Homes And Havens

The holidays are a time to be grateful for what you have and show charity towards others. Today, we wanted to share about a charity that we volunteer & donate to: Homes and Havens. Homes and Havens is a local Chattanooga charity that creates healing spaces for women in recovery. Homes and Havens partners with local women’s recovery programs by helping furnish and decorate graduates’ homes in order to create healing spaces that will fuel their recovery. According to their website, Homes and Havens has helped 136+ women and children affected by trauma find peace through beautiful furniture and home goods using therapeutic “trauma-informed” design.

Instead of relying on the latest trends to inform the design process, the Homes & Havens’ team looks to research that analyzes how environmental factors like color and clutter affect emotional well-being. Though the studies are often conducted with hospitals and rehabilitation centers in mind, the Homes and Havens team uses the data to create personalized interior designs that are free of stress-triggers and able to promote healing by inducing tranquility.

Homes and Havens completes the home decor transformation while the women are transitioning back into normal every day life which is when when the danger of relapse is often at its highest.

After graduating a rehabilitation program, women may find a job and get a key to an apartment, only to be triggered when they walk into the empty space with no resources — emotionally or financially — to create a home for themselves or their families.

For example, for victims of sex trafficking a barren apartment can often be reminiscent of a pimp’s living quarters, which are typically unfurnished, with clothes kept in garbage bags, to allow for easy relocation from one dwelling to another. For those recovering from drug or alcohol abuse, the desolate living conditions may intensify temptation, as coming home to yet another reminder of their struggle to reintegrate into society slowly lessens the appeal of staying sober.

Instead of giving these incredible women a harsh reminder of what their lives once were, the healing spaces that Homes and Havens creates gives them a place to envision what their lives could be. With fully furnished bedrooms set up, some might be able to envision what life might be like if they regained custody of their children. With living areas that exude a feeling of warmth and safety, others may be able to visualize themselves building a life free from domestic abuse.

The mission of Homes and Havens is that “We’re just trying to protect their recovery by rewriting the story of what ‘home’ means. We believe home is not a place to be abused. Home is a place to recover and heal and dream and keep growing.”

So how does High Country Drapery Designs support Homes and Havens? If a customer refers us to another homeowner, then we donate a portion of that sale in the name of the referring homeowner. We have also volunteered to help with the home installs in the past. Jill & the High Country Drapery Designs team has a heart to give back to the community and this charity is a wonderful way that allows us to do that.

If you’d like to know more about Homes and Havens, check out their website here.