From Susan Fitzpatrick, Community Lodgings board member:
I lost my mother this year. My mother gave me my start on my own path in life. She and my father provided my foundation and provided a proverbial walkway toward my own version of success. I can think of no better way to honor her than to purchase a brick in her name that supports the development of a foundation for others.
So, as a board member with Community Lodgings, I was thrilled when I found out that HomeAid Northern Virginia and the City of Alexandria will assist us in renovating our 6-unit apartment building that houses the Fifer Learning Center, our original after-school center that provide after-school tutoring, a summer program and the boys’ and girls’ mentoring programs. Every day, nearly 60 children walk down the concrete walk to the side of the building, open the doors and step into a safe, nurturing environment designed to set them on a path towards success in school and ultimately anything they want to do. It seemed natural, then, that we should use that very walkway the children follow as a way to provide needed additional financial support for our programs. So the idea of selling personalized bricks to create a “Walkway to Independence” was born.
Community Lodgings provides 44 transitional and affordable housing units as well as youth education programs to over 150 low-income children and families. This brick project allows Community Lodgings supporters to engrave a brick with whatever message they choose. You can support a child’s accomplishment, share your favorite supportive quotation, advertise your business, or honor a loved one. That’s what has me so excited about this project.
Ordering a brick, engraved with your personal message of support, is as easy as clicking here. I bought one in honor of my mother, and I hope you will join me in building this “Walkway to Independence” to provide children and families a firm and lasting foundation for success.
