On Saturday afternoon, volunteers from St. Columba’s Episcopal Church assembled at Partner Arms 2 to furnish an apartment for a homeless family moving into transitional housing through the Adopt-An-Apartment Program. This congregation, under the leadership of Kristen McNavage, ran a donation drive to fully prepare the space so that a family could move in early this week.

The volunteers arrived at noon, ready and excited to work. They dove directly into volunteering and quickly the living room was alive with packing paper in the air and the sounds of household items being unpacked.

Then the building began, as volunteers spent time meticulously creating a dresser and coffee table. At the same time, the heavy lifting of a couch and other furniture happened!

Throughout the day, THC staff members were amazed by the thoughtfulness of this group of volunteers. They went the extra mile – braving the lines of a local department store on a Saturday to get the right color bath mat, carefully washing every dish and glass so they would be ready to use, and curiously asking questions to better know the family moving in. One volunteer remarked, “This is a hand up, not a hand out,” after hearing about the ways that we meld housing and supportive services together.

Out of the 14 volunteers present, 4 were young people in middle and early high school. They took time to meticulously choose and lay out presents deciding what items should remain wrapped (so the boy moving in could have the excitement of unwrapping them) and how to maximize the excitement by hiding more toys in

different places. It was remarkable to see this thoughtful group of young people create an exciting space for the incoming family.

Thank you to the volunteers and congregations members of St. Columba’s for your hard work and commitment to helping to create a new home for a homeless family! For more photos from this amazing day, check out our Facebook album!