Rehabilitation through craftsmanship

Restoration Project is a nonprofit vocational rehabilitation program teaching traditional methods of furniture restoration to adults with mental illness, head injuries, and at-risk adolescents.

We teach participants to refinish and upholster furniture to build the confidence and work habits needed for success. Furniture restoration is especially suited to this goal because it is difficult and at the same time, so rewarding. Each job is broken into manageable, cumulative tasks, and mistakes are easily fixed.  

In the end, the participant has created something beautiful.

We expect our participants to accomplish a great deal - to enjoy meaningful, fulfilling and self-sustaining lives. Since 1992, over 200 individuals have worked at Restoration Project, and seventy percent (70%) are currently employed, which represents years of employment for some. (In contrast, the national employment rate for adults with mental illness is 10%.)

The ingredients of our rehabilitative success are:

• A peaceful, congenial and supportive environment
• Apprenticed with mentor craftsmen, continual learning and problem solving fosters individual growth
• A skilled handicraft that promotes concentration and hand/eye coordination
• A difficult task that improves work habits and tolerance
• Artistic expression that involves and inspires
• A marketable product that makes time and quality meaningful
• A paycheck

We are a grass-roots nonprofit organization that relies on the generosity of its supporters. 

Help us by clicking now to make a secure, tax-deductible donation.