Homeless shelter in Alexandria undergoes $83K renovation

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