How Healing Flows Both Ways at Calvary

Abby Clayborne has been a standout volunteer at Calvary, volunteering each month as an education facilitator in Life Skills, Education and Arts Program (LEAP), since September 2024.  A CPA at Deloitte by day and a yoga instructor by night, Abby brings her expertise in meditation and mindfulness to our Reach Up and Good Hope program sites. She had already walked through her own season of rebuilding after surviving domestic violence. This fueled her desire to give back in a way that goes beyond the surface. “I wanted to be giving my time and my effort,” Abby shared. “I just felt like being in the weeds with everyone. It was calling to me, calling to my soul.”

What she didn’t expect was how much Calvary would give back to her in return.

At first, walking into the yoga room was intimidating. Abby could feel the guardedness and the natural hesitation of women who had faced hardship and betrayal. “Understandably, they looked at me like, ‘Who is this girl, and why should we trust her?’” she laughed. But Abby kept showing up, week after week, and slowly, walls began to come down. She recalls the moment one client, who was usually reserved during class, came alive:

“That day, seeing her participate so much more and seeing everyone also so engaged up in that playroom that we have, I felt so honored that these women were trusting me with their time and with their bodies and were listening to me and following my example.”

For Abby, the connection is mutual. She talks about walking into Calvary and feeling more at home in those moments than in many of her own friendships.

“When I come to Calvary, I feel like I can be totally myself and there’s nothing wrong with that. Volunteering in this program has helped me and it continues to help keep me grounded in what’s important, just in terms of being around people that have gone through similar life experiences and understand how hard it is to trust someone.”

That sense of belonging is what makes Calvary different. It’s not only about providing safe shelter and supportive services, but also about creating spaces where women feel whole again.

As a D.C. resident, Abby sees the reality of homelessness every day. On her walk to the grocery store, on her way to work, and in the headlines about D.C.’s growing housing crisis.

“We’ve become so cutthroat as a society that we forget people are people,” she said. “You can’t solve homelessness with enforcement alone. What you can do is show up for one person at a time, remind them they’re worthy, and help them feel whole again. That’s what I try to do at Calvary.”

When asked about whether she believes Calvary is addressing these challenges, she expressed that Calvary is meeting the challenge head on. “More of the kind of clinical support and case management side of things. I think that piece is so important because these women are coming into Calvary at such an incredibly vulnerable point in their lives. You really need that help, you need to know someone has your back,” she adds.

“The way I would describe it is like the biggest commonality between me and all of the clients that Calvary serves is a lot of us really don’t trust ourselves or trust anyone else because we’ve been through things that should not happen.  Rebuilding that trust both in others and in yourself and coming back to yourself– it’s really hard. And I think when you’re at that point where faith and hope are low, it’s really easy to then be swayed or to be pulled in the complete wrong direction, so I think having that psychiatrist support and the case manager support it, it really helps in terms of getting back on track.”

And it’s what makes Abby’s contribution so meaningful. She’s helping women feel strong in their bodies, seen in their journeys, and supported in community.

“I want to show these women that you’re worth it. You’re a thousand percent worth it.”

And she has a message for anyone wondering if they have enough to give:

“…showing up is 90% of it. I think being willing to be vulnerable and put yourself in a position where you don’t know what’s gonna happen, where it’s unpredictable, that’s also where you find the really amazing stuff and the stuff that changes your life. And it did change mine.”

Abby’s story is a reminder that volunteering doesn’t have to be complicated; it just has to be human. When she leads her LEAP sessions and shows up for our clients in different ways, she is giving something far greater than her time. She is giving hope. In her words:

“Hope is hard to have if you can’t really see it. So being able to kind of instill and inspire and empower these women says number one, ‘it’s gonna be ok,’ but number two, ‘it could actually be amazing.’ I think that’s really, really powerful.”

Today, Abby continues to lead yoga and meditation sessions at Calvary. In her sessions and interactions, she is empowering our clients to believe that tomorrow can look brighter than today, and that kind of hope is what changes lives.

Stand with women and Give Hope, today: https://giving.classy.org/campaign/688403/donate