This year, IKEA South Philadelphia employees selected YouthBuild Philly as a recipient of their Mini Life Improvement Challenge grant, which provides local nonprofits with a budget to revamp their space with IKEA products.  YouthBuild’s proposal requested help with the creation of a student lounge where students could study, hold meetings, and hang out after class on our newly-renovated 5th floor.  Many of our students have stressful or unstable living situations, and we wanted to create a space where they could feel safe and at home during the hours our building is open.

Here’s what the “lounge” space looked like during renovations:

After selecting YouthBuild as a recipient, IKEA sent a designer to work with YouthBuild staff on picking a layout and products for the space.  Once those were finalized, workers from the South Philadelphia store came to YouthBuild to set up the furniture.

Here’s the final product:

As you can see, the lounge is now an inviting space where students have plenty of space to read, talk, learn, and build community.  We’re very grateful to IKEA South Philadelphia for funding the project and making our idea of the student lounge into a reality!