DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – It’s hard to imagine heading off to college and moving into a dorm with little more than the clothes on your back.
But for students with scholarships who are coming from foster homes and families with limited incomes, it’s an unfortunate reality.
More than a dozen incoming students at Paul Quinn College don’t have to worry about that thanks to a small non-profit with a big heart.
Rarely has so much effort been made to furnish a college dorm room.
TeeJ Mercer is overseeing dorm room makeovers for 13 lucky incoming freshmen at Paul Quinn College.
“It’s very simple, we’re just trying to fill the basic needs because I want the students to just go to school and be students,” said Mercer, founder of Move-In Day Mafia.
For students like Taylor Dixon – her family has a limited income and her scholarship doesn’t cover all the expenses that come with living on campus.
“We have to budget once a month for things and this came quick for me as a mother to see my child going off to college,” said Dixon’s mother Sharonda Gray.
Dixon said she was worried about getting things together for the big day.
The Move-In Day Mafia is Mercer’s non profit, which fills that need for less fortunate students, after she personally witnessed what happened to the 18-year-old child of a foster family.
“Pulled up to her campus let her unload her stuff and then just left her, that broke my heart,” Mercer said.
It’s unlikely any hearts will be broken this week when Dixon and the other students get surprise tours of where they will live starting next week.
The rooms cost up to $2,000 a piece to decorate and are customized to each students individual needs.
Dixon will also receive regular care packages with essentials so she can focus on classes.
“I remember that season and it was incredible and I just want them to have that too without it hanging over their heads how they’re gonna wash their clothes this week,” Mercer said.