Built
in 1810, Christ House challenged the renovation team to stay true to the
property’s historic nature while upgrading it for today’s needs and uses.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 20, 2019
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Catholic
Charities of the Diocese of Arlington’s Christ House in Old Town Alexandria has
undergone a massive $83,000 renovation and upgrade, thanks to a partnership
with HomeAid Northern Virginia (HANV), a non-profit that builds and renovates local housing
and shelter facilities. Christ
House provides transitional housing for 14 men, a food pantry, emergency
assistance, and a nightly soup kitchen that has served dinner every night since
1974. The building dates to 1810.
Christ
House challenged the renovation team to stay true to the property’s historic
nature while upgrading it for today’s needs and uses. The
top-to-bottom, three-floor facelift included upgrades to the kitchen, dining
room, lobby, residents’ rooms and bathrooms. Additionally, throughout the
building, there’s now new flooring, vents, thermostats, electrical, and lighting.
Staff offices, meeting rooms,
and a chapel were also freshened
with new paint, flooring, lighting, and window treatments. Not only were key historic elements of the
building preserved, but the soup kitchen was able to serve its nightly dinner
throughout the renovation process, uninterrupted.
“The
renovation of Christ House is an enormous morale lifter for our staff and
especially the people we serve, particularly for the men living in our
transitional housing program, as they work toward financial independence and
self-sufficiency,” said John
Croft, program director for Christ House. “Working with HomeAid helps us
focus on our mission of care and support and direct our resources to programs
that benefit so many in the community.”
HomeAid
Northern Virginia builds and
renovates homeless shelters and supportive housing facilities via the donated
expertise, labor and resources of local homebuilders - enabling organizations
such as Catholic Charities to focus their budgets and resources on supportive
programs and services rather than building expenses. Under this partnership,
HomeAid and covered 100% of the costs of the $83,000 renovation of Christ House,
led by project “Builder Captain” K. Hovnanian Homes Virginia and 28
construction trade partners.
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About Catholic
Charities, Catholic Diocese of Arlington
Catholic Charities is the charitable arm of the Catholic
Church in the 21 counties and seven cities of the Diocese of Arlington under
the leadership of Bishop Michael F. Burbidge. Catholic
Charities serves the poor and vulnerable who live in the Diocese, whether
they are Catholic or not. Catholic Charities services include food for the
hungry, a free medical clinic, transformational housing for men and families,
individual and family counseling, emergency financial aid, immigration and
refugee services, job training and workforce development, prison ministry and
former prisoner re-entry program.
About
HANV
HomeAid Northern Virginia brings
together local non-profit service providers with the local homebuilder
community to build/renovate homeless shelters, housing facilities and community
spaces for programs serving the homeless. These collaborative partnerships
enable homebuilders to do what they do best (build) and service providers to do
what they do best (provide housing and wraparound services). HANV has completed
134 construction projects that together have served as a safe and stable space
for more than 138,000 vulnerable individuals in our community.
Thanks to K. Hovnanian Homes
Virginia and to the trade partners who contributed labor and resources to the
project:
Annandale Millwork &
Allied Systems
B&K Distributors, Inc.
Builders FirstSource
Bruce
Capital Mechanical, LLC
CC Carpentry
Construction Applicators
Daltile
Darvish Interiors
Dominion Electric Supply Co.
FM Construction
General Electric
Green Landscaping, Inc.
Interior Logic Group
Kohler/Sterling
LMO, Inc. Professional Carpentry
MasterBrand Cabinets, Inc.
McCormick Paints
McCrea Heating & AC
Moen, Inc.
My Maids, Inc.
Progress Lighting
Sight & Sound Systems, Inc.
Shaw Floors
Southern Electrical Service Company
Virginia Marble & Granite
Virginia Cleaning & Punchout
Washington Lanehart Electric Company