East Orange shelter gives the homeless a reason to smile.
The cafeteria is now a cafe with oval, waist-high tables, matching teal chairs and tablecloths. Cushy lounge- style sofas sit near soothing light fixtures. A flat-screen television hangs from the wall.
Upstairs in this four-story East Orange refuge, the brown leather couch and funky yellow scooped-back chair could be in anybody's living room. A narrow hallway on another floor has become a peaceful area to socialize or to dabble in arts and crafts. Framed pictures on navy-colored walls offer encouraging thoughts: "You matter." "You belong."
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All of this is intentional for the residents of Isaiah House, a shelter on North Munn Avenue that provides an array of social services to those referred there. In addition to giving 179 people a place to live in the past year and feeding almost 5,000 people annually in the community, Isaiah House has a message to convey: The men and women there do matter. They do belong. They deserve creative spaces like this to rebuild their lives.
Happy Spaces. It's the best title for a project that Isaiah House unveiled to the community Friday evening, bringing awareness to the difficult work of helping people get back on their feet.
Mariyam Shaida is a heartfelt example of what they do. She lost her job six months ago as an office manager, then her apartment in Hudson County. Isaiah House, she said, took her and didn't judge. Anyone can wind up homeless, but now her life is back on track.
On Saturday, she started a job as a concession worker at Red Bull Arena in Harrison.
"I went from feeling helpless to hopeful, '' Shaida said. "Mariyam has found her Happy Space.''
So has Tyleakea Price after serving 20 years for armed robbery and aggravated assault. A life once burdened with addiction, Price recently graduated from Passaic County Community College with a degree in culinary arts. She starts a job next month as a food prep worker.
"You need a place like this to lift you up,'' Price said. "They don't allow me to have a pity party.''
Dominque Bradshaw is on her way, too. The single mom of a 4-year-old son said she is no longer a victim of domestic abuse and is in school, studying for her General Educational Development diploma.
The three women and other residents love what Isaiah House has done with the place on their behalf. Bradshaw's son, Sean Jones, didn't have any complaints, either. He made a mad dash toward the kid's section in the cafe.
The renovations, all the result of volunteer work, come at a time when Isaiah House struggles to stay open because of funding cuts from the federal government. But the nonprofit agency, which opened in 1988, has the same fight as the residents it serves and is determined to stay open and not to stand still.
It pulled this project off in six weeks. Credit Kristen Beveridge of South Orange, the board president, for managing the tight deadline. She ran the show, calling everyone she could think of to help revamp seven rooms with vibrant colors, lighting and furniture so the residents can have the comforts of home.
The Go Fund Me page she set up netted $40,000. Twelve designers jumped on board, volunteering their time for a good cause. Contractors and electricians got involved.
This was a no-brainer venture for Beveridge, an entrepreneur.
"I believe that space impacts how people feel every morning when they wake up,'' Beveridge said. "Regardless of where you are, you deserve to live in a beautiful happy space.''
The design community understood the charge. Dreary rooms throughout the building became lively, welcoming spaces.
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Walls in the room for mothers and babies are now bright sky blue, instead of plain white. There's comfortable furniture and carpet, too. In the boys lounge, a football field is painted on a wall that faces an assortment of cozy blue couches and brown chairs. The computer lab combines work and relaxation. There are new bookcases, orange deep- seated chairs and new desks.
"The designers did not design a shelter,'' said Zammeah Bivins-Gibson, the executive director at Isaiah House. "The designers designed as if they were designing a client's space and they made us really feel that there is value in everyone who lives here.''
Al Tereek Nash-Bey, a resident, thinks so. He's been to other shelters, but this "is one of the better places,'' Nash-Bey said, welcoming him with open arms
Sirena Felton, a resident, couldn't agree more.
She's been at Isaiah House twice in her life, but is using the makeover of the agency as motivation to move on.
"Seeing the spaces is a picture of what could be,'' Felton said. "I would love for my apartment to look like this.''
And so does Isaiah House.
Barry Carter: (973) 836-4925 or bcarter@starledger.com or
nj.com/carter or follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL