Crafting Confidence: Belmont’s Restoration Project Heals Through Hands-On Work

Lukas Oram methodically pushed a buzzing sander across the surface of a table that had seen better days, erasing years of scuffs and scratches as he worked to resurrect the piece.

“It’s nice to work with your hands,” said the 19-year-old as he took a short break. “It helps you take your mind off other things.”

Oram is one of several participants at Belmont’s Restoration Project, a 31-year-old nonprofit vocational program.

“We teach traditional methods of furniture restoration to adults with mental illness, traumatic head injuries, and veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD),” according to the website. “The training methods we use are based on education and therapy models that improve cognitive functioning, counteract the deficits caused by neurological disorders, and facilitate recovery.”

As Oram looked over his current project, he said the work “helps break down the stigma of mental disorders,” adding, “We’re not scary.”

A sense of Accomplishment

Oram said he feels a sense of accomplishment when shoppers go to the nonprofit thrift shop connected to the vocational program and purchase pieces he’s restored over the past year. Oram’s sense of satisfaction reflects one of the Restoration Project’s goals: To “teach participants to refinish and upholster furniture to build the confidence and work habits needed for success.”

Back in the modest workshop, Eli, who preferred not to use his last name, thoroughly cleaned old sawhorses and pointed out a dry sink (a cabinet built to hold a basin of water, common before indoor plumbing) he had been working on.

Although the 22-year-old had been in the vocational program for just two weeks, he said it had already given him “a lot of confidence.”

Eli learned about the Restoration Project while in a program at McLean Hospital (a psychiatric teaching hospital in Belmont).

“Working with your hands is very good for your mental health,” he said.

Aiming to go back to college in the future, Eli said it has been “very therapeutic” to make a dull piece of furniture “pop” with a new stain or find out a set of stools he labored over is now ready to be sold.

“When you get into that zone you forget all about time and you’re happy. It’s just good for you mentally,” said Eloise Newell, the organization’s founder and CEO.

Oram, Eli, and fellow student Max Boyden, 26, said they felt comfortable in the Restoration Project’s welcoming environment.

“Here, I feel like I’m on a path to where I’d like to be,” said Boyden, who aims to be a carpenter in the future.

Program Built from Love

Newell, a soft-spoken Acton resident, created the Restoration Project in 1993, out of love for her son, who was diagnosed with schizophrenia as a sophomore in college.

“He was determined that if he could just find work, he’d be fine,” she said.

At the time, the state’s Department of Developmental Services had few work programs, most of them focused on cleaning and sorting, she said. Newell, a retired Northeastern physics instructor, decided to use her own money to start a business for her son to run.

She picked antiques because she thought he’d enjoy the work, and she had experience with furniture restoration. After a trip to Scotland to buy inventory, Newell and her son joined a group shop to sell their wares. When his counselor checked in and learned what he was doing, he suggested inviting people in local day programs to work with them.

From there, the program began to grow. Because the Restoration Project helped so many people, Newell decided to keep it going after her son died.

“I always wanted to be of service somehow,” she said.

By 2017, Newell knew the program needed more room than what was available in her Acton home. After a search, she found the space on Pleasant Street.

“Belmont is perfectly situated” and easily accessible to those the program serves, she said.

The new location allowed Newell to open the connected thrift shop to raise money and sell the donated furniture the students had carefully worked on, among other goods.

They also earn money working on customers’ private projects.

“Funding had always been a struggle for us,” she said.

Over the years, Newell had been subsidizing the entire program herself. In addition to money earned at the shop, “program participants join us on a private-pay basis by self-referral and with the encouragement of their therapists and residential counselors. They may also come with [a] referral and funding by local and state government agencies,” according to the website.

Since 1993, the Restoration Project has worked with 400 students, said Newell. Volunteers are essential to help in the thrift shop and support participants. Experience with teaching, finishing, and upholstering is helpful but not required, according to the website. “We can always use more,” she said.

Contact

The Restoration Project is located at 334 Pleasant St., Belmont.