OXNARD : Home for Boys to Receive Makeover

An Oxnard home for troubled boys will get a face lift in August by local interior and landscape designers who plan to involve the boys in the work.

The five-bedroom ranch-style suburban home is one of six operated by the Ventura-based Poinsettia Foundation. The nonprofit organization provides shelter, schooling and counseling to children ages 9 to 18 who have been removed from their homes because of emotional and behavioral problems.

Ruth Comport and Robin DaPra, interior design instructors, originally planned the renovation as part of a class at Learning Tree University in Thousand Oaks. When the class fell through, the women decided to do the project themselves.

“We didn’t want to let the boys down,” said Comport, who described the tidy house as threadbare. One window has a blanket over it.

The house will be re-carpeted and painted throughout with donations from Carpeteria and Dunn-Edwards Paints and Wallcoverings, both in Ventura, she said. Comport is soliciting other donations of furniture, drapes, lamps, bedspreads and art.

The six boys who live at the house will do the painting and learn how to install carpet. Landscape architect Ed Comport plans to teach them how to grow a vegetable garden and plant drought-tolerant plants in the back yard, she said.

“The back yard is just a dirt ball,” said Ruth Comport. She also is looking for donated plants, vegetable and grass seed, and gardening tools.

Poinsettia officials said the much-needed renovation will boost the boys’ self-esteem, giving them some new skills and a nicer home.

“Many of them come from homes that have never been taken care of,” said June Laws, supervisor for the Poinsettia homes. Most of the 36 youths in the homes have been physically, sexually or mentally abused by their parents, Laws said.

That was one of the reasons Ruth Comport decided to donate her talents to Poinsettia after considering several charities, she said. Also, she felt the organization was more needy than others.

Begun seven years ago by foster parents Walter and Lillian Tomich, Poinsettia is supported by state and county funding. There is little money for furnishings, Laws said.

Anyone wishing to donate furnishings for the Oxnard renovation project or for any of the Poinsettia homes may call 643-5461.