volunteering
You don't need to be experienced to build a doll house kit and BFPTT staff can provide lots of advice and helpful tips to make your project fun and memorable.
Donate
Through your donations of money and/or materials, BFPTT volunteers can provide toys for healing children going through some of the worst emotional tramuas inmaginable.
Easy & Inexpensive
You build on your schedule...there is no pressure. And many kits can be purchased online for less than $40. Most of the extra materials are already in your house...glue, sandpaper, etc.
Our founder's story
I have served with, and for, many nonprofit organizations in my life. As I have met the founders of these nonprofits over the years, the question I always ask each one is, "How did you start this journey?" An interesting and unique story always follows. Some involve the proverbial bolt from the blue while others refer to that nagging voice in one's head that simply will not go away.
Faith Bradford was my nagging voice.
When I was 12 years old, my parents took me to Washington, D.C. for an "educational vacation". While touring the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of American History, I stumbled onto the Bradford Doll House, Faith's doll house. I stopped in my tracks.
I told my family to leave me behind and come for me at the end of the day, as I had no intention of moving from that spot. That is exactly what they did.
On our way out at closing time, I stopped in the gift shop and purchased the book about that doll house,
We returned home from Washington, whereupon I learned to use power tools...and I built my own doll house (pictured on our home page).
Decades later, while working as a newspaper columnist, I described the experience life this: "Mom and I built the house, walls and staircases together. For several years, on birthdays and Christmases, I received a very special piece of furniture from a fancy store. Other than those gifts and a few hand-me-downs, I was left to my own imagination to decorate and furnish my house. It took three years to complete my doll house. I learned abiding patience. Each newly completed detail, no matter how small, filled me with confidence and satisfaction. I never felt I was forced to wait for the prized furniture gifts on special occasions. The anticipation was magical."
My house survived my youth, the childhood attentions of my two daughters and all of their friends, and the renovation that I accomplished in 2011. It still holds the charm of the original project and never fails to fill me with wonderful memories.
And it NAGS me.
It reminds me of the security of my safe and happy childhood, and of the feelings of empowerment and confidence I gained as the "architect and builder". And, of, those countless hours of play time, losing myself in the tiny world inside those walls. Cares melt away, magical decompression, even for a child.
And there it was all the time, sitting right in front of me...so many years of working with shelters for abused women and children...so many traumatized children who need to escape even for just a little while into the miraculous world of play.
Formal Play Therapy...or just a magical toy to call their own. A way to begin to heal.
Faith to believe that healing is possible.
Building Faith.
Thank you Faith Bradford.
-Alison
Building Faith Play Therapy Toys, Inc. @ 2013
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