover in. I knew we were onto something special and that how this journey started and continues to grow.

Thanks for your time and support, I am looking forward to sharing the next Chapter of GGB soon…

Gratefully yours,

Teresa Valley

Teresa ValleyMay 14, 2019