Our Residents
The 2004 Interview
During one week in March 2004, I had the chance to meet some of our residents face to face and get some of their stories on film. It reconnected me in new ways with what we do. I mean, I “know” what we do. I’ve written grants, brochures, and newsletters that explain in detail our programs and mission. But, it is something entirely different to talk to residents and see the difference a home makes.
- I met a veteran of World War II who, in the Battle of the Bulge, saw more than 18,000 of his comrades die to hold a road. After all of his life’s savings were lost in an investment scam, he calls Ellsworth House home and is delighted with a lifestyle he thought would be forever outside his means.
- I talked with a family at Highland Gardens, a delightful couple with two children, who told me until they came to Highland Gardens they were living their life “in the red,” unable to keep up with the onslaught of bills given their low wages. After moving into Highland Gardens nine months ago, today they are “in the black.”
- I spoke with a mother of four, living in Andrew’s Heights who never expected to go from owning a four bedroom Bellevue home with her husband to suddenly being single and standing in line at the food bank. She cried as she showed me her four bedroom apartment. “I had been told a three-bedroom anywhere else would take two years to get into,” she told me. “I was contemplating how the five of us could make a two-bedroom work.” But then she became aware of Andrew’s Heights and now occupies a beautiful, secure four-bedroom unit.
It is one thing to write a grant with statistics. It is another to sit face to face with something much bigger than yourself. This one week gave me a deeper look at our mission through the eyes of our residents. It made me appreciate the large community that stands with me to make a difference.
Thank you.
Jason Francis
Previous Director of Fund Development