ALIVE! executive director Jennifer Ayers, center, cuts the ribbon to the ALIVE! House July 25 after renovations were completed on the transitional housing facility in Old Town.
ALIVE! celebrated the completion of renovations at its ALIVE! House transitional housing property with a ribbon cutting ceremony July 25 in Old Town.
Renovations on the 1,200 square foot property on South Payne Street were led by HomeAid National Capital Region, a nonprofit that works to provide safe housing facilities to other nonprofits.
“This is a pretty great example of expanding capacity of a smaller space,” said Kristen Burr, CEO of HomeAid National Capital Region. “We renovated and brought it up to date so that it is a dignified and safe space. A transition like this gives hope and all those things that clients needing a hand up deserve.”
A new kitchen is part of the completed renovations led by HomeAid National Capital Region at the ALIVE! House in Old Town.
Together with 21 different trade partners, HomeAid and Richmond American renovated the shared housing facility to create private units to accommodate three Alexandria families for up to two years.
Owned by ALIVE! the space provides up to 24 months of transitional housing and support for women and their families.
“So many people know ALIVE! for food but we have had the shelter since the ‘70s,” said ALIVE! executive director Jennifer Ayers. “The last renovation was in 1993. Now, what was an institutional space has been transformed into a dignified and beautiful space that people can call home.”
The first floor of the property was reconfigured to include a residential apartment as well as staff office space, a resident common area, a half bath for staff, and additional storage space under the stairwell. The second and third floors were also renovated into two separate residential units.
Richmond American volunteered as HomeAid’s Builder Captain and recruited various trade partners to assist in donating time and materials needed for the project, managed the scope of work and construction progress, and helped provide leadership and direction to complete the project.
Trade partners on the project include: Annandale Millwork and Allied Systems Corporation; Aristokraft, Inc.; Atlantic Building Supply, Inc.; Avantti Construction, Inc.; Colorworld Painting & Drywall Services, Inc.; Commonwealth Lighting of Virginia, Inc.; Crigger Contracting Inc.; Franklin Electric Co, Inc.; GE Appliances; Gerber Plumbing Fixtures, LLC; Interior Logic Group (ILG); John Darvish Construction Co.; Kichler Lighting, LLC; Metro Stone Works; Moen Incorporated; Mohawk Flooring; Northern Virginia Plumbing & Mechanical, Inc.; Pro Bond Construction, Inc.; The Sherwin-Williams Company; Virginia Cleaning & Punchout, Inc. (VCP); and William H. Metcalfe & Sons, Inc.
“It does take a village,” Burr said. “A lot of people were involved, with each of the amazing trade partners coming in here and doing their thing. The retail value for the donated services was $108,000. They did it well and did it right.”
“A transition like this gives hope and all those things that clients needing a hand up deserve.”
— Kristen Burr, CEO, HomeAid National Capital Region
Added Ayers, “Our goal is to move people from a place where they are in risk and hurting to a place that in two years they can leave and hopefully never have to go back to being homeless again. Thanks to HomeAid we now have a dignified and homey space, especially for the children who live here. We could not do it without partners who continue to support people in our community who need a lift up.”
www.alive-inc.org