photo credit: Santa Rosa Police Department
Officers and volunteers repaint a child’s bedroom during the Healthy Room Project’s first Santa Rosa makeover.

 The Santa Rosa Police Department has launched a new community‑policing effort focused on transforming unsafe or overcrowded bedrooms for local youth who need support. The department recently completed its first renovation for a Santa Rosa family.

The collaboration is with the Healthy Room Project, a growing nationwide effort to create safe living spaces.

The project partners with law enforcement and community groups to give kids essentials such as beds, dressers and places to study.

Last week, officers and volunteers completed their first makeover: a two‑bedroom apartment where six people share space, starting with redesigning the 14‑year‑old’s room.

Santa Rosa Police Chief John Cregan says the project fits into the department’s larger effort to bring kids more stability so they stay out of trouble and succeed in school.

“They'll be able to come in and give them a little bit of calm and the chaos and clean the rooms and paint all the walls, and give that young person their own individual bed, their desk for it so they can do school work and study and a dresser where they can neatly put their clothes,” Cregan said. 

Cregan said this is the first of many planned room makeovers.

Residents can nominate families for future renovations through the Santa Rosa Police Department’s website.