Looking Forward

Today I walked through Calvary’s new building on Good Hope Road. The windows were being installed in the bedrooms and the electrician was wiring the kitchen for power. After months of preparation, it was thrilling to see the space coming alive.

It was even more thrilling to envision how the building will look and feel once there are women living there. Who will come through the doors of this new space and find the privacy, care and support they need to turn their lives around? How many women will get jobs and stable income after completing their employment training in this kitchen? What new ideas and energy will women discover in the education programs held in the new classrooms?

Certainly it will be women like Dolores, an older woman struggling with a serious health issue. Dolores lived at Calvary this past year – homeless for the first time because her social security income wasn’t enough to pay the full rent once her roommate died. I remember the day that Dolores’ health began to stabilize from her treatment. It was the first day in many that she did her hair and put on lipstick – finally feeling like herself again. Not long after Dolores made a positive move into a senior housing program.

There will also be women like Monica – underemployed and in debt, but committed to building a better life. She put aside her earnings for a security deposit and kept focused on getting a place of her own for the first time in her life. By the time she moved into her own apartment from Calvary’s transitional program, Monica had been promoted and offered health insurance.

A few months from now, 50 women like Dolores and Monica, will be unpacking their bags and moving into Calvary’s new home. We’re hopeful that this new space and the services and support women will find there will help them transform their lives. We’re hopeful that every woman will find, as a past resident did, “that coming to Calvary brought the hope back. It brought the future back. It brought light at the end of the tunnel back.”