How Standard Communities Transformed a Westhab Waiting Room into a Space of Joy
At Westhab, we believe that a shelter can be more than just a roof over someone’s head—it should be a place where families feel safe, supported, and nurtured on their journey to permanent housing. A recent partnership with Standard Communities helped transform an underutilized waiting room at our Hudson Family Residence into a space of joy and creativity for children and families.
Hudson Family Residence, located in the Bronx, provides temporary housing to 100 families. It’s one of 13 family centers operated by Westhab throughout NYC and Westchester. While families have private spaces including bedrooms and kitchens during their stay, the Family Center also had shared space that was underutilized and undecorated. This is where Standard Communities stepped in. An organization whose mission is also to build affordable housing, they wanted to make a lasting impact on the families. After consulting Westhab on residents’ needs, they turned the waiting room into a vibrant, welcoming space for kids.
Instead of simply decorating the room, Standard involved the children living at Hudson throughout the process. They had a local muralist facilitate a session asking the kids to contribute drawings centered on the theme of “Community” that would be used for a mural in the room. Standard’s team visited the shelter, decorated and set up new furniture for the room, met the families, had lunch, and worked together to bring the vision to life.
The professional muralist combined the kids drawing to create a large-scale, colorful, lively, mural on two walls filled with their creative spirit. Standard also provided furniture and children’s books for a reading nook, turning a seldom-used waiting room into a space where kids could play and read together.
A Lasting Impact
We’re thrilled that all the children and families who participated in this mural project have moved into permanent housing. They are part of the 72 families that moved from Hudson Family Center to permanent housing in 2024. Program Director Emma Villanueva shared how the partnership and the collaborative artwork have affected residents and her team,
A shelter isn’t necessarily the place most people would expect to find beautiful art, but families going through homelessness deserve to live in decent, respectable, and beautiful surroundings! It was an amazing experience to collaborate with Standard and the residents to create this representation of joy in our building. It reminds us of what happens when we invest in the well-being of families, especially those facing the toughest challenges.”
– Program Director, Emma Villanueva
Westhab is also proud to be one of the first providers in NYC to build new, custom-built shelters specifically for these homeless populations. No one better knows how to design shelter spaces than the people who serve these populations daily, and, alongside our partners, we’re happy to be part of a growing awareness of the importance of how we design our shelter spaces.
This partnership has made a difference for the families at Hudson Family Residence and will continue to impact all the families we help find permanent housing. By turning a simple waiting room into a place of comfort, creativity, and play, Standard Communities helped make the space feel like home for our families—and that will put a smile on residents’ faces for years to come.
Thank you to Standard Communities NYC staff for their hands-on support, donations, and a generous additional gift of $10,000 to help Westhab support families living in shelters.
More Articles
Empowering Women in Yonkers with the Support of the Pepsi x Mary J. Blige Strength of a Woman Community Fund
Read More >>