At-Risk Teens Get a Well-Designed Home and Real Hope

Los Angeles youth aging out of foster care and potentially into homelessness now have a vibrant and inspiring place to call home. Freehab, opening this month in that city, combines 12-step substance-abuse treatment, counseling, higher education and vocational training under one roof. The program is Lauri Burns’ newest venture with The Teen Project, a nonprofit she founded that has helped hundreds of teens as they age out of the foster care system in the United States.

An estimated 25,000 young adults age out of foster care every year. Burns aims to give them the tools and assistance they need to thrive on their path to adulthood.

Grammy-winning band Maroon 5 and Reverb, an environmental nonprofit, partnered with The Teen Project for the renovation of an 11-bed apartment in the facility — an extension of the drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. A 100-bed dormitory and treatment portion of Freehab were finished late in 2013. Burns and team completed the apartment at the end of February 2014.

Burns envisioned Freehab as an inspiring and uplifting place in which to live. Group homes can be dirty, uniform and lifeless, she says. This space is the opposite. It is about life and creating a comfortable place where the teens can sleep every night. With each project she takes on, Burns gives designers the freedom to have fun with the interiors and put a piece of themselves in the space.

She brought on interior designer Charmean Neithart to head the design of the apartment. Working with a red and black color scheme selected by Maroon 5, and sustainable materials requested by Reverb, Neithart and her team designed and built the space in three and a half weeks. This process involved patching wall holes, checking electrical, installing a new floor, assembling furniture, painting and decorating. Most of the surfaces in the living space needed to be replaced.

Wall paint: Bleeker Beige. All paint used is from Benjamin Moore’s Natura line.


Volunteers added finishing touches to the bedrooms on February 24. Participants from Maroon 5, The Teen Project, Reverb and Neithart’s office assembled furniture, hung art, made beds and got the apartment move-in ready. Here James Valentine of Maroon 5 and other volunteers are assembling a bed.


The Teen Project’s Freehab provides homeless youth of Los Angeles with a place to live while they go through a 12-step drug and alcohol treatment, counseling and other rehabilitative programs, all free of charge. Burns partnered with a vocational school next door to the facility so Freehab residents can enroll in job training classes as they progress through their treatment. It’s about a complete life transformation, she says.

After residents complete their rehab, which can last 90 days to a year or more, they have the opportunity to extend their stay next door in the apartment portion of the center. The 11-bed apartment at Freehab is available for open-ended stays. Participants can work there as facility mentors, cooks etc., honing skills and receiving educational training that will help them when they leave.


Five bedrooms make up the apartment at Freehab. Four of the rooms are doubles, and there’s one triple, with the setup resembling a private home more than a rehab center. The residents who will live here have already graduated through their treatment and are transitioning out of the facility.

Wall paint: Moroccan Red, Benjamin Moore; bedding: De-Cor


Local vendors and distributors provided furnishings. Urban Woods, a company Neithart found on Houzz, fabricated the dressers in the bedrooms. Items were made from reclaimed, recycled and renewable materials. The carpet comes from recycled water bottles. De-Cor donated all of the linens. The art in this space is a combination of original artwork and upcycled gameboards. The pillows are covered in old Persian rugs, and the headboards are made with recycled leather.

Nightstand: Urban Woods; bedding: De-Cor; wall paint: Once Upon a Time, Benjamin Moore


A sitting area centers the apartment. It will be used for small group activities and as a space where the residents can relax together outside of their bedrooms. The apartment incorporates flexible spaces without too much programming.

Flooring: donated by Cali Bamboo


Dining table: Urban Woods


A kitchenette off the living room includes a sink, microwave and fridge as a supplement to the facility’s full kitchen. “I wanted the residents to be able to grab a cold soda, pop some microwave popcorn or make some tea,” says Neithart. The Airstream photo reinforces a forward-moving theme.

Cabinets: Charlton Cabinets; glass knobs: donated by Uneek Glass Fusions


Neithart used a Chinese drum as a side table in the living area. Various circles and round objects surface in the design of the apartment, symbolizing coming full circle in life. Wheels are referenced throughout the space as reminders of moving forward.

Lamp: Bassman Blaine


A curated library vestibule serves as the entrance to the apartment space and connects it with the treatment portion of the Freehab facility. Here Mickey Madden of Maroon 5 and other volunteers organize the bookshelf on installation day.


Neithart mounted to the wall vintage chairs donated by Cisco Home as additional book storage.

There’s a lot at stake here — recovery, rehabilitation, job growth and training — but above all, the design encourages people to feel comfortable and proud to call the space their own. “We wanted to create a space where they could go and feel at home,” Neithart says.





Maroon 5 contributed an autographed guitar and other signed memorabilia to the decor. They also donated a signed guitar that will be auctioned off in support of The Teen Project. “I am truly inspired by [Burns’] dedication to these kids and the impact she has made on so many lives,” says Reverb’s Tanner Watt.

The band has worked with Reverb since 2008, when they collaborated to reduce the band’s environmental impact while on tour. Reverb continues to work with Maroon 5 to “connect their fans with important environmental and social causes and organizations at every stop on the tour, and in the off season the band teams up with Reverb to support worthy causes through community projects,” says Watt (shown here with band members Valentine and Madden).


Over the past 25 years, Burns has fostered more than 30 kids in her own home. Through The Teen Project, she has created The P.A.D. (which stands for “protection and direction"), a drop-in center in Venice Beach, California, that gets hundreds of homeless youth off the street and into safe housing each year, and Orange County sober college housing and support, as well as established a nationwide homeless shelter text service.

The Teen Project is funded through donations and staffed by countless volunteers, and Burns urges everyone to participate in any way they can. “The more I give, the more I receive,” says Burns, who spent much of her youth in the juvenile dependency system, battling drug addiction, homelessness and the temptation of prostitution. She adds that no contribution is too little to make a difference.

Neithart, who has collaborated with Burns three times now, says designers have a wonderful opportunity to bring their project management skills to organizations like this. They can donate financially or through their time.

To learn more: Visit The Teen Project’s website

URL: At-Risk Teens Get a Well-Designed Home and Real Hope http://www.decor-ideas.org/cases-view-id-23177.html