Young America® Partners With Oprah's Angel Network

Furniture World Magazine

A room to call your own may seem like a small thing, but to a child who has lost everything, it can be a lifeline back to a normal life. That’s why Young America®, a leader in the youth furniture industry, is partnering with Oprah’s Angel Network and Habitat for Humanity to rebuild homes and rebuild lives for the young survivors of Hurricane Katrina. The Oprah Winfrey Show will devote Wednesday’s program to the project. (Please check air time in your local TV listings.) “Many of these children have no tangible evidence of their lives before Katrina,” says Glenn Prillaman, Young America® senior vice president of marketing and sales. “They lost not only their homes and basic family necessities, but also their toys, their belongings and their beds – things that were uniquely theirs. We’re happy to help give these young survivors a space to call their own, as well as hope for a brighter future.” Shortly after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, talk show host Oprah Winfrey pledged $10 million of her own money and launched Oprah’s Angel Network Katrina Homes Registry so viewers could help build homes for the hurricane survivors. Partnering with Habitat for Humanity, Oprah’s Angel Network not only built the homes, but furnished them, too. Preeminent Chicago decorator Nate Berkus designed the interiors with help on the children’s rooms from the Young America® team. For the folks at Young America®, Stanley Furniture’s brand of youth furniture, providing for the youngest Katrina survivors has been a company-wide effort. Eight associates, representing the company’s four manufacturing facilities and corporate headquarters traveled to Houston to deliver the furniture and decorate the rooms. “We found it especially fulfilling to personally go on-site in Houston and experience the power of this effort,” Prillaman says. “There’s something truly special about helping people with the furniture you design and manufacture. Those of us on the crew who traveled to Houston, as well as our nearly 2,500 associates, are proud to take part in such a life-changing cause.” Young America® Designer Maggie Aardema, A.S.I.D., created four color schemes for the children’s rooms. For the youngest girls, a cheerful ballerina pink brings life to the walls, while girls 12 to 18 enjoy a lovely lavender hue. Young boys will find both comfort and energy in a soft blue shade, while teen boys will appreciate the sophistication of a grown-up buff color. Each room is fully furnished with a Young America® bed, night stand, drawer chest, desk, chair and mirror. Beds include cribs for infants, transition beds with safety rails that convert to a regular twin-size bed for pre-schoolers and twin beds for tweens and teens. “We want these rooms to be personal havens that the kids will enjoy now and in years to come,” Prillaman says. “The journey through the infant, preschool, tween and teen years is actually a complicated maze of changing emotions, desires and needs. Young America® easily adapts to those changes and grows right along with the child.” When furnishing each room, Aardema focused on Young America’s® six S’s: Safety, Sleep, Study, Storage, Socializing and Style. “Safety is Young America’s® top priority and especially important to parents of children who have already faced trauma,” Prillaman says. “Young America® produces the safest children’s furniture in the industry. Our furniture is designed to meet all guidelines set forth by the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), the American Society of Testing Materials (ASTM), and the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA). “We can only hope that these young survivors have already faced their most difficult challenge in life and only good things await them in the future,” he says. “It is very fulfilling to think that as a result of this partnership, one of these kids may grow up to discover the cure for cancer or be elected president of the United States. We hope each will one day pass down their Young America® furniture to their own children and that, in some small way, we have made a difference in their lives.” Young America® is the industry leader in youth furniture. Built to Grow™ from the crib to college and beyond, it focuses on developing innovative furniture offering great design, function, safety and quality for today’s kids. Young America® is a registered trademark of Stanley Furniture Company, Inc. One of the largest furniture manufacturers in the United States, Stanley Furniture® is widely recognized as a style and design leader. The company has received 11 coveted Pinnacle Awards for fine quality residential wood furniture, ranging from traditional to contemporary. Stanley Collections are presented as dining room, bedroom, home entertainment and accent tables, and home office. Founded in 1924, Stanley Furniture® has a strong tradition of superior product supported by excellent quality and service. The shipment of orders to retail stores – an average of 14 days this year – is among the fastest in the industry. Production facilities are located in Stanleytown and Martinsville, Va., as well as Robbinsville and Lexington, N.C. Stanley Furniture’s upper-medium priced furniture is sold to furniture specialty stores, department stores and furniture store chains. Stanley Furniture® common stock is traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the symbol STLY. For additional information, visit youngamerica.com.