Windy Hill Foundation – Helping Our Neighbors
We are honored to once again partner with local non-profit, Windy Hill Foundation, located in Middleburg, Virginia. The foundation’s mission is to provide affordable, decent and safe housing for low and lower-income individuals, families, elders and adults with disabilities in both Loudoun and Fauquier Counties. The foundation provided 310 housing units in Loudoun and Fauquier in 2019 and supported no-cost onsite resident programs and services for those living in Windy Hill Foundation communities.
Recently, Windy Hill Foundation became the recipients of a generous gift: 32 acres of land just West of Middleburg! The family of recently deceased philanthropist and conservationist Magalen Bryant, long-time supporters of Windy Hill Foundation and its mission to provide safe, decent, and affordable housing, offered the foundation 32 acres of land. We know this gift will bless families for years to come and are so excited about this news.
On-site programs consist of after-school academic and social programs, an eight-week drop-in summer day camp, tutoring programs during the school year, family, personal enrichment, social and health programs for younger and older adult residents through committing $200,000 annually, alongside many generous organizational and individual donors and grantors from surrounding communities and the greater Washington DC area. The overarching goal of these programs is to help residents move from affordable to market rate housing.
Conceived in the mind and spirit of Irene (Rene) Llewellyn, a Middleburg resident born in England, the foundation began when Rene was waiting to pick up a child for a music lesson and witnessed the poverty on Windy Hill. She was so impacted that she was determined to help improve local living conditions along with a friend, Edna Washington. Rene’s plans blossomed from a group of community members who formed the Windy Hill Foundation Charter Board, to include raising enough money to purchase the properties and then use Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds to pay for renovations of the homes. Over a 10-year initial revitalization period the community of 15 families who shared six outhouses and two cold water spigots transformed into totally renovated homes with water and sewer lines. The foundation realized during this initial time frame that the problem of inadequate, sub-standard housing and poverty was far greater than the small Windy Hill community.
By year twenty-five, 47 rental units throughout Middleburg had been acquired and renovated. By the 25th anniversary Windy Hill Foundation had built 186 affordable housing units throughout Loudoun Fauquier Counties. Rene’s dream went beyond housing to improving the resident’s needs and her philosophy drives the vision of Windy Hill today.
During our July sponsorship period, Salon Khouri will donate $1 for every haircut we do and we encourage all of you to visit the Windy Hill Website to learn how you can help in other ways, including volunteering and direct donations.
