Naomy's Story

The world works in magical ways. Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath, and believe everything will work out for the best. It can be hard to have hope when life throws repeat challenges, but the team at Cecily's Closet truly believes that every cloud has a silver lining. We know the power of positive thinking and we have seen the community rally around children during times of need. This room makeover is a Cinderella story, and we think you're going to love reading about it!

Nelly, a social worker at Rady Children's nominated Naomy, a beautiful fifteen-year-old girl with Cerebral Palsy, to receive this lasting gift. Naomy is a patient of the Supportive Care Program (Palliative Care) with Rady Children's Homecare. Nelly was so excited to share some wonderful news with our team. Naomy and her devoted Mom, Gabby, were moving into a new, two bedroom apartment. Nelly was hoping that Cecily's Closet would be able to provide Mom and daughter a fresh start together, and improve Naomy's quality of life with a beautiful and comfortable environment. The family was previously living in a single room and needed some new beds and furniture for their new beginning.

Gabby has dedicated her life to caring for Naomy and ensuring that her daughter is loved, happy and comfortable. We had an opening on our calendar in October and it just happened to be with the amazing gServe squad from Gensler. We've been lucky enough to work with this team twice before, and we knew they would jump in with both feet. When the team heard about Naomy they were onboard and ready to get started! But when the team actually got to meet Gabby and Naomy, they were inspired to do even more than just transform Naomy's room, they wanted to flip the entire apartment!

Naomy is a beautiful soul who speaks with her eyes. In addition to cerebral palsy, Naomy has the medical diagnosis of mental retardation, epilepsy, and failure to thrive. She is legally blind and has a history of silent aspiration. Sadly, she has spent more time in the hospital than any child should have to face. Unfortunately Naomy's scoliosis has gotten worse over time and Naomy is now most comfortable lying down.

Given this need, the focus was placed on getting the best beds possible to support this Sweet Dream Room Makeover. Thank you to Laura Cross at Bassett for once again working her magic behind the scenes to score us some wonderful donations. She contacted Bassett partner, Tempur-Pedic, and secured the generous donation of an adjustable bed with a Queen Cloud Prima and Tempur- Ergo Plus base. In addition, she generously provided a mattress protector and sheet set, too. If that isn't a Sweet Dream bed we don't know what else is! Mom likes to sleep with Naomy so she can keep an eye on her through the night. We know these two will be cuddling up in comfort every night!

We would like to thank Gensler and the gServe team for going the extra mile for this family. In addition to donating their time and talent to help Cecily's Closet complete not one room, but a complete apartment makeover, they reached out to their business partners and secured wonderful donations to make this room a place to relax, rest and enjoy!

Thank you to the AV design company, TekWorks, for generously donating two, new 55" LG Smart TVs with wall mounts, two wireless Sonos speakers, as well as an iPad to control them! The team came onsite during the install to not only set-up the audio and visual system, but to also film the entire day's events. You can view the amazing video here.

The volunteer gServe team not only came up with the most perfect color palette, but they curated matching artwork for each room that made the space calming and serene. They were able to get gorgeous, watercolor artwork produced courtesy of Black Crow Studios. They then turned to Gensler's local reprographics partner, Scantech Graphics & Displays, to get the artwork professionally printed and mounted. No detail was left unnoticed and the custom artwork became the focus of every room, unifying the three spaces to create a soothing and relaxing retreat. We know the tranquility of the artwork will provide Naomy and Gabby with some calming energy to help get them through the tougher days.

Thank you Peter and GCThomas for helping us transform the apartment into a home with your generous donation of beautiful and comfy rugs. These rugs were the heart of the main living spaces and key to the rooms feeling warm and inviting.

Thank you to The Light Annex for the beautiful lamps. The copper lamps looked crisp and cool in Naomy’s Room while the two aqua ceramic lamps in the living room were the perfect finishing touch. Your donation lit up the space!

Thank you Rachelle and Momentum Group for not only the generous fabrics you donated, but also for the much needed sewing skills you provided. Thanks also to Kimberly at Designtex and Joanne at Maharam for the additional textiles you donated. Your valuable donations enabled our budget to do so much more for the 3 rooms. Your contributions provided warmth to the spaces.

Thank you Hallie Putterman for the beautiful drapes you provided for the living room and grandmother’s room. These were the perfect finishing touch and framed the rooms nicely. We’re so excited that the essential oils you donated will provide stimulation for Naomy’s sense of smell given her lack of sight. We appreciate your generosity.

In addition, a friend of one of the Gensler team members created a beautiful watercolor painted letter "N", adorned with flowers. Fellow team member, Cassie, took a cue from that painting and took words written by Naomy's Mom, and turned them into a piece of art for a lasting tribute. The piece is not only beautiful to look at, it is a symbol of Gabby's love for her daughter. The song will be sung soon at Naomy's upcoming quinceanera.

Thank you to Sea World for generously granting the family compassion passes when we ran out of budget to provide them with a special outing while the makeover team worked. SeaWorld stepped in and saved the day! This enabled our hard-working volunteers to take over the home and truly surprise Gabby and Naomy after their fun-filled day!

And last but certainly not least, thank you to PaintGreen for coming in and kicking off the install process with perfectly painted accent walls. For years Jon has been our loyal and trusted painting partner. Jon Ray and his team are the most dedicated, generous and lovely painting crew in San Diego and we're so lucky they choose to donate their time and talent for our cause.

Volunteers are the heart and soul of our operation and we are grateful that this team donated 100% of their time and talent to transform this apartment from a house into a home.

And thank you to our generous donors for granting Cecily's Closet the funds to keep our organization alive. We are committed to spreading hope and love to families, one family at a time.

Naomy's Sweet Dream Room Makeover

Grandma's Sweet Dream Surprise

The Heart of the Home

gServe Volunteers in Action

Thank you to Gensler and the gServe Team for once again partnering with Cecily's Closet to complete a full apartment makeover for our organization. This all-star team is no stranger to design. Gensler is an integrated architecture, design, planning and consulting firm—5000+ professionals networked across 46 offices—providing global reach with local touch. The time, energy, passion and commitment they put forth for this project is unbelievable! It is appreciated by the family and our board of directors. Thank you Gensler and the volunteer team, gServe.

Thank you to our trusted partner, PaintGreen. PaintGreen was founded by Jon Ray, who has been painting since 1996. Jon ran a student painting franchise while going to business school at Seattle Pacific University. During this time, he learned that providing quality work and operating in an environment of integrity earned him referrals, was a great way to grow a business, and matched his personal values. Jon founded PaintGreen in 2006.

Customers receive high-quality painting for a fair price. Painters receive fair compensation and respect on the job. Suppliers get honest dealings.

Thank you continued partner, Bassett. One visit to a showroom and you realize that Bassett is much more than a furniture store. Their skilled Design Consultants are dedicated to taking the guesswork out of decorating. They’ll help create custom furnishings, define your decorating lifestyle, establish a budget, make a house call, or simply offer an opinion…all free of charge.

Thank you Tempur-Pedic. Tempur-Pedic believes everyone deserves a great night’s sleep. It’s what drove the original “Swedish scientists” who spent years perfecting a NASA® invention into TEMPUR material. And it is the passion that drives us today, as we create new and better sleep products that continue to change the way the world sleeps.

Thank you to generous donor and AV design company, TekWorks. With offices serving all of Southern California, TekWorks employs over 200 talented and committed professionals dedicated to custom-crafting and installing technology solutions for companies requiring Network Cabling, Data Center, Outside Plant, Fiber Optics, Audio Visual, Physical Security, and Network Services.

TekWorks handles every phase of a project. From conceptualization, through design and engineering, to installation and programming, we become the single point of contact.

Thank you to repeat donor, Scantech. Scantech has 50 years of combined experiences in bringing brands and messaging to reality, their tradeshow marketing team of designers, production and account manager will bring you exceptional solutions to your trade show objectives. Their creative staff and exhibit professionals will always consider the importance of your brand; help to explain your product development or services through an array of exhibit components suitable for your specific needs.

Thank you Black Crow Studios for their gorgeous watercolor artwork. Black Crow Studios is the creative vision of Tracy Hiner, an artist, innovator, and rebel to the core. Breaking rules and pushing boundaries, Black Crow Studios let’s you join in on the rebellion, by working with each client to create a completely unique and custom, art-driven design.

Thank you Designtex, the leading company in the design and manufacturing of applied materials for the built environment.

Thank you Longust Distributing, Inc., a major wholesale flooring distributor servicing in the Southwestern United States.

Thank you GCThomas, an independent agency representing manufacturers and distributors of finish construction materials such as carpet, carpet tile, ceramic tile, luxury vinyl tile, porcelain floor and wall tile.

Thank you Momentum Group, one of the nation’s leading creators of sustainable contract textiles. It is the tie that binds four innovators in the textile design industry: Sina Pearson, Momentum Textiles, LoomSource and Textus.

Thank you Maharam. Maharam was founded in 1902 by Louis Maharam, a Russian immigrant. Through the generations, Maharam evolved from a source of theatrical textiles for costume and set design in the 1940s to a pioneer of performance-driven textiles for commercial interiors in the '60s.

Thank you Light Annex, a custom lighting provider for luxury clientele. Light Annex helps you take the complex challenges of portable guestroom lighting and turn them into positive experiences, because hospitality is all about the experience.

Thank you Sea World, a leading theme park and entertainment company that blends imagination with nature and enables our guests to explore, inspire, and act.