Adopt a Mom News
Volunteers to spruce up family's home
Isabelle's House reaches out to women
Theresa Ravenell's work schedule as a bus operator shifts every few months. She likes her current shift, which runs from 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., better than her last one, which ran from 1:15 to 9:15 p.m.
"I didn't like that one because it was time away from the kids," she said.
Dakota Walker, Isabelle's House executive
director, shows the condition of the upstairs bathroom, which was
converted from a closet. She said there wasn't much her crews could
do with the lack of space, but that it could be "cleaned up a
little."
Sophia Rodriguez/The Post and Courier
Dakota Walker, Isabelle's House executive director, shows the condition of the upstairs bathroom, which was converted from a closet. She said there wasn't much her crews could do with the lack of space, but that it could be "cleaned up a little."
But when Ravenell does get quality time with her seven children, one of the things they like to do is gather around the television and watch the ABC show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." Ravenell said that sometimes the kids ask her if they can call the show to get repairs and a new look for their house on James Island.
There are some repairs that are in dire need of attention, such as the shower head that is duct taped to the plumbing in the bathroom. Their electric bill runs around $350 each month when they use central heating or air conditioning because the house is not properly insulated.
Isabelle's House, an organization based near Moncks Corner that reaches out to women in need, may not bring all the prestige that the popular TV show does, but its founder and director, Dakota Walker, and the volunteers who are coming out to the house May 25 have big plans to spruce up the Ravenells' home. The family just doesn't know what the plans are.
"We're going to blindfold and duct-tape her," Kim Lucia, the project manager said jokingly.
Walker and Lucia told the family that they are sending them on a day of fun (the details of that also are secret) while they "clean" the Ravenells' house. The actual plans are more involved than that. Suffice it to say that the family will be amazed when it returns to the results of the one-day blitz.
Another interesting fact: There will be only one male among the some 35 volunteers who are working on the house, "because a wife begged for her husband to be on the crew, and after she said she thought he could do plumbing work, we agreed to it," said Walker, who named the organization for her grandmother.
"I really want the focus to be on women helping women," she said.
The family is not completely in the dark about what's going on. Isabelle's House has helped Ravenell brush up her resume, and Walker has sent out e-mails to several potential employers. Walker also is hoping that her organization can pay for Ravenell's recertification to return to her original profession as a nurse's aide.
"The goal is for her to get a better job so she can take care of herself and the kids," Walker said. "One of the focuses of Isabelle's House is not only to fulfill basic needs but to give people things they want to fulfill the soul."
Walker also would like to help the family with some of its expenses, so she is hoping people will donate money or gift cards to the project. The rest, though, is under wraps. The crew may not get it all done in one day, but that doesn't mean it won't try.
"There's too many good ideas not to follow through," Walker said with a smile on her face.
How to help
To learn more about the project or to volunteer services, e-mail Isabelle's House Executive Director Dakota Walker at here or dakota@om-body.com.
Reach Sophia Rodriguez at 937-5538 or srodriguez@postandcourier.com.
It was an emotional homecoming as the Ravenell's came back to find their completely renovated by the Isabelle's House organization. Everything from newly donated furniture, to new paint and pictures could be seen all over their house. It was truly transformed into a home.
"I'm blown away, I can't believe it I really didn't expect this," Theresa Ravenell said.
She and her 7 children live in her James Island residence. Ravenell expressed endless amounts of gratitude for the job the volunteers had done.
"I'm just praying that God will bless each and everyone because I am really touched by this, this is more than I could ever imagine," she said.
While the work wasn't easy crews said the payoff was seeing the smile on the family's faces.
"You've waited in anticipation for so long and it's such a great feeling to know all the hard work paid off," said Dakota Walker, Executive Director of Isabelle's House.
"It's a reason to celebrate, I'll be celebrating for a long time, I'll never forget this day," Ravenell said.
To learn more about Isabelle's House you can click here: www.isabelleshouse.org
Single mom's home repaired due to girl power (and 3 guys)
There were a few obstacles when area service organization Isabelle's House decided to renovate Theresa Ravenell's house on James Island on May 25.
There were housing and monetary donations to collect. Volunteers had only 10 hours to complete the work, and many had never done home restoration before.
And the project was supposed to be a surprise for Ravenell and her family.
Not that they let any of that stop them.
Ravenell and her seven children were amazed when they arrived home Sunday evening. Walls were freshly painted, moldy carpet had been removed from bedrooms, there was new kitchenware in the cupboards, and the taped bathroom shower head was replaced.
Volunteer Tara Austin said some of the children who had asthma received new linens and bed pillows. "The final result — that's why you do it. You do it for the people who are helping themselves," Austin said. "Ms. Ravenell supports herself and her seven kids, and she doesn't have a lot of assistance."
As Isabelle's House founder Dakota Walker and project manager Kim Lucia gave the family the grand tour, Ravenell couldn't stop smiling, gaping and gushing over the improvements. Isabelle's House is an organization based near Moncks Corner that reaches out to women in need.
Walker added a few personal touches to the place. Isabelle's House is named for Walker's deceased grandmother, and the new refrigerator and dresser in Ravenell's bedroom once belonged to Isabelle Ryckman.
Some volunteers planted a garden in the backyard, which will eventually bear okra, tomatoes, peppers and oregano. There was also a party with catered food and local band Hank the Pirate.
Walker wanted the project, called "Adopt a Mom," to be a surprise. So she arranged for Ravenell to have a spa day at the Sanctuary at Kiawah Island.
"It was wonderful. I can't believe it was happening to me," Ravenell said. Meanwhile, her four daughters went bowling, to the Children's Museum of the Lowcountry and other activities, while the boys went to a movie, Dick's Sporting Goods, the James Island County Park and the Harley-Davidson shop to sit on the motorcycles.
Shortly before the family arrived, Walker congratulated the 40-plus volunteers for their hard work and donations.
"Here's to girl power!" she said as they cheered.
"With a few good men," one woman responded. The crew included three men. Walker purposely set up the project that way, because her group tends to focus on women helping women.
"I've never done anything like this before," volunteer Kevan Ann Spangler said. She worked hard on the cleaning crew and other odd jobs all day. "I've been here since 8 this morning and now it's 6. My God. Basically, all of us are tired."
Team leaders who had participated in similar projects smoothly guided workers through tasks.
I really hope this is just the beginning," Spangler said. "I hope we do this for another family who needs it."
Although the group got a lot done, Walker was slightly disappointed that they were unable to procure a sleeper sofa for Ravenell's oldest child, Whitley Ravenell, who visits when she comes home from college on weekends and for summer.
She also wanted to install more light fixtures and replace several of them with energy-efficient bulbs. These are things that she plans to follow up on, as well as help Ravenell find a better-paying job.
But until then, Ravenell is more than content. "There's a reason to celebrate. "We'll be celebrating for a long time."
From the Crisis Ministries Volunteer Newsletter, April 2008
Post and Courier Article, April 24th, 2008
Local women create teepee art to promote peace project
This week, people on all seven continents will exchange art in an effort to promote peace.
The nonprofit Global Art Project asked participants to create works that express their vision of world peace, and then matched participants with others around the world.
Miriam Wilchanovsky and Dakota Walker paint a panel of the teepee their group, Powerful Women, created to represent peace as part of the Global Art Project. The teepee soon will be mailed to Healing Arts Group in England in exchange for its work of art.
Along with the paintings, poems and sculptures traversing oceans will be a teepee created by a group of Lowcountry women.
"We wanted to be out of the box," said Powerful Women founder Dakota Walker, adding that something from American Indians seemed appropriate.
The structure provides "a place for people to sit, pray, meditate, whatever they feel brings them closer to peace."
Sixteen members of Powerful Women, a philanthropic and social organization for women seeking meaningful connections, spent two days creating the teepee.
It uses an eclectic mix of materials — sticks, cloth, ribbon, paint, feathers, bells and shells — to appeal to a variety of people who may have different experiences, Walker said. Someone could think the teepee is ugly, but love the sound of the bells.
One panel is decorated with 24 translations of the word "peace." Another depicts dancing figures, alluding to the celebration of life. Doves made of various upholstery pieces fly across another panel.
The group also will mail a journal in which they recorded thoughts on peace while sitting individually in the teepee and will ask the recipients to record their thoughts in it as well.
More infoTo learn more about Global Art Project, visit global-art.org. For more information about Powerful Women, visit powerfulwomen.info.
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"We are all one," wrote Rena Lasch. "May we expand our circle of compassion even wider. May we open our hearts even wider. Look for what we have in common. Peace starts in our own heart, in our own home, in our own neighborhood, in our own community, and continues to expand outward until we all connect embracing the world in peace."
"Peace, friendship, love, acceptance amongst the beauty of the Lowcountry in coastal S.C. This is where we built this teepee," wrote Michele Turner. "Let it be a quiet place, a refuge where you can always go to contemplate world peace, wherever you are. It all starts within. Let the peace inside you shine, and spread to others. Know that this art project was created not just as a piece of art, but also to shelter you, and provide a safe place to retreat when you need to find a sense of peace within yourself."
Powerful Women will mail the teepee and journal to the Healing Arts Group in West Yorkshire, England. After receiving the art, groups and individuals are asked to display it in their communities. Exchanging all of the art in the same week results "in thousands of messages of peace and goodwill simultaneously encircling the Earth," according to Global Art Project's Web site.
Initiated by a woman in Tucson, Ariz., in 1994, the project aims to connect people of diverse cultural backgrounds and create "a living network of cooperation that can help to make the vision of peace a reality."
Walker first participated when she lived in Arizona. Her media included bricks, she recalled with a laugh.
She introduced Global Art Project to her group this year and hopes to become a regional coordinator before the next Global Art Project event, scheduled for 2010. Charleston groups and individuals had participated twice before, 10 and 14 years ago, said Katherine Josten, founder of Global Art Project.
"I'm very excited that Dakota Walker and the Powerful Women are getting people there involved again," she said.
Reach Kristen Hankla at 937-5548 or khankla@postandcourier.com.