They came. They decorated. They pulled out. But this was no drive-by design job.
By the time the doors opened on the 2005 Kids Help Phone Designer Showcase last Friday, more than 30 of Calgary's best interior designers and decorators and another 300-plus tradespeople had donated thousands of hours to transform the two homes that comprise the Youville Women's Residence in Marda Loop.
Open May 6 to 29, this year's showcase is the biggest and boldest Designer Showcase to date. The event is expected to attract more than 3,000 visitors, boosting the Kids Help Phone (KHP) coffers by about $100,000, says Sheryl Hayes, KHP regional director.
KHP is Canada's only national, bilingual and 24-hour counselling and referral system for children and youth. Operated without government or United Way funds, KHP raises two-thirds of its national funding through special events such as the showcase, says Hayes. Over time, the toll-free service has been expanded to include an Internet service and a phone service for parents with questions about parenting issues.
Last year, about half of the 23,000 Alberta kids who used the service were from Calgary and the surrounding districts. Answering the questions of more than 1,000 Canadian children and teens a day, the phone and Internet service provides professional counselling support on topics that range from physical and sexual abuse to divorce, depression and drugs.
Since 1993, the Designer Showcase has raised almost $2 million for the Kids Help Phone. But the real beauty of Calgary's signature event is that while one worthy charity gets the gate fees paid by showcase visitors (adults $20, seniors and kids $10), another reaps a legacy of laughter, hard work and pure creative genius, says Dawn Rosine, the volunteer chair of the showcase committee.
This year's beneficiary, Youville Women's Residence, is located in a fourplex and a former rooming house in Marda Loop. A residential recovery and healing centre for women, age 18 and over, who have been abused, have addictions and mental health distress, Youville houses 16 women in its "first-phase" recovery and wellness facility. These women will share four bedrooms (each equipped with its own bathroom), a shower room and a communal kitchen and dining area.
Although it's not immediately apparent from the outside, the entire space, including office and counselling areas, has been completely renovated.
Next door, a quartet of newly renovated apartments allows women who've completed the first phase of recovery to live with their children in a supported environment that includes daily access to the recovery and wellness centre.
This is the third year the showcase has benefited a local charity - and the support is just short of overwhelming, says Rosine, whose volunteer commitment puts her on a first-name basis with virtually every designer and tradeperson on the jobsite.
From Jerry Chong, who designed one of the bedrooms in the recovery centre, to Elizabeth Nandee, who designed a counsellor's office, and Jacqueline Corea, who helped transfigure one of the fourplex suites, every one of the people involved with this year's showcase has good reason to celebrate what they helped accomplish.
According to Rosine, a record number of suppliers volunteered their wares and labour for the event. Many then told organizers they planned to leave behind everything from carpets to furniture, kitchen appliances and built-in stereos. This year, all four of the kitchens in the fourplex were donated, as was all of the flooring throughout the two buildings and many of the light fixtures.
Some designers and tradespeople helped extend the showcase's impact by soliciting funds to purchase furniture and fixtures from other businesses in the city.
Donations like these allow Youville's board of directors to spend money on other things. And as far as Rosine's concerned, all of this support makes the showcase a true legacy project.
If there's a downside to all this altruism it's the fact Rosine's committee is increasingly inundated with requests to be the next beneficiary of the Kids Help Phone Designer Showcase. That's a problem Rosine has learned to live with, especially since her experience at the showcase helm continuously reinforces her faith in the generosity of Calgary's design and decorating community, along with the suppliers that bring the magic to life.
"I love giving back into the community and this event serves a double purpose for two charities," says Nandee, of Basic Black Designs. A veteran of four showcases, she also likes the way suppliers have embraced the fundraiser.
Located at 1937 and 1941 42 Ave. S.W., this year's showcase is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.
The homes are open Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Visitors can meet the designers on Thursdays from 5 to 9 p.m.
This year's showcase gala will be held Friday, June 3 at one of Calgary's newest event venues, Artists of the World.com, 514 11 Ave. S.W. The $75 tickets include food and libations and, if purchased before May 27, admit ticket holders to the Designer Showcase.
For more information, call 645-4077.
(Joy Gregory can be reached at joy@businessedge.ca)
