Today we’d like to introduce you to Kia Davis.
Kia, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
The Carsyn Neille Foundation was founded in 2016 after my family experienced the sudden and tragic loss of our daughter Carsyn to brain cancer. After struggling to move forward, I experienced the healing and restorative impact a significant change in her environment made on my grieving process. I vowed to bring the same comfort and support I found on my journey to other families in need. Thus, the Carsyn Neille Foundation was born.
Our mission is to support and comfort families affected by childhood cancer through the transformation of their interior home spaces, providing them a sanctuary and an advantage towards healing and thriving. By creating spaces that are not only beautiful but that add ZERO toxic loads to the environment, we assist in increasing the quality of life for each family, both in treatment and beyond. We believe that the quality of one’s interior living space can enhance the brain’s healing process and contribute up to 30% to any cure. We impact that process through a total room makeover with our Rooms to Thrive™ program or by providing the essentials for a family to begin the journey toward healing through Comfort Kits for those outside of our travel area.
Has it been a smooth road?
There have been many obstacles but through those obstacles, opportunities for growth have been plentiful. As the founder, one of my biggest challenges has been passionately wanting to serve and design clean, sustainable bedrooms only to learn that in order to design these spaces, I have to spend a huge portion of my time fundraising. We’re a new and small organization and my goal is not to become a big name organization with chapters across the nation, but rather an organization that intimately caters to families like us. We are fully committed to our mission.
The growth of the Carsyn Neille Foundation has been organic. The work has been healing in so many ways for both myself and the families we are able to love on and serve. What began as a passion project to simply design beautiful bedrooms backed by science has overwhelmingly become so much more. It has been estimated that as much as 60 percent of all illnesses may be linked to or influenced by environmental triggers. Cancer statistics are alarming; Our environment may account for as much as 80% of cancer cases.
Please tell us about Carsyn Neille Foundation.
As word of our charitable mission spreads, we began thinking of ways to serve more families not just within Southern California but throughout the country. The Carsyn Neille Foundation prides itself in not being a one and done organization but really connecting, loving on, and serving each family we connect with.
We drive our mission by:
1. Vetting and sharing current research regarding the effects of common household items/chemicals on human health to our Carsyn Neille Foundation online community.
2. Educating and empowering curious young minds outside the childhood cancer community to become discerning stewards of their world through our Junior Comfort Creators groups on middle school and high school campuses throughout Southern California.
3. Fostering community engagement through our Lemonade for Carsyn Neille campaign, where families host lemonade stands nationwide, June through September, tapping into their family, friends and neighbors for support of the foundation and spreading the word about childhood cancer and its devastating effects on families.
Our promise to our families is to:
Create spaces that promote healing and thrivorship
Use no Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) paints
Use non-adhesive Flooring
Install 100% Organic Bedding
Purify + Cleanse the environment throughout the install by:
Utilize therapeutic accessories
Diffuse pure essential oils and;
Clean with safe products
THIS is what we’re known for, what sets apart from other design type organizations, and also what I am most proud of. This work is especially important to me and the families we serve.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
LA offers so much. On one end, there’s access to amazing designers who have graciously and enthusiastically partnered with our organization in really big ways; We’ve had a few design professionals from Extreme Makeover Home Edition join us in creating non-toxic Rooms to Thrive™ for many families. We’ve had the opportunity to serve families from both Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Children’s Hospital of Orange County and have been so grateful to be apart of each child’s journey we’ve served.
In order to broaden our impact and serve more families, we need a diverse group of community leaders, influencers, and like-minded companies who share the singular goal and strong desire to provide hope and comfort for parents navigating life after learning that their child has cancer. These are our Comfort Creators. We rely on our community as allies who are willing to share our story, connect with our mission, and who have a heart to serve.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.CarsynNeilleFoundation.org
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carsyn_neille_foundation/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarsynNeilleFoundation/
Image Credit:
Photographer for all of the images @meg_marie_photo
Suggest a story: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
