Kris Thompson still remembers when she entered Calvary Women’s Services’ Good Hope building in Anacostia after a nearby gas explosion destroyed part of the building.
There was standing water, blown out windows and one of the front doors had been pulled off its hinges.
“There was water everywhere,” Thompson, the group’s CEO, recalled.
After the January 2024 explosion that damaged a day care center and convenience store, the facility supporting women experiencing homelessness had to temporarily relocate the 30 women and staff who had been living and working there.
D.C. Fire and EMS had to sign off before the power was able to be turned back on. Therapists were made available so everyone felt supported.
“It was a pretty traumatic event,” Thompson said. “The building itself was very, very damaged.”
The facility was able to reopen by July 1, 2024, and over two years later, it is fully remodeled and again focused on its mission — ending homelessness among women and providing housing, health and employment to help achieve that goal.
“There’s ways we could have done it just piecemeal,” Thompson said. “We could have just laid tile on half the floor. The decision for the organization was really that the women who come here deserve for this to be a safe and comfortable home for the time that they’re here.”
The Jan. 18 explosion happened at the building next door, and behind a fence, the damage is still evident.
Sixteen kids were safely evacuated from the day care center, which Thompson said hasn’t reopened. One person, who officials at the time said was hit by debris, was hospitalized with minor injuries.
As the work to get the facility operating again continued, there was a period during which “there were just open walls, awaiting everything to dry out and new drywall to go up,” Thompson said.
The building has 45 beds for transitional housing, and on the lower level, the computer lab, therapy office and staff offices were all damaged.
Now, there’s a new computer lab, new offices and new flooring. Windows that were either blown out or broken by firefighters responding to the emergency have been repaired.
The work, which Thompson said cost about $400,000-$500,000, was paid for through private donations and an insurance claim.
“There really was a gap between what insurance was going to cover, and what it would take to make this building the beautiful, safe, comfortable place that we want it to be for women who come into this program,” she said.
On Tuesday, a banner from a Women’s History Month event remained on the wall near the kitchen. It served as a reminder of the site’s versatility.
“We know that we have the strength of the staff who work here, the strength of women who come here who are working to change their lives,” Thompson said. “We have the strength of people … who have come out to hear our stories, and that’s what allows this organization to thrive, and the women who come here to thrive.”
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