By Leslie Collins
Northeast News
September 28, 2011

In this room, Tootsie Roll Pops grew in life-sized varieties, poking up from the painted grass. Bright polka dots and painted swirls accented the room and “Sweet Dreams” framed one window. It resembled a fairy tale land fit for a little girl.

But, the makeover didn’t stop here. Local interior designers, their teams and community volunteers used their decorating skills to makeover three apartments at Amethyst Place, which provides housing for mothers struggling with alcohol and drug addictions, and their children.

Each room oozed personality and could have easily been shown on HGTV or in the pages of a home and gardens magazine.

Executive Director of Amethyst Place Lisa Mizell said the organization came up with the makeover idea when ReDiscover vacated three apartments within Amethyst Place, midtown Kansas City.

“We’ve always joked that Amethyst Place is the best kept secret in Kansas City,” Mizell said. “I think we’re getting big enough now that we’re ready to start trying to find some publicity, expand our donor base and let people know who we are and what we do. And this (open house) seemed like a good way to get that PR and start getting our name out in the community.”

To show off the newly decorated apartments, Amethyst Place held an open house recently, which attracted a number of area residents.

Amethyst Place, Mizell explained, provides a supportive and structured environment for women in alcohol and drug recovery. To qualify to live in one of the 30 private apartments, the mothers must have 30 days of confirmed sobriety, have a child or children who can reside with them within 30 days of reunification and must participate in a recovery plan.

“Every woman who is in here was certified homeless, so they have not had a place to live or furniture or anything,” she said. “Many times they come here with nothing but the clothes on their back.”

In addition to private donations, Amethyst Place operates with monthly funding from the Missouri Department of Mental Health and residents also contribute 30 percent of their adjusted gross income to cover program related services.

Residents who successfully complete the program receive their apartment’s furnishings and kitchenware to use in their next apartment or house.

Amethyst Place Volunteer Carey DeBasio used her connections to organize the makeover and interior designer teams included Mary Carol Garrity of Nell Hill’s; Jennifer Bertrand, HGTV Design Star, and Julie Ransopher of Bertie and Jules; and Carey DeBasio and Kristin Vreeland, both of KV Designs.

“They were all very excited and jumped on board,” DeBasio said of the designers. “When the apartments were revealed to the moms, there was not a dry eye – from the moms to the designers to the volunteers who worked so hard.

“You could see it in that mom’s eyes what this means for her, that she is free from the burden of having to find stuff to furnish her apartment on top of all the struggles she’s going to continue to have while she’s working in the recovery program. It was very emotional.”

For one mother, it meant she could keep a promise to her daughter for the first time.

“It knocked it home when she said, ‘I had promised my daughter we would have a home by the time she started school this year and for once, I kept my promise,'” DeBasio said.

Most of the women reunify with their children for the first time at Amethyst Place, Mizell said.

“Often the courts will say you can have your child back when you get admitted to Amethyst Place,” Mizell said.

Emerson DeBasio and Brityn Vreeland, both 12, helped their moms decorate the apartments and the two designed a dollhouse sporting multi-colored duct tape and a little decopge.

“It’s fun to paint and design, especially when you get to do it for someone who really needs it,” DeBasio said. “Seeing the little girl yesterday getting to see the dollhouse for the first time was so exciting. She was really shy because she didn’t really know us, but you could totally tell that she loved it.

“She hopped in and was playing with all her new toys.”

Vreeland said she and DeBasio asked their neighbors if they would donate Barbies and accessories, and the two deemed their collection a success.

DeBasio’s mother donated toys that once belonged to the 12-year-old and her 10-year-old brother, but DeBasio said she didn’t mind and knew it was going to a better place.

“It was fun to see, ‘Oh, that was from my room and now she gets to have it,'” DeBasio said.

To include the current residents of Amethyst Place in the redecorating fun, the organization launched a “Mom Shop” filled with nick-knacks and other items one would find at a quality garage sale. Each month the mothers will receive points and may use those points to purchase items in the store.

Talking to Northeast News in the Tootsie Roll Pop room, Mizell called the room her favorite and summed up the Amethyst Place experience.

“I love having the opportunity to give a woman who’s had a rough life an opportunity to start over and to become who she wants to be and to give her a leg up,” Mizell said. “I want each woman who walks out of here to know we believe they’re capable of whatever they want to do.”

Pictured above are two bedrooms at Amethyst Place that received a makeover. Mothers who successfully complete the rehabilitation program are gifted with all the furnishings and kitchenware when they leave. Leslie Collins