By: Paula Scott
Imagine walking into your bedroom and discovering that it has been transformed into the room of your dreams. The InProduction home office team had the amazing opportunity to partner with Special Spaces Illinois a few weeks ago to make a family’s day in just this way. Joy is a little girl with a big imagination. Like many kids her age, she loves unicorns, princesses, and castles. However, her days for the past three years have been anything but typical. She has been battling cancer, but is finally in remission.
As part of its mission to remodel the bedrooms of children with cancer, Special Spaces Illinois took all of Joy’s favorite things and incorporated them into a room you won’t find anywhere else. I was privileged to fly from Virginia to Homewood, Illinois, to join in on the day of fun! Not only did we at InProduction remodel Joy’s room, we were able to redo her two older brothers’ rooms as well! After all, we couldn’t let her have all the fun! Her older brother’s room is full of things a tween boy would enjoy, from an amazing wall full of Minecraft-style toys to a beanbag chair perfect for laying around and relaxing while playing on a tablet. And last but certainly not least, her fifteen-year-old eldest brother has a room any teenager would envy. Its brand new furniture sets the stage by providing tons of storage space, but it’s the sophisticated mountain mural that runs along every wall in the room that is the true highlight of this makeover.
Joy and her family were stunned at how much we were able to accomplish in just eight hours. The excitement on her face was so powerful, it brought several members of our team to tears. Playing a small part in lifting up a child who has overcome such obstacles, a child who doesn’t remember a life without cancer, is a reward in itself. Special Spaces is a non-profit organization that operates in ten states around the country. Without them, we would never have been able to assist in providing Joy and her siblings with spaces they can each use “to recover, heal, sleep, and even play.”
--Paula Scott, InProduction