Julie Davis directs half a dozen volunteers as they unload a 16-foot truck in front of a Nashville duplex. Bunk beds, dressers, lamps and a diaper-changing station come out of the truck; so do boxes with shampoo, books, toys, a kitchen's worth of supplies.
Everything going into the empty two-bedroom apartment has been donated to Re-New, a project that Davis, a high-end interior designer, began eight years ago, when she decided to start using her clients' old furniture to help domestic violence victims moving out of a shelter. Since then, Re-New's dedicated crew of volunteers has furnished nearly 200 homes, for more than 400 women and children they've never met, and all for free.
The tenants ā who get to keep all the furnishings ā tell Davis what color schemes they like, and what their needs are. She coordinates each project from start to finish.
"I'll come take measurements, make a blueprint of the house," said Davis. "Then, when I go back to the warehouse I'll know then what size sofa, what size drapes, what size beds."
[For more of this story, written by Natasha Senjanovic, go to https://www.npr.org/2018/07/18...er-domestic-violence]
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