06/21/2026
No One Left Behind: A Grassroots Creative Ecosystem for Home-Based Healing
A Community Concept Paper By Michelle Jacobs Anderson — Davenport, Iowa
My Story: Where It All Started
This whole journey started in a place of severe physical pain, loss, and deep trauma. Years ago, a pain management specialist looked at me and said, "Try painting." Up until that day, I had never painted a thing in my life. On the way home from that appointment, I looked out the window, saw an old chair discarded on the side of the road, and said, "Stop! There is a chair, I could paint it!"
But I didn't have any paint. A day or two later, I was on my way home from another appointment. We passed an alley, and about halfway down, there was a large amount of leftover cans of paints and stains someone had thrown away. We stopped, and I took them home.
That alley full of free paint was a literal lifeline. It became The Painted Chair Shop on Facebook. Soon, I was known as the lady with all the painted chairs in my front yard for sale. People came from all over, bought lots of furniture, and it was beautiful and fun. It gave me purpose and kept me going. But doing it all by myself was hard physical work, and over the years, the neighbors and friends who supported me moved on in life. I eventually had to quit, and things came to a standstill.
After the success of the painted chair shop, I expanded because I wanted to share my love of painting with others. I applied for and got a position teaching a one-time summer school program art class. I helped plan and create art and photography fun for about 70 children ranging from kindergarten to 5th grade. It was an incredible experience that brought so much joy, and one specific, fun memory from that summer led directly to Shoes for School.
One day on the playground, a little boy’s shoe completely broke. There were no stores nearby that carried his size, but I couldn't bear to see him left out of the fun. I raced right out, searched everywhere, and came back with a pair that was unfortunately a bit too small. All the other kids stood around him in a circle, rooting for him, as he shoved and shoved his chunky little foot until it miraculously went into that shoe so they could all go play together. It probably hurt his foot a bit, but he didn’t care—he just wanted to be included, and he didn't have long until he got home that day anyway.
I learned back then that nobody should be left behind just because they lack the exact fit or tools they need to participate in life.
The Standstill We Face
After severe storms, homes can need major repairs, things get displaced, and suddenly everything is amassing around you. Similar to life, storms of life challenges creating different needs in our homes bring distinct challenges. When unexpected life crises strike, the physical environment we live in gets turned upside down, mirroring the chaos we feel inside.
To create art and bring in a few extra dollars, I cleared out estate sales and brought home curb finds. Many items were a deal to gain the furniture I wanted to paint, creating excess surplus items. Actual storm damages to my home created a need for moving things to storage units. Now, the rising prices of those two units are taking my money, and everything is at a standstill. When you have ADHD, trauma, and PTSD, looking at these items gives you a rush of dopamine because they look like new projects again, but it leaves you completely overwhelmed and paralyzed without help.
And it’s not just me. Thomas is a young adult on SSI. He is incredibly smart but struggles with executive functioning, autistic traits, and a history of sports concussions. His friends, and most of his family have continued in life with very few ever visiting him. He relies on his computer for connecting to others, communicating briefly with people he feels closest to, and caring for his service dog. Thomas wants so badly to do way more things in life. But extreme anxiety and the unknown with limited funds to barely survive and not fully live, create a prison that keeps him trapped.
Our area is severely lacking in low-cost services for people who are functioning but dealing with severe trauma and neurodivergence. Once you are displaced, it is incredibly hard to get your life back in order alone. There are no hundreds or thousands extra lying around.
God wants us to give and to create. When we don't follow that path, things fall apart. To pick up the pieces, we need a program that doesn't leave people behind.
The "No One Left Behind" Ecosystem
This program is designed to bridge the gap between people who are drowning behind closed doors and the tools they need to heal. It is a self-sustaining loop built on three pillars:
1. The Women Painting Chairs Club
This is a local, peer-led workshop centered on the power of "body doubling" and companionship. The core function of the club is painting but also visiting together to finish to-do list projects of any kind in a safe space or right in a member's home. Members visit together, paint, share stories, and utilize mutual presence and conversation to maintain focus and momentum.
The To-Do List Taskforce: Recognizing that the storms of life disrupt the layout of a home, this engine extends the concept of body doubling directly into home stabilization. Members partner up to tackle the lingering, paralyzing chores that block domestic peace. Whether it's a small group gathering to help a neighbor sort through a stalled closet clearout, helping redecorate and organize a room after a major life disruption, or providing the cooperative focus and visiting companionship needed to check off small household installations like hanging curtain rods, the club acts as a collective momentum engine to finish projects with help.
2. The Chair-doption & Consignment Gallery
This is the funding engine that clears the clutter. Discarded, vintage chairs—including the favorites I rescue from my own storage units—are brought back to life by the club. The public pays an "adoption fee" to take a recycled chair home on Chair-doption Day. Additionally, the space functions as a gallery where members can hang their own paintings. Creators can take their art home, sell it on consignment to split the profit, or donate 100% of the proceeds to the program.
3. The "Healing from Home" Project Fund
For people like Thomas who have been deeply let down by the community, healing has to start where they feel safe: at home. The fund purchases supplies, like a pair of new shoes, or supplies, parts, tools, and equipment for any project that someone may wish to build—like a computer, a bicycle, or even gardening—to learn a skill and promote healing and inclusiveness for those who qualify for the No One Left Behind program.
Discretionary grants provide up to $3,500 per approved project. The fund is utilized to purchase those items for the recipient respecting their privacy, timeline, and need for independence and hands-on learning. The program allows participants to pick out their own items. By researching where to find the best parts for the best prices, participants gain a valuable opportunity to study, learn, and compare costs. This process naturally connects them to online communities where they can interact with others to learn what works best, building meaningful connections from the comfort of home. Once chosen by the participant, the fund handles the direct procurement to avoid financial barriers, ensuring the exact tools they selected are delivered to their doorstep.
How Connection and Qualification Works
Membership is free, but space is limited to ensure everyone gets hands-on help. We are currently building our founding circle of local caregivers and creators through a simple, safe three-step process:
Step 1: The "Coffee Chat" Connection — Instead of a complicated application form, a prospective member fills out a simple contact request online or sends a message to my inbox. We then schedule a brief, casual conversation—either over the phone or at a quiet table in our workspace. There is no evaluation or judgment. It is just a chance for them to share what projects they are stuck on, what their safe boundaries are, and how they would like to participate.
Step 2: Choosing a Pillar — Members don't have to participate in everything. When joining, they choose where they feel safest starting:
The Creative Path: Joining the Women Painting Chairs Club to sit at the workspace, paint, visit, and share stories.
The Taskforce Path: Signing up to swap help on home to-do lists (like hanging curtain rods or sorting a paralyzed closet) using the power of body doubling.
The Home-Bound Path: For individuals like Thomas who need to stay entirely at home due to extreme anxiety, their membership is managed digitally. They connect via our online community, research their projects, and interface with the Healing from Home Project Fund.
Step 3: The "Giver and Creator" Agreement — Every member signs a basic, one-page community pledge. It doesn't cost money; it costs commitment to the ecosystem. It simply states that they will respect the privacy, boundaries, and safe spaces of fellow members, and that they understand we are here to support each other’s momentum, finish stalled projects, and create art to fund home-based healing.
Who Automatically Qualifies for the $3,500 Project Grants?
Because the funds raised through the Chairdoption Gallery and institutional grants are precious, the No One Left Behind doorstep grants are preserved for those in the deepest gaps. To qualify for a project grant, an individual must meet three criteria:
Financial Need: Must be an individual currently relying on SSI, SSDI, or a caregiver operating under severe financial strain with limited disposable income.
Neurodivergence or Trauma History: Must identify as an individual or caregiver navigating executive dysfunction, autism, PTSD, severe trauma, or isolation.
The Action Requirement: The recipient must be willing to do the research to pick out their own supplies, parts, or tools for their specific project (like Thomas did with his computer parts), proving their desire to learn a skill and use the project as a direct tool for their own healing.
My Immediate Action Plan
To bring this to life without spending a dime of personal money or causing burnout, I am following a simple, two-phase boundary plan:
Phase 1: Empty my own house on Division Street of the things I do not need here, creating a clear, peaceful sanctuary and an organized workspace.
Phase 2: Open my storage units and vehicles with a roll of neon tape and a trusted ally. I will mark only the absolute favorite pieces and serious painting projects I want to finish and bring home. The rest of the mountain will be shared or liquidated in bulk to instantly stop the financial drain.
By turning my original pages like The Painted Chair Shop, Women Painting Chairs Club, and 4theloveofchairs and Shoes for Schools into a unified force under No One Left Behind, we will prove that from an alleyway full of discarded paint, a whole community can find its way back home.
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