Executive Director
Project Home Again

---

Project Home Again began in September 2003, when a domestic abuse survivor came to founder, Nancy Dubow Kanell, with a broken stove and no way to fix or replace it. To help her friend, Nancy put a notice in her temple bulletin. She received not only the stove, but several other appliances as well.

For several months, she repeated this notice in her temple bulletin, receiving donations of gently-used home goods, furniture and appliances and then working to find families in need to place them in. As Nancy spread the word to newspapers, clergy leaders and social service agencies, the operation eventually outgrew her garage and moved to a warehouse. Years later, PHA opened a second location, beautifully appointed to give its clients a more nurturing experience to “shop” in. What is often called the magic of PHA is that whenever PHA has needed something to grow and better serve its clients, it seems to happen!

---

Notable Milestones

Over the last 18 years, PHA has grown from a one-woman operation to a staff of dozens of volunteers serving hundreds of families a year.

2003 — Project Home Again begins
2003 — Temple Emanuel donates office space
2004 — Ozzy Properties donates space to open a PHA shop
2004 — Forever Green Lawn and Landscape offers to help with furniture pick-up
2010 — Richard Tankel donates a box truck to pick up donations
2013 — Receive first movie donation from HBO’s Olive Kitteridge
2014 — Project Home Again becomes a 501 (c)(3) organization and is governed by a Board of Directors
2015 — Raise enough money to purchase a newer truck with a lift gate
2016 — Hire Executive Director, Alyssa Kevlahan
2018 — Celebrate 15-year anniversary with a short documentary, Home Again and a new website
2019 — Opened up a second location, this one in Andover

Good Night’s Sleep Program

One of the most important things Project Home Again does is provide new mattress sets to clients who have no bed of their own — some are currently sleeping on the floor, sharing with too many family members in one bed, or sleeping on mattresses so old, uncomfortable or unsanitary that they need replacing. Monetary donations help give a “good night sleep” to someone in need. It can affect the way they see the whole world, whether achieving more in school, at work, or having the stamina to beat an illness.

A Place at the Table Program

PHA believes that all of its clients should be able to prepare healthy meals at home. Unfortunately, many kitchen items are not donated in nearly the quantity the organization needs. With monetary donations, PHA purchases pots, pans, toasters, toaster ovens, blenders, and coffee makers when the organization is in short supply.

Dresser For Success

One of the most urgently needed items almost every client who visits PHA needs is a dresser. Because of the very limited number that are donated, the organization currently have a limit of one dresser per family.

In order to make things better for the families, PHA has launched a new program called Dresser For Success. With the funds PHA raises for this program, the organization will purchase dressers that its clients can put together themselves.