June 2006
The Domino Effect
by Lucile Scott
A glossy mag rehabs an AIDS community
Domino, an upscale home design magazine, is offering extreme makeovers to housing for positive families in the South Bronx this summer. Domino’s staff teamed with big-name interior designers to furnish and decorate an apartment building owned by Highbridge-Woodycrest, a center that provides HIV positive people with homes and health care. “We wanted to do something that expressed the mission of the magazine: the idea that home design is about making life better, not just showing off,” says Deborah Needleman, Domino’s editor in chief.
After soliciting donations from sources like Target and Apple, Domino swooped in and sank $12,000 into each of the 40 units. From a brand-new Mac to designer dishes and sheets, Domino addressed every detail that prospective tenants requested in a focus group, and more. “We wanted the building to feel homelike and give people a lift,” says Claire Haaga, founder of the Center. “This far exceeded my expectations.” Forty down, several hundred thousand to go.
