This Nonprofit Found A Unique Way To Help Sexually Abused Children Heal

What a difference a change of scenery can make, especially for children who have experienced trauma and sexual abuse. The CDC estimates that 1 in 7 children experienced child abuse in the past year. According to RAINN, the effects of child sexual abuse can be long-lasting and affect the victim’s mental health. Victims are 4 times more likely to develop symptoms of drug abuse and experience PTSD as adults. They are also about 3 times more likely to experience a major depressive episode as adults. Many agencies help remove perpetrators from homes or provide therapy to victims. Room Redux, a nonprofit organization, improves the lives of children who have faced abuse by transforming their bedrooms. 

Susie Vybiral, founder and CEO of Room Redux, made it her mission to provide a safe space and fresh start for children who experienced abuse. 

The abuse often occurs in a child’s own room. It can link that space to feelings of fear and aversion, causing the child to avoid it entirely. With 25 chapters spanning across the U.S., Canada and U.K., Vybiral and her team have transformed 55 rooms helping 67 children feel comfortable and safe. 

“We focus on the future of these children,” Vybiral states. “They had their choices and their paths hijacked by perpetrators. It’s up to us as adults to help them and convey to them that there is a future and that things can change. To show that they’re worthy and that shame and guilt don’t have to engulf these children’s lives, which it very often can. … I focus on the fact that we have to, as a society, as grownups, vigorously work to eliminate the humiliation and their culpability these children feel.” 

For 20 years, Vybiral was a stay-at-home wife and mother. She decided to go back to school and earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree in psychology once her son went off to college. While interning at an advocacy center, she realized she wanted to study how children dealt with trauma. 

“I researched,” she explains. “I would see these children at the advocacy center and talk to them and talk to their parents or their caregivers. We find out that these children, especially children who had been sexually abused, often have destructive relationships as they emerge into adulthood. As they get older, they’re self-harming. They sometimes become perpetrators themselves. That’s what sparked my interest. How do we navigate that? How do we change the trajectory of these children’s lives? That’s how Room Redux was born.”

Vybiral uncovered that even after the perpetrator had been removed from the home, the children still weren’t sleeping or inviting friends over. After inquiring about what would make a difference, she realized that there had to be a change in a person’s environment for them to thrive and move forward in life. 

In 2017, Vybiral transformed the first two rooms. The average cost to fully transform a child’s room is between $1,500 to $2,000. The organization relies on grants, personal donations, corporate donations and sponsorships. “Every single dollar counts,” she shares. “We had a donation from a lady in Kentucky. She put a little caption underneath her donation stating she wishes she could donate more and hopes this helps a child somehow. It was $3. I remember thinking, ‘oh, my goodness. It’s not even a $5 bill; it’s probably all she has.’ But even that $3 helps.”

As part of expanding her work, Vybiral is finishing up her doctoral research on tracking the children’s success rates whose rooms were transformed. She takes into account the feedback from the caregivers, school counselors and people who are engaged in their everyday lives. Part of her research includes how even changing a room’s color can positively affect a child’s mindset.

Vybiral shares that people must be patient with children and listen to them. If something doesn’t sound right, report it. Also, provide a safe space for the healing process to begin. 

As an older adult attending college, she wasn’t exactly sure what path she would take. Founding an organization that helps children has helped fulfill her life’s purpose. She shares that it’s never too late to pivot in your career or journey:

• Make sure what you’re pivoting to is your passion. Being passionate about something will help you remain steadfast when challenging moments arise. 
• Build a support team. Seek out mentors who have done what you want to do and can provide you with stable and productive advice.
• Be vocal. Talk about what you want to do and are doing. The only way people can support you is by knowing what you are working towards.

“I don’t know that I truly realized the fullness that I would feel and the pure joy of Room Redux and how it’s changed me,” Vybiral concludes. “I feel more encouraged by society, by the world right now. There’s so much negative, and by focusing on the good, it’s actually helped me. It helps me in my heart; it helps me know that doing good for others really and truly does impact the world, even one child at a time.”