Rooted Interiors, a nonprofit dedicated to transforming empty spaces into fully furnished homes for families exiting homelessness, is expanding its mission into New Bern with the official launch of a local chapter.
The chapter will be concentrated in eastern North Carolina, specifically Craven County and its neighboring counties such as Beaufort, Jones, Lenoir and Onslow.
Rooted Interiors was founded by Kristina McCalla in Georgia in October 2023. Her belief that thoughtful design can be a powerful tool for healing, hope and lasting change led McCalla to start Rooted Interiors.
From a young age, McCalla was passionate about interior design. A few years after McCalla started her own design business in 2018, Nature’s Interior, she wanted to pursue a passion project but didn’t know what that would look like.
“I knew I needed to get back into design,” she said. “I just didn’t know how.
“I just continued praying and that led to me getting baptized, which then led to me (realizing) this mission on the day of my baptism.”
Sarah Lyne Harper, of New Bern, has been a longtime supporter of Rooted Interiors, as well as a friend of McCalla’s.
Harper and McCalla met while studying interior design and have remained connected since 2019.
Their shared passion for design and community impact laid the foundation for a new partnership. Harper, owner and designer at Kreyatif Interiors, will lead the New Bern chapter of Rooted Interiors.
“She’s a really great friend of mine, and recently moved to New Bern,” McCalla said. “When we were talking about expanding and her wanting to get involved in Rooted Interiors, we kind of both were thinking the same thing.”
To find families in need of its services, Rooted Interiors partners with community organizations, who refer people who want to no longer be homeless to the nonprofit and its services.
McCalla said Rooted Interiors seeks partnerships with various organizations, ranging from homeless shelters to food banks, school systems and foster care agencies.
“We don’t find the families and the families don’t come directly to us, which means that the family has to secure housing of their own, whether they are getting help from an agency or a case manager at a homeless shelter,” McCalla said.
McCalla said Rooted Interior’s mission is to help restore dignity and provide a solid foundation for a new beginning by fully furnishing homes for families transitioning out of homelessness.
In design school, Harper and McCalla learned about how a person’s environment affects their quality of life and mental health.
“Up to 90% of our time as humans are spent indoors,” McCalla said. “Mental health plays a role in what we do as an organization because while going through this traumatic experience of being homeless, having a good environment actually helps to heal those wounds of depression or anxiety.”
McCalla emphasized that Rooted Interiors goes above and beyond just providing necessities like beds, tables and couches.
The team thoughtfully designs a welcoming home for families, filled with decorations and family photos, which allows a family to move into their new home and work on building a future, as opposed to worrying about day-to-day survival.
“New Bern is such a special community, and I’m honored to bring Rooted Interiors here,” Harper said. “Through this chapter, we hope to wrap local families in love and support as they begin again — one home at a time.”
Harper has already started reaching out to area groups and organizations to form partnerships that will provide Rooted Interiors with referral families.
McCalla said Harper already has some projects up her sleeve and has received a tremendous amount of support from the New Bern community.
“We’re getting the feedback of how it is so needed here,” she said.
As a new nonprofit in the New Bern area, Rooted Interiors is asking area communities, businesses, churches, civic groups and people to get involved.
Whether through volunteering on installation days, called Rooting Days, or donating gently used furniture and home goods, hosting drives or contributing financially, Harper said there are many ways to help Rooted Interiors make a difference.
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