Project Home Again began back in September 2003, when a domestic abuse survivor came to our founder, Nancy Dubow Kanell, with a broken stove and no way to fix or replace it. To help out her friend, Nancy put a notice in her temple bulletin. She received not only the stove, but several other appliances as well.
For several months, she repeated this notice in her temple bulletin, receiving donations of gently-used home goods, furniture and appliances and then working to find families in need to place them in. As Nancy spread the word to newspapers, clergy leaders and social service agencies, the operation eventually outgrew her garage and moved to a warehouse. Years later, PHA opened a second location, beautifully appointed to give its clients a more nurturing experience to “shop” in. What we often call the magic of PHA is that when ever we have needed something to grow and the better serve our clients, it seems to happen!
Notable Milestones
Over the last 18 years, we’ve grown from a one woman operation to a staff of dozens of volunteers serving hundreds of families a year.
2003 — Project Home Again begins
2003 — Temple Emanuel donates office space
2004 — Ozzy Properties donates space to open a PHA shop
2004 — Forever Green Lawn and Landscape offers to help with furniture pick-up
2010 — Richard Tankel donates a box truck to pick up donations
2013 — Receive first movie donation from HBO’s Olive Kitteridge
2014 — Project Home Again becomes a 501 (c)(3) organization and is governed by a Board of Directors
2015 — Raise enough money to purchase a newer truck with a lift gate
2016 — Hire Executive Director, Alyssa Kevlahan
2018 — Celebrate 15 year anniversary with a short documentary, Home Again and a new website
2019 — Opened up a second location, this one in Andover.
Our mission, first and foremost, will always be to make sure that everyone who walks through our door is treated with the dignity and respect they deserve, parting ways with whatever furniture and household goods they need to turn their house into a home.