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This year’s Women for Women event was a huge success! The weather was absolutely perfect—thanks be to God!
Sending a very special thanks to the generosity of those who have taken part in the Women for Women 2021 campaign. Lydia’s House has raised over $57,000 (not including incoming pledges), surpassing our goal of $50,000 to support the renovations for our newest property, 1801 Mills Ave. We are still receiving donations and are pretty sure we will raise more than $60,000 this year!
The evening featured soft, beautiful performances from CCM’s Choir members: Annie Weible, Emilio Vásquez, Jarrett Hazelton, Emma Doheny, Elise Byard, Nick Metry, and Cora-Melin Mikat.
The evening began with a cocktail hour behind our 1801 Mills Ave building on the patio, which included a special welcome from Lydia’s House Co-Directors, Mary Ellen Mitchell Eilerman and Meridith Owensby. The cocktail hour was followed by a tour of four stops, the Azalea Montessori Preschool, a look at one of the apartments in our Virginia Coffey Apartments, the Playspace behind 4502 Carter Ave, and a special prayer and tour of the 1801 Mills Ave building.
Thank you to Hilary Copsey Canon for capturing the story of one of our former guests and creating a memorable audible story to share with participants during the tour of our properties. Our board president, Calista Smith was recognized and honored with a special Lydia’s House badge and presented a heartwarming ask to all of our guests and participants.
Dinner was provided by The Governor Diner in Milford, Ohio, along with fresh salads provided by the Norwood Parish Farmers and fresh baked pies for our coffee and dessert hour. Coffee was provided by Deeper Roots Coffee and our special Lydia’s House Bartenders were Anne Housholder, Ben Eilerman, and Robert Krzeski.
As the evening went on, we also heard from Mary Ellen Mitchell about the blessings of the year—the most notable being the purchase of the 1801 building, the start of renovations, and the purchase of the new empty lot next to the shelter, 2022 Mills Ave. Maria Krzeski closed out the event with a marvelous benediction and prayer, while sharing a special recognition to Lydia’s House staff.
Thank you to our wonderful volunteers for the evening, the Mercy Volunteers, the Norwood Tween Serving Crew, and the Women for Women planning committee. We also want to give a special thanks to Taylor Hand for putting together beautiful floral arrangements to display on each table, Robert and Erin Lockridge for letting us use the Speckled Bird Cafe to serve dinner and for use of their restrooms, to Carol Carlin for beatifying the 1801 patio space, and to Jean Graves for keeping us on track and letting us know when to transition to the next tour stop. Thank you so much to all who contributed to our 2021 Women for Women campaign! If you’d like to give to the 2021 Women for Women Campaign, it will be open until November 1. Please do so by clicking here.
Here’s an assortment of photos from our volunteer photographer, Whitney. Thank you Whitney!
