“Think Extreme Home Makeover: Bedroom Edition, ” said one of this week’s Campus Celebrities, Mike Seidman, when asked to describe his recently completed project.
This past weekend, Seidman and fellow Goizueta student, Adam Hamberg, created the dream bedroom of a 15-year-old girl suffering from Leukemia. This was their second project with Healing Spaces, a New Jersey-based nonprofit organization that joins with local hospitals, contractors, designers and other volunteers to provide children suffering from cancer and other serious illnesses with a personalized healing environment at home.
Before After
Last year, Seidman brought Healing Spaces to the Emory community, and has since managed two Healing Spaces projects with Hamberg—one this semester and one last spring.
Seidman first found out about Healing Spaces through his family friend Mark Dumoff, who co-founded the organization. Dumoff discussed his visions of spreading Healing Spaces to college campuses and suggested that Seidman (who had already helped out with bedrooms in New Jersey) run the first college project.
“Freshman year [at Emory] I spread myself a mile wide and an inch deep with my activities and I knew I had to focus on something more substantial and meaningful,” said Seidman. He agreed to lead the project at Emory and later approached Hamberg with the idea and additional details.
“When I saw how much good a small group of people could do, I knew that I had to be involved in the organization,” said Hamberg. “Healing spaces was the perfect opportunity for me to get my hands dirty and give back to the community.”
As Healing Spaces project managers, Seidman and Hamberg are responsible for collaborating with the Aflac Cancer Center at the Children’s Hospital of Atlanta to choose a recipient, physically building and decorating the bedroom, and just about everything in between. Over the course of the semester, they fundraise, work with corporate sponsors, manage publicity, purchase building materials and meet with the recipient and her family to discuss ideas for the bedroom.
This year’s project required a team of around 25 people, including two designers, one contractor, and several hospital employees. They worked with various local businesses as well, and received help from many Emory student volunteers.
The project culminated in one long weekend, approximately 30 hours, when the bedroom was actually created. This year, the team was able to add improvements to the living room, and the younger daughter’s bedroom, too. The recipient and her family stayed in a hotel over the weekend, and returned home Sunday afternoon for the rooms to be revealed.
Both Hamberg and Seidman agree that the revealing of the bedroom is their favorite part of the project. “To say that [the reveal] is an emotional moment doesn’t give the experience justice,” said Hamberg. “Their gratitude and happiness are nearly tangible.”
“It’s unbelievable to finally realize that the months of hard work were worth it, and that these girls who have gone through incredible physical and emotional pain now have a special place to come home to and recover,” said Seidman. “[The recipients’] responses are truly incredible and will remain with me forever. It’s really hard to put into words the look on their faces, it’s just something you have to experience…if I were to describe it, it’s a combination of joy, excitement and hope.”
Hamberg remembers not only the looks on the recipient’s faces, but the expressions of the volunteers as well. “It is an incredible feeling to bring such a diverse group of students and professionals together and witness their pride and emotion when they realize how their efforts have changed the lives of children in need,” he said.
“I find the most rewarding experiences are those in which you make someone else’s life a bit easier,” said Seidman.
Senior year, Seidman and Hamberg plan to manage one final Healing Spaces project. They are looking for motivated and passionate rising sophomores and juniors to get involved next year and take over the Healing Spaces project in the future. “All I can recommend is for everyone to be involved in giving back to the less fortunate, whether through Healing Spaces or whatever club/organization most interests you,” said Seidman. “It’s very easy to get too caught up in school to care, but there is always time to make for others if it’s important to you.”
“When you get involved with an organization like Healing Spaces, the satisfaction you will gain is even greater than the happiness you provide to the families in need,” said Hamberg.
Interested in getting involved next year? Learnlink Michael Seidman or Adam Hamberg for more information!
Watch NBC’s coverage of the project!