Restoring Dignity Home Makeover #34
Sunday, September 29th, 2019
“We are at our finest when we take care of each other.”
-Katherine Center
Sign-up to donate items here.
Sign-up to financially support this project here.
Their Story
Seven years ago, a Karenni family of 5 came to the United States after living in a refugee camp for over 16 years. The parents, both born in Burma, enjoyed a short period of time of peace – both helped their families grow rice, squash, beans, and cucumbers. They lived a simple but happy life, living in a bamboo home their parents built, and gathering food daily for everyone to eat. Life was suddenly turned upside down when the civil war in Burma made its way to their villages. Both of their families fled, trying to escape the violence, and ended up in a refugee camp near the border of Burma and Thailand. Days passed, then weeks, then years. Questions plagued the thousands of families living behind fences, trapped to stay safe. Would the war ever end? Would life ever get back to how it used to be? In the midst of the agony and torment of not knowing what the future would hold, a young man and young woman met each other and decided they wanted to get married and forge a new future together. They had 3 children, and when the youngest was 1 year old, they found out they had been accepted to resettle in the United States. Leaving all their family behind, they took a risk, boarded a plane, and landed in Omaha, Nebraska. At first, things were looking up – both parents found employment at a meat packing plant. However, a few years into the job, the mom of the family started to get sick whenever she would go to work. She thought it was just a cold, or maybe the flu, but soon it turned into debilitating asthma, and she could no longer work at the packing plant anymore. Asthma attack after asthma attack landed her in the hospital, and has plagued her to this day. Never knowing when it might flare up, or what will trigger it, she has been unable to go back to work. Her dream is to become a teacher or a nurse, but with the language barrier, her only employment option is meat packing; and that environment makes her asthma go haywire. The dad of the family has steadfastly worked for his family – but unfortunately the packing plant he works for is not always able to provide 40 hours of work. On the weeks when the hours are less, the family holds their breath, hoping no unexpected expenses occur. Their dream is to buy a house of their own, but for right now, their 2 bedroom apartment of 7 years is what they call home. Restoring Dignity was asked to meet with this family, as the person referring thought a home-makeover would greatly help this family’s situation, both tangibly and for moral support. The family is on-board and excited about the upcoming home-makeover that will transform there apartment into a home where they can thrive.
The Pictures
The Solution We are taking action on Sunday, September 29th, from 10am-4pm to provide this family with much-needed household, cleaning and organizational items. Come join us as we bring hope and encouragement to them!
Supplies Needed
Please sign-up for items you will donate on our donation sign-up page. If you would like to financially contribute towards this project, click here and write in the description: “Restoring Dignity #34”
Donation Drop-Off: There are two ways to drop-off items: (1) At our storage unit, or (2) on the day of the project at the family’s home. If you plan on dropping off donations at the family’s home, please contact us for their address, and plan on having all items dropped off between 9:30am-10:00am the day of the project. Storage Unit Location: The Restoring Dignity storage facility is located at: 4383 Izard Street (right on the corner of 45th and Izard). 
Map of Restoring Dignity Storage Unit
Drop-offs at the storage unit will be on the following dates and times: Drop-off times: Every Tuesday evening from 5:30pm – 7:30pm Saturday, September 14th 8:00am-10:00am Saturday, September 21st 8:00am-10:00am **Please note that there will not be any pick-ups for this project. If you are bringing large items, you can drop them off at the location mentioned above, or you can bring them the day of the project.**
Volunteers Needed
King of Kings church is providing all volunteers for this project.
- Sunday, September 29th, 2019
- Transportation: 8am-10am: This shift involves loading items onto trucks at the storage unit, and unloading them at the family’s home. We will provide a U-Haul truck.
- Shift one: 10am-12pm: This shift is for people who want to help with cleaning, organizing clothes, steaming and fixing items.
- Shift two: 12pm-2pm: This shift is for people who want to help with cleaning, organizing clothes, steaming and building items.
- Shift three: 2pm-4pm: This shift is for those who can help move furniture into the apartment, build and decorate.
- Half Day: 10am-2pm: This shift is for someone who would like to have a Restoring Dignity immersion and/or be a project leader.
- Half Day: 12pm-4pm: This shift is for someone who would like to have a Restoring Dignity immersion and/or be a project leader.
- Full Day: 10am-4pm: This shift is for someone who is looking for a full-immersion with Restoring Dignity and/or wants to be a project leader.
- Handyperson shifts: This shift is for a person who is skilled with tools, can help fix broken items in the home, can assemble beds and other furniture, and can hang pictures.
How to Get Involved:
- Donate items:
We could not do these projects without our donors! They are the heart of these projects! Please let us know what you can donate, and we will take the items off of the list above. If someone would like to “adopt” a member of this family or a room in the apartment, by fulfilling the donations needed for that area, let us know. Otherwise, if you have any items in your house that you no longer need or use, please consider donating them to these projects. Your donations truly do make a direct impact on families in need. To donate items to this family, visit our donation sign up page.
- Donate financially
As Restoring Dignity has grown so have our basic operating expenses. We now have our own storage facility where we accept, sort and store all of our donations. We pay monthly rent and utilities and are dependent on the financial contributions that we receive. If you are interested in making a financial contribution, please click here.
- Spread the word:
Tell your friends and family about this project! They might have an extra lamp or a dresser that is no longer in use. Re-post this blog on your Facebook page, or email it to people you know. The more people that know about these projects, the more donations and volunteers. Some Pictures from the April 2019 RD Home-Makeover:
Follow us on Facebook: Restoring Dignity has a Facebook Group that is regularly updated. Please join our group: Restoring Dignity Omaha Facebook Group. Contact us: http://www.rdomaha.com email@rdomaha.com (c) 402-305-8139