When Dionne Williamson takes calls for her day job, she works to sell the region and highlighting why it’s a great place to work and live.
As national sales director and a certified diversity meeting professional with Visit Buffalo Niagara, Williamson has spent the last 17 years helping to attract visitors.
But her passion is helping people who already live here start over as founder/CEO of UPward Design for Life Corp. The nonprofit furnishes and decorates homes for individuals and families making a fresh start at rebuilding their lives.
“It’s furnishings and making a space feel like a home, but we’re giving people hope and hope is a powerful thing,” she said.
A Lackawanna native, Williamson served in the U.S. Army before earning a degree in business administration from Medaille College. But she also had a passion for crafts and design, even running her own greeting card business for six years.
As a child she watched her parents stretch every dollar for their five children in a one-income household. Her father worked at Bethlehem Steel for 34 years, painting houses on the side. Her mom ran the house, insisting on a very clean, orderly home that was always nicely decorated, often with finds from Goodwill.
“I learned early the impact of your surroundings, but you don’t have to spend a lot,” she said. “I love to paint — it’s a perfect way of changing your environment and it’s not expensive to do.”
Later, when she started volunteering with the Family Justice Center, she saw women and families who needed a change but lacked resources to make it happen.
She modeled the organization after one in Detroit she saw on social media.
“I had started an interior design business and felt like it just wasn’t the same thing, it wasn’t addressing a real need,” she said. “I wanted to serve people who could not really afford the services of an interior designer.”
Clients are referred from community organizations. Williamson starts with a home visit, where she takes measurements and gets a sense of what they need.
That often includes curtains, area rugs and lamps as well as dishes, glassware and small appliances like toasters and blenders. Every member of the family gets a bed with new mattresses, pillows and linen.
On the day of the installation, Williamson relies on volunteers and donated items, refurnishing apartments in two to three hours.
Since the first install in 2018, the organization has helped 42 families. Things slowed down during the pandemic, but UPward is back on track with a goal of serving two families each month.
“Many times people say it’s like HGTV but it’s so much deeper than that: We’re dealing with individuals who have gone through some tremendous challenges,” she said. “We’re giving their sense of dignity back. Home is everything.”
Community: Founder/CEO of UPward Design for Life Corp.
Day job: Visit Buffalo Niagara, national sales director/certified diversity meeting professional
Favorite superhero: Harriet Tubman
Self-description: Loving
What keeps you up at night: Nothing really keeps me up at night: As long as I know my family is safe, I have nothing to stress about.