FEATURE
CUSTOM BUILT Christopher Kids serves children through design
PHOTOS COURTESY OF CHRISTOPHER KIDS
They designed a bedroom for two sisters to share in partnership with Make-A-Wish.
BY LAUREN H. DOWDLE Home is a place where families can come together to feel comfortable and safe. But for children with critical illnesses, disabilities, or other unique accessibility needs and their parents, that might not always be the case. That’s why Christopher Kids works to create spaces that are not only accessible, but also personalized to each child. Chris Reebals, president and principal architect of Christopher Architecture & Interiors, started the nonprofit last June. Reebals and his team already had the expertise and talent to design spaces — but they also wanted a way to use that passion to create designs that would improve children’s lives. And the idea for Christopher Kids was born. That’s when Caroline Shea, a Mountain Brook 20 Bham Family March 2021
native and recent Auburn University graduate, joined the firm as the philanthropy coordinator. She had experience volunteering with nonprofits, and she also interned with Make-A-Wish Metro New York. It was Make-A-Wish Alabama that contacted Christopher Kids about their first project, which included designing a space for a girl with a neurological condition and her sister to share. After that one, they took on a solo project for a boy in Trussville who recently finished his leukemia medications and treatments. Right before his diagnosis three years ago, his father was getting ready to have their family’s basement finished. But, that project was put on hold when his son became sick, leaving the space empty these past CONTINUED ON PAGE 21
