Inside a small building on Route 6A in East Sandwich, volunteers with the nonprofit Colorful Kidz are giving donated furniture a second life, and creating new bedrooms for children who need them most.
Founded in 2021 by interior designer and nurse Caren Berry, Colorful Kidz creates personalized bedroom makeovers for children facing difficult circumstances. Since it launched, the organization has completed 70 room transformations across Cape Cod.
Berry said the idea grew out of time she spent at an orphanage in India. When she came home, she wanted to help children in her own community.
Children are referred to the nonprofit through school guidance counselors, medical professionals, the Department of Children and Families and other organizations. Each makeover starts with getting to know the child, learning their interests and identifying their needs.
Berry said a bedroom can be far more than a place to sleep.
“A lot of these kids are in transition,” she said. “You go to your bedroom when you’re sad, when you need to unwind, when you need to feel safe.”
A team of volunteers powers the work, most of them women between 60 and 80 years old. They sand, paint and repair furniture, patch walls, and move heavy pieces to build customized spaces for children in need.
Volunteers said many local families are struggling to make ends meet, despite Cape Cod’s reputation as a wealthy destination.
For volunteer Nancy Kontny, the payoff comes when children first see their new rooms.
“To see them go in those rooms and gasp, they get so excited,” she said. “You’d be surprised how little they really want. They ask for simple things like a pillow or some books.”
Colorful Kidz is now raising money to buy a larger space and open a thrift shop to help fund future bedroom makeovers. The nonprofit’s annual furniture makeover competition, Cape Cod Flippz, is one of its biggest fundraising efforts.
This year’s sales event is set for June 20 at the American Legion in Sandwich, with proceeds going toward Colorful Kidz’s work creating safe, personalized spaces for local children.
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