Charitable Causes - Enchanted Makeovers

A recent report by the National Center on Family Homelessness found that 1 in 45 children in the United States is homeless. That means 1.6 million children are facing a life without a stable environment. Terry Grahl—wife, mother of four, humanitarian, and award-winning interior decorator—founded Enchanted Makeovers to transform long-term-stay homeless shelters for women and children into places that inspire behavioral and psychological change. Programs such as the Traveling Pillowcase Project, which makes beautiful pillowcases for
women and children; Time Project, which delights recipients with crocheted lap blankets; and Capes for Kids, which transforms children into their own superheroes by making them capes, help the recipients develop important life and coping skills.

A major part of Enchanted Makeovers’ mission is to shift the paradigm of how we give, serve, and see one another. Through its unique approach to serving the community, it nurtures women and children living in shelters. Many are there because they have escaped domestic violence, sexual abuse, family addiction, or post-traumatic stress disorder. Its various projects, programs, and room makeovers, introduce women and children to a new way of life and thinking that shifts their outlook on the future. With each shelter project, Enchanted Makeovers demonstrates that everyone is worthy of hope, dignity, and respect.

Enchanted Makeovers also supports women and female veterans through its mentoring program, The Sacred Sewing Room, which goes beyond setting up sewing rooms with fabric, thread, patterns and machines. It shares sewing skills, which double as important coping skills and possible future job skills. Their volunteer sewing instructors hold classes on a continuing basis.

Enchanted Makeovers creates a connection with the shelter, its residents, and the surrounding community. Volunteers work together on a local and national level to serve residents and share their time, talent, and stories. For 2014, Enchanted Makeovers is partnering with Baby Lock sewing machines, Tacony Corporation, and other sponsors for a national tour. Beginning in June, they will visit six shelters in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and Missouri to establish The Sacred Sewing Room program for the women they serve.

For more information on Enchanted Makeovers, visit www.enchantedmakeovers.org or call their toll-free number, 855-SHE IS ME. You can also subscribe to their bi-weekly e-newsletter for updates on their work.