The Pumpkin House on Lee Street

Poverello House has been located in the same rented pumpkin colored house on Lee Street since 2008. The Board of Directors, staff and volunteers of Poverello House have been dreaming about a new house for years.  We have been imagining a place where the guests can spread out and relax, where they can eat in a dining room and where they don’t have to line up waiting for a bathroom to be vacant. We have been dreaming about a house that keeps people cool in the summer and warm in the winter and is also energy efficient.

A Hope and Dream for the Future

We have been doing more than imagining and dreaming.  We have been praying, of course.  We have also been doing our homework and raising funds from individual donors and we have been writing grants.  We have faced the challenge of doing fundraising during the time of COVID.  And we have been successful.

New Possibilities

We have been very lucky, or, in other words, blessed.  In July we were able to purchase a larger house on a much larger lot at 267 E Blacklidge Dr. Since then, we have been working with our architect, Hank Krzysic, to develop plans for adding staff bedrooms and doing the needed renovations to bring the house up to code.

A Special Day

On a rainy day in December board members and supporters gathered for a blessing of the new property.  Our architect, Hank, who is also a deacon at Our Mother of Sorrows, led the blessing ceremony. In addition to the holy water, the heavens provided sacred rain.

Thanks to Many

Thanks to the hard work of our board and our collaborators, and thanks to the generosity of our donors, the renovation of the Blacklidge house will begin soon.  We look forward to moving in during the summer. We are so grateful to everyone who has helped with this undertaking. We will soon be providing the same kind of Franciscan hospitality in a bigger and better facility. 

Keep us in your prayers.