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Center of Hope coming to Ashburn
Good Shepherd Alliance will soon have a new presence in Ashburn.The organization, the oldest and largest homeless provider in Loudoun County, plans to build the Center of Hope there.
The new Center of Hope will not be a homeless shelter, but it will provide services to the homeless throughout the county. The center is expected to open by year's end.
"It will provide the foundation for us to go forward into the future," said GSA Executive Director Lyle Werner. "It will allow us to expand and broaden the services we're able to provide to Loudoun homeless."
She said the Center of Hope will be in historic Ashburn, at 20684 Ashburn Road, and will allow the countywide organization to consolidate several of its operations into one location.
The GSA Thrift Store, currently located at the Regal Shopping Center in Sterling, will move into the Center of Hope and will be expanded.
The organization's administrative offices, now in Leesburg, will also be housed in the new building.
"We decided if we're going to serve the poor we have to be stable ourselves," said Bob Ohneiser, a GSA volunteer and School Board member representing Broad Run.
Ohneiser said rental rates for the thrift store in Sterling and the administrative offices in Leesburg were rising and there wasn't enough space. That's why he started looking into a central location in Ashburn.
"We'd be better off financially to own the building and combine our retail location and our offices," he said. "It made sense. It's a win-win situation all the way around."
Ohneiser said the idea has also received a warm welcome from the citizens of Ashburn.
"I'm ecstatic about it," said Mark Gunderman, GSA vice chair. "We're really going to reach out to the community of Ashburn."
Counseling services, a kids' room, chapel, conference room and enlarged day center will also be housed in the Center of Hope.
The day center is where homeless individuals can come to shower, do laundry, use the Internet, check their mail, prepare meals, use the phone and store belongings, Werner said.
She said that the current day center in Leesburg includes these things, but on a much smaller scale.
The new facility will include four bathrooms, allowing up to four people to shower at once.
Counseling services, which are also in Leesburg, will be expanded in the new facility, and a kids' room will provide a place for children to play while their parents are busy there.
"This way kids can have a little time away from their parents who can meet with the counselors," Werner said.
Counselors provide services such as job placement, personal development and stress management for homeless individuals.
Currently, they don't have a private space to meet, but that will all change with the addition of the Center of Hope.
The Ashburn building being renovated for the center was previously a roofing business, Werner said.
Much of the renovation will be completed by HomeAid Northern Virginia, a nonprofit organization that donates building and contracting services to help the homeless in the region.
A grant for $248,000 will also go toward the project, Werner said.
The Center of Hope sits on 1.2 acres, which is plenty of room for the GSA to install a meditation garden outside for people to use as well.
"We hope this will set the stage for us to be providing for the homeless for a long time," Werner said. "This will set the stage for us to do more. There's room for us to grow in this facility."
Contact the reporter at ecoe@timespapers.com
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