Ch
atsworth, CA.-based retailer LampsPlus.com has donated merchandise to the Good Shepherd Charity Design Project in Los Angeles. The project benefits the Good Shepherd Center for homeless women and children by renovating rooms used as temporary shelter by victims of domestic abuse and homelessness.
Lamps Plus donated table lamps, lighting fixtures, and home furnishings to the shelter. The project renovated 30 single-occupancy rooms at the shelter’s downtown location and was managed by interior designer Vanessa De Vargas and consultant/writer/editor Vanessa Kogevinas of the Los Angeles-based Designers Networking Group (DNG).
Each room was assigned to a local area designer who was given one month to complete their room redesign. The renovations were done in stages, with 10 rooms completed in May, another 10 in June, and the final 10 unveiled in late July. “As a company located in Los Angeles, Lamps Plus is very pleased to have been a part of this charitable project that benefits so many women and children in our community on an ongoing basis,” noted Angela Hsu, Lamps Plus’ vp/Internet Marketing,
Before the room transformations, each space was comprised of linoleum floors, a desk, chair, chest of drawers, a bed, and standard bath. Each designer was given the freedom to design and decorate their allocated rooms to their own liking including new rugs, bedding, wallpaper, and paint. Lamps Plus provided several table lamps and bathroom lighting fixtures to add designer touches to each of the rooms. Talking about the products used, interior designer Susie Ho, who created one of the rooms, said, “I wasn’t aware Lamps Plus had the product range that they do. I was very impressed.”
An Open House was held to showcase all of the new rooms. Vanessa De Vargas of the DNG, noted, “We couldn’t have done anything without the generous corporate support of sponsors like Lamps Plus. I can’t thank them enough for donating to our Charity Design Project and making this all possible. When you walk into each of these rooms, there’s a spirit of joy and delight that will really benefit the women residents.”
To qualify for the shelter, women must first spend several months in first-step emergency shelter accommodation while they find a job. Once they secure employment, they can move into the rooms where 30 percent of their income goes towards rent. Each resident then has up to two years to use the room while they stabilize their lives and then search for their own apartment. In the Good Shepherd Center’s 27 years of operation, they have impacted the lives of over 25,000 homeless women and children in the Los Angeles area.
