- 2 days ago
Nate and Jeremiah Save My House Season 2 Episode 6
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Time to surprise them.
00:00Let's run in there, OK?
00:01Let's go.
00:01Let's go.
00:04We have a surprise for you guys.
00:07OK.
00:08Bye!
00:11The Covenant House is a homeless shelter
00:12that take in youth from ages 18 to 24.
00:15The big room is very important to the Covenant House.
00:18This room is used for everything.
00:20It really is our family room, but it's just not working.
00:24A lot of us, we walk into the shelter very scared.
00:26You want to walk in and feel automatically safe.
00:30As parents, the most important thing
00:32we can teach our daughter is that you
00:34have an obligation to help.
00:36Dad, watch me slide.
00:38OK.
00:39See ya.
00:40Whoa!
00:43They can't operate very long without the big room.
00:45I'll ask them for a week.
00:47The thing that's got me stressed out
00:48is that this is the most aggressive amount of furniture
00:51we've placed, and it doesn't need to just be, like, pretty.
00:53Look at me.
00:54It's going to be fine, right?
00:55All right, guys.
00:56Come on in.
00:58Surprise!
00:59Woo!
01:02Woo!
01:02Woo!
01:03Woo!
01:03Woo!
01:03Oh, my God.
01:05I'm Nate Berkus, and I'm married to Jeremiah Brent.
01:08Woo!
01:09Oh, my God.
01:10Oh, my God.
01:10And we're interior designers.
01:12Built-in bench right here.
01:13It's going to be so pretty.
01:15Hi.
01:15Hi.
01:16Hi.
01:16Hi.
01:16Hi.
01:16Hi.
01:17Hi.
01:17We're all living homeowners who are in over their heads
01:19with no way out.
01:20Nate and Jeremiah, please, please, come help us.
01:23We don't see a way out of this.
01:24I feel like I've been saved.
01:27We'll turn their money pit into a masterpiece.
01:30Oh, my God, you guys!
01:40most of the people that reach out to us for help are homeowners that need help with their homes
01:45but there are some people who have reached out to us that are in a completely different situation
01:49entirely there's this amazing organization based out of hollywood called the covenant house amazing
01:54they're a homeless shelter that take in youth from ages 18 to 24 they give them the basic
01:59necessities really everything if you're homeless that you need you need help with education you
02:05need job training you need basic shelter you need food and most importantly you need a soft and a
02:11safe place to land there's a meeting today so i guess maybe a good idea would probably be to condense
02:26these clothes and then let's at least just try to set up the tables and maybe the chairs my name
02:30is chantelle i was here at the covenant house for about two years now i'm working full-time and i
02:36have a home and i will forever get back to the covenant house let's just push everything back
02:40this way my name is a belardo capati but people call me junior i've stayed at the covenant house
02:46for a year now yeah this does not look presentable at all i'm josue and i've been in covenant house
02:52for about two years when i was 17 my parents separated after that i was practically on my own
03:00so i packed all my stuff in my car and it came to los angeles i didn't have any money
03:06and i lost my
03:07car so i had to sleep on the streets sometimes i would i wouldn't eat at all i wasn't the
03:13greatest
03:13kid in the world but like i tried to be it wasn't up to par what my dad's girlfriend's expectations
03:20were
03:20i had to move into my aunt's house and then my cousin started being abusive and i didn't want
03:26that anymore i had no place to stay so i was staying on the streets i've always been bounced
03:32around from house to house my family from california told me hey you can come stay with us they were
03:38heavily into drugs and that wasn't a part of my life we actually got into a physical fight and they
03:43kicked me out and they physically threw all of my belongings outside when you're on the streets you feel
03:49dirty you can't take a shower you feel like you don't belong here in society coming here to
03:54covenant house they make you feel like you matter it's not like a big old ordinary shelter they gave
03:59me all the basic necessities that i needed and the staff opened their arms to me it kind of feels
04:04like
04:04they're like my aunts and uncles and moms and dads when i walked through the covenant house doors i was
04:10just full of fear and i didn't know what to expect but the covenant house is different from any other
04:16shelter the cleanliness the friendliness the warmth that is here the love that's here
04:21people here actually care and they do make it feel like a home with the exception of the big room
04:28the
04:29big room is very important to the covenant house this room is used for everything birthday parties
04:34meetings movie nights and it's the first room that people see when they arrive to the covenant house
04:40it really is our family room but it's just not working
04:45it's dark and cold it's not the representation of the rest of the covenant house when you come off
04:51the street you're already coming from a dark and lonely place you do not want to come into that the
04:57covenant house has made such a big impact we want to see this room get better and pay for
05:01nate and jeremiah i've seen your designs absolutely incredible we wanted to reach out to you to
05:07surprise the staff and transform the big room they wanted to get this renovated like a long time ago but
05:13they didn't have the resources to do it we need just a beautiful beautiful space so that we just feel
05:18the love and warmth that is here we just have to i don't know make it look as best as
05:25we can
05:32i have worked with the covenant house before i did a renovation for them and what you're saying
05:38it's a renovation you redid like building after building you've done a lot of work i've worked at
05:42the covenant house i redid four buildings for them it was a complete gut renovation and the thing that
05:48stuck with me is the dignity that they provide this homeless youth what i love about this opportunity
05:54that we're being given is that the big room represents the heart of the home so to speak
05:58so the idea that we get to come in and transform it makes it that much more beautiful
06:13the interesting thing about the covenant house is that there is a weight to get into this place
06:18there's kids waiting for a spot a bed inside the covenant house it's heartbreaking i can't believe
06:23that with homelessness being such a huge issue especially here in los angeles that this is the largest
06:30facility and it only has 170 beds that's crazy so it was the kids that reached out to us to
06:37surprise
06:38the staff and the future residents of the covenant house we don't know if there's a budget but we know
06:43we'll do anything we can to get it done this is it babe what would you like to see transform
06:53in the
06:54space new carpet new chairs uh definitely a new wall new painting so chantal jr and josue know that
07:01the covenant house is being considered for the show but they have no idea that we're about to show
07:04up and surprise them we're gonna do it okay are you ready yeah go go go go go go
07:13so let's surprise the kids first then the staff and just excited and hey guys oh my god
07:21oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh how are you what's up man how are you
07:28jeremiah oh my gosh your work is beautiful mate and jeremiah just surprised us it's just incredible
07:34do you want to explain what we're doing here we're going to redo the entire big room yeah yeah oh
07:40my gosh
07:40thank you guys so much we're very very excited thank you so much for coming by and uh just making
07:47this
07:47happen i want you guys to know we love the covenant house obviously jer has been here before but all
07:53of
07:53the stories that come out of this place are so amazing and we think about this place all the time
07:58thank you are you kidding yes thank you your work is thank you for asking us to be here where's
08:04all the
08:04like staff and everybody today where are they right now i think they're in a meeting right now where is
08:09it at in the rig room big room so we could ambush them i think we should go ahead the
08:12staff just
08:13love sate and jeremiah we're gonna surprise them and they have no idea our team has already hidden
08:18cameras in the big room time to surprise them let's run in there let's go i can't wait to see
08:22the
08:23staff's reaction i'm excited i would love to hear from you we have a surprise for you guys hi guys
08:39to see nate and jeremiah walk in it's just so exciting best interruption to a staff meeting ever so
08:45this room is such a gathering place for the covenant house and this could be a lot better so it's
08:52gonna
08:52be we're gonna redo this every once in a while an opportunity comes up where we feel we're in the
09:02right place at the exact right time it's a gift that we get to come in to do this and
09:06then we get
09:06to help translate home in this very unique and important way something really important to point
09:11out is that the kids are the ones that really put this forward it's the idea that ripple effect of
09:17love
09:17so we're gonna put them to work i hate to interrupt you guys's staff meetings i know it looks like
09:25you're very busy but we actually have to kick you out because we need to get a lay of the
09:28land we're
09:29gonna have these three walk us through and get an understanding what this space really serves
09:32and how it needs to function in the future so surprise no please leave
09:40the crazy thing about the big room of the covenant house is that you could never tell walking into this
09:45space that this is a modern happy place for this youth it just doesn't represent the covenant house
09:51at all this room is the pits man it's the pits it's the pits take me back to the first
09:59time you
10:00walked through that door you come in and you come into this room and what do you think to yourself
10:08i think a lot of us we walk into in in the shelter very scared and like
10:13just very anxious and you know it would be nice to feel just like um that immediate transformation
10:20right this is something new they need to know that this is not just another shelter because it's not
10:24and uh this is not speaking for you know almost like you want to walk in and feel automatically safe
10:30right and warmth like you want the warmth when you walk in absolutely what would you guys like to see
10:36in
10:36here we have limited seating in here yeah so like somewhere you could like relax like just slouch not
10:43hurt your back or anything we all really like the beanbags but they've gotten more down over time you
10:48need to use like two or three of them to be comfortable what's all that stuff over there we get
10:52donations
10:52but then we have no place to put it so we just put it right here no storage yeah no
10:57storage okay can we
10:59talk about this mural really yeah i don't want to knock anybody's artwork but like this is rough but
11:05it's kind of outdated yeah i had an idea for it i was thinking maybe like putting a quote right
11:11there
11:11mm-hmm is there one in particular that you tell yourself when times are really dark or you're going
11:16through something really difficult uh if i had to choose one i would say that the world is your canvas
11:26wherever you live once you step out those doors it's up to you what you want to do in this
11:30world
11:30yeah you're in charge of your own dusting you know his story right do you guys know no it is
11:38it's he
11:38lived in his car when he first was down here no yeah yeah um i moved to los angeles when
11:44i was 19 years
11:45old to live a bigger life than i thought i could where i was but it was a long tumultuous
11:50year i was living
11:51in and out of my car and i worked really hard to save up the money to finally get my
11:56first place
11:57so i understand what it means to finally have those four walls and the safety that comes with them
12:04step into my office hi look who i found hey guys we're talking about what you know they would like
12:11to see accomplished in the space but we really want to hear function wise what you guys would like
12:16to see happen in here what we use the space for is everything we meet with our board of directors
12:21we do amazing friday night movie nights in here we'll do trainings in here we also do workshops
12:27and it happens all on the same day right is there a world where people are in this room but
12:33they're
12:34actually not together yeah they'll be able to come in and hang out in a space but like staff could
12:38be
12:38working over here so we need to make the big room feel like a home but it also has to
12:45perform 70
12:46different functions it needs to be big enough for everybody and intimate enough for just two people
12:51yeah no problem right easy that's the budget sometimes things all come together and are meant
12:58for a reason and we very recently had a donor walk through and make a gift of 25 000 wow
13:04that's amazing
13:0625 grand is a lot but we have some dreams and hopes for this we've got some big some big
13:11ideas we're
13:12gonna need to take it a little further than that money would go we've done a lot of rooms but
13:16i can
13:17tell you i think this room is going to be our absolute favorite because this place is the epitome of
13:24home
13:25yeah coming up so there's not quite as much done as i wanted there to be but it's going to
13:32be fine
13:32right look at me it's going to be fine right all right guys come on in oh my god
13:49so the covenant house are you ready to figure this out we've got to make this big room feel like
13:54a home
13:54it's basically a little bit over a thousand square feet one room but it's got to be versatile
14:00the question is going to be budget right if you've got 25 000 we're going to have to rely on
14:06reaching
14:06out to some really good friends of ours and seeing what they're willing to offer and what they're willing
14:10to donate for this organization this awesome donation just rolled in from lumber liquidators
14:15amazing that's so awesome we're about to figure out a way to use it there's a lot of fluoride so
14:21do you
14:22think that we can ask the team at the cove to stay out of the room i mean they can't
14:28operate very
14:29long without the big room if you think it's realistic i'll ask them for a week yeah i'll
14:35reach out to them and work about scheduling and moving them you deal with getting things for free
14:41and we'll reconvene okay here's the bottom line though we've got to get these people home yeah make
14:48it feel like home i mean i feel like this entire design is about heart right and the belief that
14:54you deserve this new life yeah so home is where the heart is you fine with that i am it's
15:01sweet all
15:02right welcome home guys
15:10excited to show them everything yeah i mean i just want to make sure that the plan really does work
15:15for
15:15what they need so i'm a little bit nervous yeah because there's a million different ways this could
15:20go and we need their sign off because this is really their gift back to the staff right i mean
15:25there's a 25 000 donation that's been graciously given to the covenant house which seems like a lot
15:31of money but this is a big room and we want to make sure that we're taking that money and
15:34using it in
15:35the best way possible how do you feel like one day guys what's up how are you i love your
15:41pants thank
15:42you you're welcome nate's been making fun of my pants all morning i want to go to the drug store
15:46and
15:47get him like a red nose you and diane keaton have a very similar inherent style what are we referring
15:54to
15:55you look like diane keaton in the house that pinterest built you literally just look like diane keaton at the
16:00end of first wives club come on diane keaton we should ask diane keaton if she would wear those
16:05pants i would love to ask her if you're watching diane weigh in we've been going through a lot of
16:11ideas we want to talk to you about the function and how we crack the space open to serve as
16:16really a
16:16home drum roll okay right away we want to introduce this vestibule so it's almost like an entry to a
16:24home because this feels kind of industrial now with the commercial door with the big exit sign and
16:29we'd rather have this feel warm and welcoming yeah we'd like to take out the mural and replace it with
16:36a custom bookcase and then do the same thing on that far wall so that there's symmetry okay and one
16:44of the things that's really important for us we want to create a space that you can inhabit and also
16:48feel
16:49like it's your own space so we're introducing five or six different mini seating seating areas and
16:54everything can open up if there's a celebration and the whole room can kind of adapt to what it
16:58needs to be that's kind of the basic gist do you guys see anything glaring that you're like oh no
17:07that's not going to work so as far as storage i was kind of looking for something where we can
17:14quickly store stuff away yeah if we need to both bookshelves will have storage in them movie screens
17:20still be over yeah we're not messing with movie night yeah so what do you think
17:28so far everything looks really good i'm so excited really okay they listen to exactly what we um told
17:34them and i can't wait to see what it looks like i know they're going to do a phenomenal job
17:39all right
17:39guys next time we see you there'll be sledgehammers and dust you guys need any help we might
17:48don't underestimate me because of my pants
17:51the good news is the kids are on board with our design now we just have to figure out how
17:57to do it
17:58oh my god that's fine we're gonna work our magic all right see you guys later all right bye bye
18:18okay okay okay okay voila we're back things look a little different there's a big saw
18:27as always we wanted this and the whole design to be a big secret so the covenant house has agreed
18:33to
18:34make the big room off limits for one week we've got one week that is not a lot of time
18:39to get
18:39everything we need to do done hey listen check out the ceiling i know i saw that it looks amazing
18:46most people wouldn't think about using a hardwood material on the ceiling just look at how much
18:52that changes the entire tone yeah it's beautiful no more tiles covering up these old lights this is
18:58gonna be really good one of the things when you're working with a room that's so vast and with ceilings
19:03that are so high is we need elements that add warmth and make people feel comfortable by adding
19:08the wood it's gonna really warm it up and make it start to feel like a home this was the
19:12donation
19:13that amanda was telling us about on the phone that is um sconces blade somewhere you do a lot of
19:20things
19:20in these pockets i know i'm like what's it's like oscar's can no i want to do it no it
19:24makes me feel
19:24professional oh my god you're the worst here's the shades oh they're big are they big they're
19:32double sconce so this just clips on here she fancy hold on let me hold it on the wall for
19:37you do you
19:37like that silhouette with this yeah but i don't think we need more than three now so we might have
19:41to redo that drawing yeah will you remind me don't forget to redo the drawing for the bookshelf that's
19:47your reminder yeah you're really helpful thank you the fear for a designer when you're working with
19:53product that's donated is how do you make it all come together and look good so you have to be
19:58flexible yeah i feel like it's just about figuring out what's great what works and building from there
20:03so there's not quite as much done as i wanted there to be but it's gonna be fine right
20:09look at me it's gonna be fine right um yeah it's gonna be great
20:16coming up tonight we're gonna help pass out blankets and food
20:19it's crazy i mean like that's somebody's daughter standing right there that's somebody's son right
20:24there it's just heartbreaking
20:33run you're free
20:36let me see are you gonna do that by yourself again
20:41okay we're watching all right let's see it
20:48good job hey pops daddies have a million things to do today so here's where we're going sit down
20:53i'll tell you what we're doing yeah we'll tell you what we're doing so we're gonna go shopping first
20:57but then when it gets dark we're gonna get in a magic van guess what's in the van sandwiches
21:07water chips what shampoo and we drive around and we give all of that stuff to people that are
21:14sleeping on the street with nothing they don't have anything is that a good idea yeah yeah as parents
21:21i think the most important thing we can teach our daughter is that when you see somebody whose
21:26circumstances are different than yours you have an obligation to help
21:34that's a great transition no smiling no stop look how big she is
21:47that's not how it works
21:55favorite place in the world this makes me so happy well you need to be effective and quick
22:00today quick and effective so my middle name quick and effective
22:05we are looking for hardware for the cabinetry that's coming into covenant house we have 14 feet
22:11of cabinetry times two so we need something super subtle sophisticated that can kind of stand the
22:17wear and tear of a lot of people using yeah with the finishes that we're working with for covenant
22:21house because they had some sconces that were donated were in the silver family but you can mix a little
22:26bit i think it's so funny that people still are fearful of mixing metallic finishes chrome accents
22:33with brass furniture you know really have fun with it you don't want it to all just feel like a
22:38set
22:38i feel like a lot of people when they come into hardware stores like this can easily get overwhelmed
22:42my tip is to decide on a silhouette and a shape before you even get here otherwise you end up
22:47like nate and you're just digging around for hours
22:51do you like this guy i do i think that's pretty how much is that six dollars and eighty cents
22:56sold
22:58we have five days to get the big room completed for the covenant house and at this point not a
23:04lot
23:04has been done we really need to kick things into high gear we were lucky enough to have some paint
23:09donated so that means we're now able to cover up that outdated mural and for the walls we're going
23:14to go with two tones a white for the base and a brown for the bottom half which will add
23:19a chair rail
23:19all the way across it's going to trick your eye it's going to ground the space and it didn't cost
23:24a lot
23:24of money and we got to finish the wood on the ceiling once we're done the room will feel like
23:29home
23:38it's going to have a huge impact for staff residents and future residents and i can't wait to see when
23:48it's done so hope to see you guys soon so we got backpacks hygiene kits we got blankets um a
24:06lot of
24:06times people that are on the street they you know just need some of the basics and this will help
24:10keep
24:10them warm or keep them clean and keep them fed tonight i'm really excited because we're going to
24:14help pass out blankets and food to stand in the type of truth that we are about to see tonight
24:20is
24:20going to be hard do you feel like there's been an increase in the homeless youth lately over the last
24:26couple of years yeah there has been and it's been significant we expect young people coming out of
24:32the system at 18 years old to be able to be independent right yet like in a middle class family
24:37young people are staying at home till they're 26 right after they're finished at college so
24:41absolutely that's very interesting yeah so the expectations are very unreasonable for these young
24:46people what percentage of homeless youth do you think the parents actually know where they are
24:52i'd say it's a pretty low percentage most of the young people we work with are disconnected from their
24:58families either because they were abused or neglected tons of them are homeless because they're lgbtq
25:03rejected by their families that's insane to me yeah it's crazy to think that jose and junior
25:10and chantal these lovely really interesting people were on the streets of hollywood in tents and it's
25:17so incredible that they're giving back they're incredible people hey guys how are you doing
25:24anybody hungry sandwiches there's chips down there water thank you you guys doing good could be better
25:31it could be worse of course yeah oh wow that's really cool when i was homeless i had amazing friends
25:49and family who were there to help in any way they could but these kids have everything that they own
25:54in a tent and you can tell that just by giving them blankets and sandwiches means so much to them
26:00the guy that owns this place when the cops come here he lets them know i gave them permission
26:04thank you no way just the dignity of looking them in the eyes and having a conversation
26:09and connecting with them they appreciate good to meet you bro all right all right cool all right see
26:14y'all there's such a stigma around being homeless that they're human beings it's crazy i mean like
26:20just somebody's kids that's somebody's daughter standing right there that's somebody's son right
26:24there this is a mile and a half from our house where like our daughter is and they're not they're
26:30well spoken and they're like connected and um young and forgotten and it's just so it's i don't know
26:38it's just heartbreaking at home for them is the connection that they have with the people that
26:44they've met on the street the beauty of working with homeless youth versus other populations is they
26:49still have so many hopes and dreams right that you've gotten in right oh you want to do this we
26:54can help you do that let's keep going until next okay going out there last night it made me realize
27:02how far i've come without the covenant house i wouldn't really have my life back together the way
27:07it is now and i wouldn't have this opportunity to be able to give back to other homeless people
27:19we've got three days left and there's still a ton of work to be done we know that it's been
27:24really
27:24hard for the covenant house to operate without this room but we are 100 confident that they're
27:28finally going to feel at home in it the next step is to cover that existing carpeting with new
27:35laminate flooring that was donated it's really durable and will work really well in the space
27:41then we're going to add our vest fuel for the perfect first impression
27:45dave bowler our incredible contractor has agreed to donate custom bookcases not only they practical
27:52and provide a ton of storage but it really draws your eye to both sides of the room and makes
27:56it feel
27:57like it is in a shelter are you ready to see everything i'm excited me too
28:19wow wow i feel so much happier already doesn't it this looks like when you first walk in
28:26you really realize that not only do people care about you but they've created like a home for you
28:31yeah look at the bookshelf it's so good looking beautiful the cabinets are so sick look how deep
28:39this is and look at how much storage there is yeah this really looks amazing i love the entry i
28:44think
28:44that's so handsome it's such a nice moment to have when you walk in beautiful all of these elements
28:51combined create this soft warm atmosphere they're going to really make this big room finally feel like
28:58their home i'm excited to get this whole thing cleared out start getting furniture in here the thing
29:04that's got me stressed out about this floor plan babe is that this is the most aggressive amount
29:09of furniture we've placed there's between 50 and 60 pieces of furniture there's 50 pieces of actual
29:15furniture and then we need multiple televisions multiple lighting multiple rugs we've got 14 feet
29:22of bookshelves on two walls that we need to fill and it needs to be useful right it doesn't need
29:28to just
29:28be like pretty this is like designing 20 living rooms so this is going to be brutal but i want
29:34it to
29:34be perfect for them
29:40it is install day i'm so excited about this look at this
29:45yay floor plans and we have a plan there is 50 pieces of furniture plus i can't believe it was
29:53all
29:54donated without the donations of amazing furniture stores we would never have been able to complete
29:59this space countless time and effort and shipping and money and everybody that we reached out to to
30:05be involved in this was excited at the opportunity to help out yes yes it's going to be so comfortable
30:14it's going to feel like home this is exactly what we wanted two custom bookshelves we're going to fill
30:20these with books so the kids have a library to borrow from do you want to divide and conquer today
30:25it's like music to my ears nate is going to attack both of the bookshelves and he can place all
30:30the
30:30little things that he lives for and i will do everything else not everything i mean like
30:37layout furniture yeah we'll see we'll see can we get started yeah we know we've got a lot of books
30:46that were donated to covenant house so i want everybody to be able to come grab a book on
30:51something that interests them i think books bring a community together too do you know who's going
30:56to be psyched about these books josue one thing that you see in historical interiors all the time
31:05are paintings and photographs hung in front of bookshelves it's something that adds a lot of warmth
31:10and a lot of depth to the space and this is going to look great on both sides symmetry
31:17what are you doing not helping you what are you doing with those then because those are not for
31:22your bookshelf i am aware that these go on the table i know those go for the dining table i
31:27know
31:28i'm putting them over on the i know but the dining table's not in there that's not your concern i'm
31:32putting them over on the bookshelves just waiting to so that they're ready and next to us but i don't
31:38want them in there that falls under furniture this is accessories but i don't understand you're not
31:42using them on the bookcases so why put them on i'm just putting them there so that i remember
31:47for me to put them on a table
31:52it's happening
31:56thank you that looks so good
32:01was yikes one of the fun things about this space has been trying to figure out a way to introduce
32:06some
32:07sophisticated lighting they didn't feel commercial with the big tubes that were in here before so
32:11we found these really great inexpensive glass globes we're hanging them in a series
32:16babe i'm in the middle of a monologue it's fine busy for once we have hung everything in that really
32:23cool series and then we're actually mounting lighting on the actual bookshelves so it's just enough ambient
32:29lighting as well
32:32we've been waiting all day for the stone tops for the tables that we ordered we used remnants
32:37and when izzy who does the stone for us found out what we were doing here at covenant house he
32:43was
32:43like i'm not going to charge you this entire experience has been people throwing in whatever
32:47they can to help josue had this really beautiful moment when we met him talking about how life is a
32:53canvas so we bought these really inexpensive self-adhesive stickers and we're going to use them just
32:59above the line in the entry to spell out posway's quote the entire experience of the covenant house
33:05is so full circle for me i was in and out of my car for a year and now 10
33:09plus years later with my
33:11husband creating a space that's aimed at making kids feel like they have a chance to carve out a
33:17life for themselves on their terms is so beautiful and so poignant it's been really special i just think
33:23that what it represents is so powerful like this is the first opportunity that kids off the street have
33:28a moment and think oh i deserve better than what i've got right now like i might actually have
33:33landed somewhere out of my tent that's worth it
33:49i really wanted to have like good pictures of the residents here and the staff i want these personal
33:55touches here i'm glad you left this till today you are no oh it's reveal day and this is the
34:02one
34:02that's probably closest to our hearts i'm so excited it's a surprise for the staff but it's gonna affect
34:07the youth that come in here for years and years to come so it's twofold this is a one-time
34:13shot and
34:13it really has to stand the test of time you think it's gonna look like a lounge oh yeah like
34:19i think so
34:20what are you excited to see i'm so excited to see the color of the wall the seats the individual
34:26section areas do you think we still have the bean bags okay this is like a race against the clock
34:34make sure you're fast babe because they really are gonna be here no i know that's why i'm like
34:38starting to panic some flaws in your system bro we have to knock
34:45i'm almost ready guys we're not almost right like and by almost ready i mean not ready well
34:50perfect i am super anxious i could not sleep last night at all i've been thinking about it
34:56literally just dreaming about it i can't wait to see it be right there my stress level is going up
35:02my heart is funky right now all right guys come on in oh my god all right guys come on
35:18in
35:31this is beautiful oh my gosh wow how did you guys do this i feel like i'm in a hotel
35:41nice yeah this feels like home we created this brand new little entry moment to kind of set the
35:51the tone when you walk in and you see panes of glass and wood and warmth and all of those
35:57things
35:58it starts to feel like home right and the entrance we used your quote because we thought
36:03that that was a really good transition for kids coming in off the street
36:10look at this still this couch so fast
36:16no one's on the bean bags on the floor anymore oh my gosh we don't sink into the ground
36:23you have two rows basically of sofas for movie night all these chairs and everything come forward
36:28and can slide around on the new floor there's over 50 pieces of furniture in this room so it was
36:34like
36:35designing like 20 living rooms i like how we were able to move around the furniture to accommodate
36:40that's like a big deal that it's what we needed for sure yeah definitely a multi-purpose room yeah
36:46definitely for sure we didn't want to bring in a ton of color because we wanted it to feel timeless
36:50we
36:50didn't want anybody to have to worry about changing this out in 10 years
36:56and if the furniture moves it'll work wherever you move it to dang this is crazy i didn't see this
37:01i see that right behind you our lovely picture
37:07both of these have deep deep storage so all the donations that come in and things like that
37:12can be tucked away until they're ready to use it so we wanted this to be a real library that
37:17people
37:17could have free access to we had books donated residents can come in bring them back to your room read
37:23at night a lot of titles that are about inspiration
37:28before the actual staff members had to like work on folding desks folding chairs all of that now
37:34they've got tons of ample seating brand new tables oh my goodness group hug the big room definitely
37:41does feel like home the future residents i'm excited for them because a lot of them have been
37:45on the streets and to come into something fresh like that they're gonna see that this is not just
37:51another shelter this is a place to get their life together the three of you started this process
37:55as a way to give back how does that feel to give back to the covenant house it's so amazing
38:01it's
38:01our way to say thank you for everything the kids should be so proud of themselves this is a really
38:06big
38:07moment for the three of them the covenant house was a part of the kids story and now the kids
38:11are a
38:12part of the covenant house's story which is really beautiful well i think we should bring the staff in
38:16here i don't know about you babe but i don't feel like this is our surprise to give no you
38:20guys this whole
38:21thing started with you and it should end with you so we'll wait here you guys go grab them hi
38:28guys
38:31you guys are gonna lose it right now you ready yeah wait no right yeah okay we gotta hold on
38:40because
38:41it's gonna be fun should we let them in yeah i guess so all right guys come on in
38:57oh my god oh my god this is just it's insane our young people are gonna lose their minds thank
39:09you guys
39:13the guys told us the three of them that the covenant house is not a typical shelter and so
39:21our job has been to create a space that rises up because if a place can be this filled with
39:27love
39:27it should look like it's got that much love it just feels really good it feels really good i feel
39:33like
39:33the space just says you are loved and you're free to dream now what do you think of like the
39:39hardwood
39:39floors like on the ceiling i can honestly say i never envisioned the flooring we saw from lumber
39:45liquidators coming on the ceiling but it's just stunning and beautiful and dignifying and our youth
39:52deserve it this whole thing started with an anonymous donation to you of 25 000 which we used every
39:58nickel love everybody we approached also jumped on board our contractor free bookshelves custom-made
40:06if you take the value of all the materials and all the products and all the furniture and yeah donations
40:12everything on the books all of it we ended up spending about a hundred grand so yeah thank you
40:21i think we're feeling just full of joy that we have such a beautiful space now to share with our
40:27young
40:27people we're just so ecstatic to be able to have a family room where we can get together with our
40:34staff with our young people and it really exudes how i want all of our interactions with people to
40:40be whenever they come on campus oh yeah that's a great the big room is like beautiful i mean you
40:55walk
40:55into that space and you immediately feel like you're part of an organization that has got its
41:01stuff together i just love the idea of these kids walking in off the street and seeing this
41:07space and thinking i deserve this and i want this the actual design of the space is screaming at
41:14anybody in it you're important you're valued you're seen you're heard that is like an amazing feeling
41:22it's home we've done a lot of rooms and we've filled a lot of spaces but this has been one
41:27of
41:27the most important things i think that we've ever been a part of the work that all of you do
41:31here is
41:32so unbelievably wonderful thank you for letting us be a very small
41:36all right you guys enjoy
41:41how do you feel so great it was a big empty room and now it's a big family room you
41:51did this
41:53you have to feel really good about it it's a big room filled with love
42:00hey nate jeremiah i really want to give a thank you this looks amazing and we've done so many
42:07activities here i'm checking out the bookshelves here i already see a couple books that i like
42:13which i greatly appreciate words can hardly express our gratitude for the beautiful gift of this
42:19space that you've given to our family it's brought so much dignity and love and just respect to
42:26everybody who walks through our doors and we are overwhelmed with gratitude
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