Santa Rosa police officers, volunteers transform family's apartment thanks to nonprofit

More than a dozen Santa Rosa police officers and volunteers helped transform a family's apartment as part of an effort to give children a safer, more stable place to sleep, study and grow.

The makeover was done through the Healthy Room Project, a nonprofit founded by retired police officer Mark Kirunchyk. The program partners with police departments and volunteers to redesign rooms for children living without basic essentials.

For Jennifer Alvarado, the project is personal.

More than a decade ago, police officers came to help her when she was a 13-year-old girl growing up in the Imperial Courts housing project in Los Angeles.

Alvarado became the first recipient of the Healthy Room Project.

"Even just getting a new set of bed sheets was very exciting," she said. "A bed, a desk, a lamp. We painted my room purple."

Now, Alvarado serves on the board of the nonprofit that once helped her.

In Santa Rosa, officers and volunteers spent the day painting, building desks and assembling beds for a family of six living in a two-bedroom apartment. It was the first time a Sonoma County family received help through the program.

"When you're invited inside of someone's home to do good, it just makes everybody's day better. We're lucky, and we are blessed that we have this opportunity to help," Kirunchyk said.

Kirunchyk founded the nonprofit and eventually hired Alvarado after she graduated from college.

"I've watched her from being a 13-year-old girl living in Imperial Courts Housing Projects to now on the board of the Healthy Room Project. It just shows how one act of kindness can really make a difference," Kirunchyk said.

Santa Rosa police said the project also gives officers a rare opportunity to connect with families outside of emergencies and traumatic calls.

"These officers deal with families on their worst days. Every call they typically go to is someone else's worst day. So, for us, it's almost a wellness component for them," said Tommy Isachsen with the Santa Rosa Police Department.

Community organizers and police hope the Healthy Room Project can become one part of a broader effort to support children and prevent violence.

Dozens of police departments across the country have partnered with the program, which has helped more than 600 children by reshaping their rooms and giving them a stable place to study and sleep.

"When you have a positive home life where kids are focused on stability, and able to do homework, that translates to having less problems and crimes in the street. Kids aren't turning to quote unquote street families that cause crime and ultimately lead to people joining gangs and making bad decisions," Isachsen said.

For Alvarado, the Santa Rosa makeover was a full-circle moment, from once receiving help to now helping another child in need.

"It really helped me set up to succeed academically, having a designated space in my room to do my homework, to feel safe, and to have a space where I could be myself and just be a kid," Alvarado said.

Santa Rosa police said they plan to continue working with the program.

The Healthy Room Project received a grant from Strategic Solutions that made the apartment makeover possible. The nonprofit has completed rooms in three other states and hopes to work with more police departments across the country.