Volunteers ready Hope House for residents
Written for The Herald Weekly
By Ann Fletcher
October 16, 2009
HUNTERSVILLE – The first time Denver resident Joy Robertson volunteered at Hope House, she jumped in with a detail-oriented, no-nonsense approach that eventually transformed a newly renovated house into a warm, inviting home.
That was February, and the brick ranch on Northcross Drive had just undergone a major renovation to become the Lake Norman area’s only nonprofit transitional home for homeless women and children. Hope House had just received its certificate of occupancy and Robertson found piles of donations – furniture, dishes, accessories and more – stacked throughout the house, floor to ceiling in some areas.
The day Robertson arrived, interim Executive Director Fran Mathay was juggling a long to-do list and had just sat down at the kitchen table feeling totally overwhelmed.
As if on cue, Robertson and fellow volunteer Cora Taylor walked in. Robertson remembers asking, “Is there anything we can do to help?”
Mathay and Robertson had spoken by phone, but Mathay wasn’t expecting her that morning. She seized the moment and ushered the women to the kitchen. “Would you like to set this up?” she asked. It seemed like a perfect place to start: the heart of the home.
Robertson and Taylor got to work, and months later, the kitchen is one of many rooms Robertson has voluntarily de-cluttered, organized and decorated.
“Joy has literally been the pivotal point in setting up the house,” Mathay said. “Little did I know the kitchen was just the beginning. Joy took off like a whirling dervish. Basically, there is nothing she wouldn’t tackle.”
In some cases, Robertson worked days – long days, not just a few hours – on a room before she’d see results. Initially, she logged her hours, but she eventually stopped. “Things always take longer than you expect,” she said with a knowing smile.
She’s sorted, scrubbed, nailed, assembled, painted, cleaned, labeled and arranged her way through nearly every space in the 4,000-square foot house.
Now, the spotless home features six furnished bedrooms; four bathrooms; an inviting kitchen; living, dining, and laundry areas on both the upper and lower levels; and a security system.
Robertson and Mathay have moved furniture from room to room, up and down stairs and, in some cases, back again.
“A little promise, a little hope”
Robertson’s eye for detail warmed the interior. “Comfort is important,” she said. “The residents have a nice, secure home here. People love this house when they enter. It’s homey.”
She unearthed a set of Norman Rockwell plates among the piles of donations and grouped them together on a wall in the upstairs kitchen. She meticulously applied a wall stencil – “A little laugh, a little promise, a little hope” – on a covered beam between the kitchen and family room.
Gleaming hardwood floors and a leather sectional surround the fireplace in the upstairs family room. A plaque on the wall indicates the room was furnished by a board member in memory of her mother.
Down the hall, side-by-side bedrooms were furnished by the North Mecklenburg Women’s Group and the Blue Stone Harbor Bunco Group. A recognition wall within the house pays tribute to volunteer board members, who, in many cases, saw the home evolve from a concept.
Hope House was founded in 2004 by Dr. Lee Beth Lindquist and Don King, who had served together on a committee to help the homeless at Davidson United Methodist Church. “It is the first and only transitional housing for the homeless within a 30-mile, four-county radius of the Lake Norman area,” Mathay said.
Hope House is working with the Ada Jenkins Center and Davidson Housing Coalition to screen candidates for Hope House and help them attain independence when they leave.
Residents will be able to stay up to six months while they look for a job and housing. But the bedrooms cannot be filled to the home’s capacity of 12 residents until the Hope House board can arrange on-site, 24-7 staffing, something leaders are exploring now.
In the meantime, volunteers are finishing the home’s interior details. Volunteer Jim Gossage of Huntersville has served as a Hope House handyman and recently laid the flooring in the home’s AT&T Learning Center and children’s play area, and installed lighting fixtures and fans.
A Habitat for Humanity volunteer, he contacted one of the Hope House co-founders after reading an article about the renovation project and, like Robertson, embarked on long-term commitment to Hope House.
“Don King and I would meet here in the evening and work on whatever needed to be done,” Gossage said. At the time, the basement was unfinished, nothing more than dirt and cinder blocks. Today, the lower level offers wheelchair accessibility to two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living and dining area and the learning center.
More than 160 people have signed up as volunteers, and Volunteer Coordinator Karen Clark is organizing that corps of workers now. “Opportunities for volunteers can take many directions – from a scheduled weekly or monthly activity, to hosting a food or supply drive, to a one-day service event by a group,” Clark said.
The foundation will conduct background checks on all volunteers work one-on-one with residents. The foundation’s Web site, www.hopehousefoundation.org, should soon offer forms and information for volunteers.