From the front, the ramp will cater to wheelchairs if needed in the future. Photo by Mike Salmon.
When the Northern Virginia Training Center off Braddock Road closed a few years ago, it increased the need for housing for people with intellectual disabilities in this area. In stepped Marian Homes, Inc. who partnered with the Knights of Columbus, Fairfax County and others to help meet this need.
They recently opened the “Queen of Hope House,” in Springfield, their sixth group home in Fairfax County, and a significant step in the new residents’ lives. For the five men that will move in soon, “this becomes their home forever,” said Walter Purdy, a Marian Homes board member who was part of the renovation effort.
“We had to take everything down to the ground, gut the inside,” he said of the five-bedroom house in Springfield, located in an older community across from Springfield Town Center. A ramp was built to the front door, the garage taken out, doorways were widened, the bathrooms are now wheelchair-friendly and the yard was spruced up. It is one of the more upgraded houses on the block and will be a place where the men can live in the community. “It’s better to get them…into a group home,” Purdy said.
Chimes Virginia will manage the residence once everyone moves in and will oversee the property 24 hours a day. Chimes is Fairfax company that provides community services for adults with intellectual disabilities, autism, and co-occurring disabilities. “As a member of Chimes Family of Services, our desire is to ensure that all people with intellectual and behavioral challenges can achieve their fullest potential,” their website says.
Carl Powell is the Chimes representative that has been working with these five men for the last 10 months, preparing them to move into the new house. “It’s a step up,” Powell said.
The effort was funded through Marian Homes; Fairfax County; the Knights of Columbus; the Van Metre Foundation; Clipped Wings, a woman’s group in Clifton; and the Amazon Smiles Campaign. Marian Homes raised funds through casino nights, dinners, cruises and their annual gala as well as a $450,000 Community Development Block Grant awarded from the county.
The other five homes opened by Marian Homes included the Marian House which opened in 1998, and others in Annandale, Fairfax, the City of Fairfax and North Springfield.
In preparation for the Queen of Hope House, they went door-to-door to talk with the neighbors as well, and invited everyone to the grand opening event, which was held on in August last year. There were more than 80 people at the event, including Fairfax County officials, police officers from the Franconia station and others that were involved. “We want this to be a community effort,” said Purdy, “we want to be the best neighbors in the neighborhood,” he said.
Their mission is not over yet, though. With more than 1,000 people on the waiting list for this kind of living situation, they are looking to open a seventh house in the future.
“There are that many people that need housing,” he said.