Create at your own pace
Start with curiosity. A pen, a print or a first project can be the beginning of something meaningful.
Our founder · Our purpose
Meet Larry.
Find your haven.
A veteran, a teacher, a coach. And a maker who found a new way to keep serving others.
Larry Dillon founded My DIY Haven around a simple belief: making something with your own hands can open the door to connection, purpose and a place to belong.
Read his story
The story behind the haven
A lifetime of service.
A different kind of calling.
Larry is a disabled U.S. Army veteran. He served as an Army medic during the Operation Desert Storm era, including an assignment in South Korea. After the military, he continued serving others as a special education teacher and, later, a head high school football coach.
While learning to cope with PTSD, Larry began woodturning and making handcrafted pens. The concentration and rhythm of working at the lathe felt calming. For a while, everything else could fade into the background as he focused on the piece taking shape in his hands.
That personal experience planted the seed for My DIY Haven. His outlet happened to be a lathe and a pen. Someone else’s might be painting, laser engraving, 3D printing, making a T-shirt—or something they have yet to discover.
Today, that idea guides the shop and the community Larry is building: a welcoming place for veterans, their families, first responders and neighbors to create, learn and connect.
People come first
The most meaningful thing we make is room for each other.
Tools make possibilities. People give them purpose. There is room here to try something new, share what you know and enjoy the satisfaction of making.
Connect through making
Veterans, families, first responders and the wider community are part of the haven Larry is building.
Make space to belong
You don’t have to explain why you’re drawn to creating. Bring yourself, your ideas and a willingness to explore.
Healing Through Creativity
Create. Connect.
Heal. Belong.
Explore what Larry makes today, and see what’s coming next to the studio inside Elevator CoWarehousing.