House of the Living turns old greenhouse in Montgomery County into a memorial for victims of violence

Elkins Park, P.A. - From a dilapidated greenhouse to a memorial for victims of violence, a project in Elkins Park, P.A. is providing a new way of healing through art. 

Through a collaboration with Swarthmore College and the EMIR Healing Center, House of the Living located on the Elkins Park Estate in Montgomery County, is a new project that strives to help families remember their lost loved ones in peace. 

FOX 29’s Shawnette Wilson spoke to Chantay Love who lost her brother Emir in 1997 after he was shot to death at just 20 years old. 

"My brother was an artist and so it brings me joy because he was around art and all those things that were important to him, it partially represents."

 Love is the co-founder and president of Emir Healing Center, named after her late brother. The center helps families dealing with violence related grief. 

"People that have lost someone they live with it. That's their journey. It's a lifetime journey. This allows them to see we're remembering your baby."

Ron Tarver, Swarthmore College professor, came up with the idea for The House of the Living and reached out to the Emir Healing Center for help.

"We wanna shine a light on the amount of violence that's going on in the city. It's crazy." said Tarver. 

The old greenhouse that is now The House of Living, features 410 panels that were constructed by Swarthmore College students, to be filled with murals of those who died from violent crimes. 

"It also created a space of healing different and when I say different, I can't erase the loss of their loved one," said Tarver. "I can't erase the devastation, but can I give them a moment when they're looking at their loved one in a place of love that they see them as and hopefully not remembering the crime scene."

For more information on House of the Living visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-complete-house-of-the-living