Neighbor News
New Paint & A Disco Ball: A SOHO Story
Mentors with SOHO transform their mentees bedroom at the end of the year a personalized Space of His Own.
The end of April means change is in the air for kids in the Space of His Own and Space of Her own programs.
This year mentor Charlie and his mentee Anthony were the first pair to do their room renovation. It couldn’t have gone any better. Anthony shares a room with his little brother Jay; pre-renovation, they had a pair of worn-out beds and plain white walls, with not much else going on.Charlie raised hundreds of dollars to supplement his SOHO budget, which gives each mentor $300 to renovate the room. He put that money to work, buying brand new furniture for the room.
With the help of three of Charlie’s friends and Anthony’s cousin, they painted the room blue on Saturday. Then, on Sunday the crew built an awesome loft bed for Anthony, with a nice big desk underneath. His younger brother, Jay, got a nice trundle bed of his own. The room is well decorated with all of the SOHO crafts they worked on during the year. Its new centerpiece is a disco ball Charlie and Anthony constructed with an old soccer ball and cut-up CD pieces.
Anthony was elated when he took his blindfold off, four-year-old Jay literally started breakdancing under the disco ball, and a happy family crowded in to admire and celebrate the room. Thanks to Charlie and Anthony’s hard work, the rest of the SOHO boys have a high bar to aspire to as they finish out their room renovations.
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(from left) Mentor Charlie, mentee Anthony, and three helpers finish off painting Anthony’s new room.
Find out what's happening in Old Town Alexandriafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Anthony and Charlie making his disco ball.
Charlie and Anthony kick back in Anthony’s finished room. Anthony’s sizable new desk fits neatly under his loft bed and features his SOHO projects: decorated frames with goofy family photos (from family night), a painted box, a hand-made lamp, a name collage, and shoebox project. His “Doggy” looks on from above.
To find out more information about Space of His Own or its sister program Space of Her Own, attend one of our orientation or email the mentor coordinator at Lily Rowny
