It was a makeover fit for a home renovation television show.
Students from the All Saints Catholic High School’s interior design course and club transformed St. Mary’s Home’s recreational room from a small-looking, dark space into a light, airy, Zen-like living area.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Grade 11 student Michael Meehan. “When you walk in, you’re like ‘Whoa.’”
That sentiment was echoed by about eight girls living at St. Mary’s – a social service agency that offers help to young pregnant women, young moms and dads and their infants – when they saw the completely re-done room for the first time on Thursday, June 2.
“It changed from this mustard yellow colour to this peaceful, relaxed setting,” said Michaela Asquith.
“It’s amazing, it’s beautiful,” said St. Mary’s staff Catherine Adey. “This is totally different. It’ll support these guys.”
The students from All Saints spent two and a half days, from May 31 to June 2, redecorating and upgrading the living space.
“It’s really incredible that people outside (St. Mary’s) would put this much work in,” said Adey. “It’s a tremendous amount of support.”
The walls were given a fresh application of neutral-coloured paint, new couches were ordered, a flat-screen TV was mounted on the wall and little extra touches showed the amount of thought and work the students, teachers and volunteers put into the redesign.
“We knew they were in dire need of a makeover,” said Grade 12 student Mallory McCarthy. “We wanted something calm and Zen-like.”
The students first started working on the project in October 2010, raising funds through designer cupcake sales, jeans days for teachers and other initiatives. They managed to raise around $5,000.
“It’s been a real community project,” said interior design teacher Carolyn Dyer, who added it wouldn’t have been possible without the various businesses that donated money and items to the project.
William Swietochowski, who is married to the school’s chaplain Ariane, donated three days of work from his renovation company to help the students complete the task.
“It was nice to find someone with all that heart and effort,” said Swietochowski, who works for Premier Renovation Services Inc. “I just wanted to help out and it seemed like something that could make a difference.”
“It was a collaboration with everyone,” said Grade 12 student Nathalie Boucher.
Nancy MacNider, the executive director at St. Mary’s said she couldn’t believe the transformation, likening it to the personal transformations the girls who come to the home experience.
“It was such a gift for us, a profound gift,” said MacNider. “It’s something beyond the imagination. It’s just very meaningful.
“What this says to our youth is the community cares about them, they're not alone.”
jessica.cunha@metroland.com