Local nonprofit Room for Restoration takes on new project, looks to expand
On a recent Friday afternoon, Cassie Vera, Lisa Esparza and Katelyn Barth gathered at School Grounds in Downtown Lodi to plan out an extreme bedroom makeover.
The recipient is Aiden, whose father has been in prison in Folsom for six years. He wanted to give her a gift, and that’s how Room for Restoration — a local nonprofit — got involved.
Vera and Esparza launched the organization earlier this year. The mission is to help children connect with their fathers — all inmates in prison — by turning their bedrooms into unique, amazing spaces. The goal is both to give children a connection or closure with their incarcerated parent, and to show inmates that even though they’ve made mistakes over the years, it’s not too late to do something good.
It’s a mission that some question, the women admit. But the idea that children of inmates — or the prisoners themselves — don’t deserve to be treated kindly is one they push against.
“Until we as people realize we’re all broken and all capable of doing the most heinous things ... we could all be in that place,” Vera said.
And while the group hopes that their work will help those convicted of crimes turn their lives around, their main focus is on the children, she added.
“The child doesn’t deserve to be punished for their parent’s action,” Esparza said.
The organization was inspired by a similar nonprofit run by Vera’s sister in Texas, which focuses on families in need. Recently, Vera even traveled out to Houston to help during Hurricane Harvey, and got stuck for a couple of weeks.
“I had to wade through waist-high water,” she said. “Your perspective on life just changes.”
The women were inspired to focus on inmates with their organization, mostly for the sake of children who miss out on having a connection with their fathers, but also to help inmates do something for others.
“How do we know if somebody can be better if we don’t give them an opportunity?” Esparza said.
It’s important for the children to have that connection and know their fathers are thinking about them, no matter what they’ve done, she said.
“No matter if our parents are good or bad people, they’re still our parents and we love them,” she said.
For Esparza and Vera, working together on the project has been a natural fit. They’ve been working together for years, and both have a background in room renovation.
“It’s design, which is what we love, but it helps people,” Esparza said. “We get to bless others with what we do.”
For Barth, one of the newer members of their team, her desire to help is a little more personal. She spent some time in jail, she said.
“I get it,” she said. “When you’re doing the time, you’re thinking, ‘Man, how do I take this back?’”
Now she has a job and is working to rebuild her life into something positive. Room for Restoration is letting her reach out to others so they, too, can use their mistakes as an opportunity to change, she said.
Working on something that’s not about her has let Barth channel her energy into something positive.
That’s another one of Room for Restoration’s goals. The women want to provide a positive outlet for not just current inmates but others who have made mistakes in their lives. They also want to connect people to positive role models, like retired police officers.
The organization is an unlikely team of “officers, excons and stay-at-home moms,” Vera said.
At some point in the future, they’re even hoping they can raise enough funds to hire parolees, who often struggle to find honest work, she said.
They’re also hoping to move out of the warehouse space a Lodi businessman has generously loaned the group into their own space. Vera and her husband are in the process of purchasing a home with a barn that Room for Restoration will be able to use.
Right now, though, the distant future is just that. The group’s focus is on Aiden.
The 12-year-old has been separated from her father for six years, since he was arrested. He’s been working hard to do everything he can to get home sooner, Vera said.
Like with other inmates who have written to the group, they
don’t know why he’s in prison.
“We don’t know what they’ve done,” Esparza said.
“We don’t want to know,” Vera added.
Aiden is the youngest in her family, but she’s struggled to try and support her mom and sisters through all of this. She’s a cheerleader with a huge smile, Esparza said. Even so, she misses her dad. “She hangs on to everything he gives her,” Vera said.
The three women have taken the lead on designing her new room, a hipster-inspired space with lots of hearts, arrows, feathers and restored vintage furniture. They’re excited to reveal it to her this weekend.
“It’s fun to get out and be creative,” Barth said.
Aiden is excited to see her new room, her mother Kristi said.
“We’re just both appreciative and thankful, and appreciate everything that Room for Restoration is doing for her,” she said.