One Year at Good Hope Road with Cindy

Cindy, right, watches on at last December’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.

We’ve still celebrating our one-year anniversary at Good Hope Road on the blog!  We’ve heard from our Operations Director, Catherine, who held the reins over the move for our staff, and residents, and Peter, a volunteer who made the move with us, but our generous and talented Board of Directors also had a heavy hand in orchestrating the move. In fact, board member Cindy Schwarz chaired the campaign to move to Good Hope Road!  We are so grateful for Cindy’s leadership in fundraising for the campaign and her tireless efforts to inspire others to get involved.

What motivated you to spearhead the fundraising campaign to move to Good Hope Road?

I volunteered to spearhead the fundraising side of the campaign because I was so passionate about securing a home for Calvary. The people at Calvary work tirelessly to help homeless women in DC end their cycle of homelessness and ultimately find a home of their own – yet we didn’t have one as an organization.  To me, creating a permanent haven was the best gift we could possibly give to Calvary as a board.

As the leader of the move, what about the transition to Good Hope Road stands out to you as a particularly proud moment or accomplishment?

The best part of the move to Good Hope Road is seeing the women use our gathering places and actually relax and drop their burdens for awhile. We have incredible space – a large eating area, large recreational areas, and private rooms for our life skills classes.  The ceilings are high and the walls are painted peaceful colors. It is a lovely facility.

How does the move to Good Hope Road fit into your vision for Calvary’s future? 

I would like Calvary to help as many homeless women in DC as possible. We are so successful in ending the cycle of homeless because of our low case manager to resident ratio. We are able to focus on each individual.  I see us growing the programs we offer now that we have ample classroom space. We can now start offering health classes and job training.