Laura White Interior Design and Amy’s House: Giving back by design
By Janna Zepp | Photography by Rebecca Bachtel
A small travel trailer sits on the campus of Baylor, Scott & White Medical Center that housed the families of organ donors and organ transplant patients waiting for services at the center. Transplant Recipients International Organization provided it. Soon, however, a house—Amy’s House—will stand on the corner of Avenue U and South 15th Street in Temple, to better serve those who have been staying in the trailer and those who will need a place to stay in the future.
Amy’s House will be for those who cannot otherwise afford accommodations during their convalescences and while receiving services at the hospital. It is named for organ donor Amy Firth, who died of blood clots in her brain in November 2012. She was the daughter of retired Central Texas College professor John Henderson and Margaret Henderson. Amy’s kidneys, heart, liver, pancreas, corneas, tissue, and lungs went immediately to at least five different people in need, giving them another chance at a longer life than they might have had without Amy’s generosity.
The interior of Amy’s House, which includes eight bedrooms, a common living room, a kitchen, dining room, and laundry room, will have the mark of Laura White Interior Design on them. It is a labor of love in the memory of Amy and the organ donors and recipients that will stay there.
Laura got the call to help from a friend who is a TRIO Central Texas board member, asking Laura to contact the Hendersons. Laura and Margaret were appointed to be the Selection Committee for Amy’s House at a TRIO Central Texas board meeting last fall. They’ve worked together to select everything involved in building a house and to secure as many donations of products or discounts on products as possible. Laura has donated to TRIO with her time and energy because she supports TRIO’s mission.
“I called the Hendersons and, after talking to them and finding out what the project was all about, I could not say no,” Laura says. “And as with other clients, I tell them two heads are better than one and I am a great hand holder. I knew a lot of decisions had already been made and a builder (selected).
“So I felt like at this stage, I could help with those color selections of products in the specs and possibly the furnishings. Wherever they needed assistance,” Laura says.
Providing a home away from home for organ donors and organ transplant patients is the goal, so to that end, the house has been commercially designed and built free of barriers for those with special physical needs.
“We do want this to reflect their (the Hendersons’) daughter Amy for whom the house was built. Her love of the outdoors and her favorite colors will definitely be a part of this house,” Laura says. “All along the way we have included her memory in decisions we have made which makes areas personal and well thought out.
“In selecting colors and surfaces, we met with Gwen Petter at Wilsonart who was also a big help in showing us products that would fit this type of application that they could help with.”
Laura says her experience on the Ronald McDonald House Board of Directors helped immeasurably, and that there are many similarities in Amy’s House and the Ronald McDonald House which she says makes it easy for her and others to help.
“What I discovered is that all along the process, going to businesses or individuals and asking for donations for a house like this is the easiest part and everyone gives from their heart. Not only do they give but they usually give more than you ever expect. This community, along with the association of Baylor Scott and White, (are) the most giving and caring people,” Laura says.
There is still more to be done. Margaret says money for the purchase of furnishings for the house is the biggest need.
“Because we want the house to have a uniform look, we are selecting all the items that will go into the house,” says Margaret. “For example, we need 16 full beds, eight nightstands and recliners, sofas, comfy chairs, end tables, four dining room sets, conference room furniture, office furniture, a treadmill, and computer equipment. Then there are all the small things that make a house a home: dishes, small appliances, cookware, flatware, art, decorative pillows, cleaning equipment and supplies, linens of all kinds.”
Margaret is in the process of creating registries for household needs that will enable various civic organizations and individuals to purchase gifts for the house tax-free.
To learn more about TRIO, visit trioweb.org. To learn more about TRIO Central Texas, visit www.triocentraltexas.org. To become an organ donor, visit www.organdonor.gov.
How to help Amy’s House
Trio Central Texas welcomes the participation and support of anyone who shares the vision of their parent organization and specific goals of the local chapter. To donate to money to help with building, furnishing, and maintaining Amy’s House, send a check to TRIO Central and write Amy’s House in the memo.
TRIO Central Texas
4311 S. 31st St., Suite 150
Box 319
Temple, TX 76502
