After walking into his Silver Spring apartment, newly decorated with a brown leather couch, a wooden table with four chairs, patterned rugs, lamps glowing warmly and walls covered with vibrant paintings and prints, all Rafael could immediately say was “gracias” over and over.
“Está seria la cosa,” he then said, quoting a saying from his home country of El Salvador that roughly translates to, “This is real now.”
Rafael, 59, (whose full name is being withheld to protect his privacy) and his roommate were two of the dozens of recipients of Thursday’s home makeover project by Silver Spring-based nonprofit A Wider Circle. With a warehouse and offices at 9159 Brookville Road, the nonprofit collects furniture donations from residents, hotels and universities, often repairing broken items, and then helps furnish the homes of those in need for free.
For its second annual “Home Reimagined” event, the nonprofit worked with more than one hundred volunteers and designers to collect furniture, housewares and decorations to transform the homes of more than 30 families and individuals living in Maryland, Virginia and Washington, D.C., according to event director Lara Gagrica. In 2024, the first year of the event, 10 homes were furnished.
“So, it really is our daily service. It’s getting furniture into people’s homes. It’s making sure that empty spaces have beds and dressers and kitchen tables for families to eat at. But [Home Reimagined] is just a more impactful version because we have a professional moving company, but also that design professional to really pay attention to the details and make sure it feels like a home,” Gagrica said.
Rafael had been living at Progress Place, the downtown Silver Spring shelter, for several years, according to his case worker Sergio Hernandez. He moved with a roommate into a two-bedroom apartment on Thayer Avenue in December, but the apartment was mainly furnished with free items the men found on the curbs of local streets.
After he saw the newly furnished space Thursday evening, Rafael, speaking with Hernandez translating, said he felt “excited” and looked forward to inviting over his cousin, who lives nearby.
In addition to the furniture, plus new sheets and blankets, Rafael looked forward to using the new cooking utensils and pots and pans in his kitchen. He worked in the food and restaurant industry for many years, but lost his job during the pandemic, and said he liked to cook, but lately had been using a kitchen knife with no handle.
“No ha sido fácil,” he said, which means, “It hasn’t been easy.”
Organizing the event
The recipients of the home makeovers applied to participate in the event and then were chosen primarily based on the level of highest need and vulnerability, Gagrica said.
Gagrica said the event’s mission is to address “furniture poverty” and bring together the community to help others in need.
“A lot of people have to choose between where they spend their money — rent, food, medicine — and furniture is going to be farther down that line,” Gagrica said. “So I think people don’t always realize that housing is an issue, but once they have the housing, what are they sleeping on?”
Lauren Rust, a grants writer at A Wider Circle, who helped with Rafael’s home makeover, told Bethesda Today that many of the nonprofit’s clients are “coming out of difficult situations, whether that would be homelessness – transitioning from there – domestic abuse situations, refugees.”
Rust said she had seen some clients who had no furniture or just an air mattress and camping chairs.
“Sometimes you’re starting from literally bare bones,” Rust said. “When you’ve gone days without a bed, it impacts your health, it impacts your mental health and what you can do at work. So, these types of transformations are a one-time thing but … the benefits last for a lot longer.”
Julia Anne Matheson, a Chevy Chase resident who designed Rafael’s home makeover, said she spent about six weeks collecting furniture, housewares and decorations before the event. While she pulled furniture from A Wider Circle’s supply, she also scoured local Goodwill locations and garage sales for colorful woven baskets, art to hang on the walls and handmade blankets.
“To be able to help someone create a home is like the greatest joy you can have. Everybody needs a place where they can feel safe and comfortable,” said Matheson, who is a lawyer with an eye for design.
Lauren Rust (left) and Julia Anne Matheson (right) admire art Matheson had collected for the home makeover. Photo credit: Elia Griffin 
Before the Home Reimagined makeover, Rafale’s apartment was nearly empty with only found on county curbs. Photo credit: Elia Griffin 
Volunteers spent hours organizing, cleaning and making over Rafael and his roommate’s apartment. Photo credit: Elia Griffin
While she is not a professional designer, Matheson said she loves helping family and friends decorate and assemble their homes and was encouraged by her husband to apply to be a designer for Home Reimagined.
As Matheson collected, she said she kept in mind the personal taste of Rafael and his roommate. They liked colors, animals, flowers and plants, she said. They also enjoyed cooking and wanted a blue-and-white color scheme in their bedrooms, a nod to their Salvadoran heritage.
Matheson made five pillows for the men’s apartment by upcycling the upholstery from a colorful armchair. She also pulled items from her own home, such as a TV, clock radio and handmade wooden bird decorations she had collected from countries in Latin America.
“I just want it to be joyous,” Matheson said, also noting she hoped the new space would be a place where the men could relax.
After the reveal, Rafael noted that he enjoyed the bird-themed décor around the apartment. He joked that the only thing missing was an image or figurine of a torogoz, or turquoise-browed motmot, the vibrantly colored national bird of El Salvador.
