Bright sunshine and temperatures nearing the mid-60s arrived in the Washington area on Sunday Dec. 8, dissipating the DMV’s post-Thanksgiving cold snap.
The spring-like weather was especially welcomed in Hyattsville, Maryland, where 100 people gathered for a bright, warm atmosphere of another kind: the Annual Christmas Open House at St. Ann’s Center for Children, Youth and Families.
Founded in 1860 by three Daughters of Charity sisters, today St. Ann’s Center helps women and their children overcome crisis and achieve lasting stability and independence through supportive and transitional housing programs and wraparound support services.
The Christmas Open House is a beloved and popular tradition at St. Ann’s, said Sister Nancy Downing of the Congregation of Notre Dame who in January became St. Ann’s CEO after previously having led Covenant House New York.
“We are so grateful for the ‘village’ that powers St. Ann’s mission,” said Sister Nancy. “Today we get to say, ‘Thank you! Come and see the difference you’ve made for mothers and children.’”
Guests arrived at St. Ann’s main building in the early afternoon, many carrying festive gift bags and unwrapped presents carefully selected for the families currently living at St. Ann’s Center – 23 women and their 25 children, many of whom have previously experiences homelessness or housing instability.
Upon entering St. Ann’s garland and ribbon-decked entrance, the open house guests were greeted by staff and volunteers donning elf hats and sparkling red-and-green attire, who pointed the way to cookies and coffee and self-guided tour starting points.
Among the crowd were first-time visitors as well as longtime friends and supporters and more than a few alumni – and children of alumni – for whom opportunities like the open house provide a special chance to reconnect with past legacies and family histories.
After enjoying refreshments and social time amid a backdrop of Christmas trees in the auditorium, dozens of guests embarked on a self-guided tour of St. Ann’s Center’s three housing programs: Grace House, Hope House, and Faith House. Recent renovations impressed tour-takers, who remarked on the bright and welcoming resident spaces and on-site Child Care Center.
Guests particularly noted the newly-added, inspiring artwork and posters in Grace House, St. Ann’s program for teen mothers (aged 13-21) and their babies. “The representation and positive messages for young women are so important – that you CAN do this!” said one guest, a former board member and adoptee of St. Ann’s Center.
Following the social hour and tours – facilitated by senior-year student volunteers from Elizabeth Seton High School in Bladensburg and Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School in Washington – guests re-assembled in the auditorium for brief remarks from co-hosts Sister Nancy Downing and Washington Auxiliary Bishop Roy Campbell Jr.
Bishop Campbell, a Maryland native, reflected on one of his high school classmates who adopted one, if not two children, from St. Ann’s. “The mission has changed [since],” Bishop Campbell said, “But the mission is still important. It’s especially important in that it gives families a chance to be together, grow together, and to give their children the chance to grow up to be the people in this community that we all wish them to be.”
The bishop then led people in prayer, saying, “Lord our God, your son Jesus welcomed little children and blessed them. Stretch out Your hand over these families [at St. Ann’s] and all who care for them, and welcome them.”
Following prayer, Sister Nancy Downing thanked Bishop Campbell and recognized “the many volunteers and staff members and board members who helped to deck our halls here at St. Ann’s.” Sister Nancy thanked all in attendance, sharing, “We have right now 23 women with their 25 children living here at St. Ann’s. The journeys of our mothers and our families and their successes are really made possible by all of you. So thank you for being here today.”
Sister Suzanne Baumgartner, who lives at St. Ann’s Center with her Daughters of Charity community, later shared a special moment she witnessed that afternoon.
“One woman greeted me and said she had worked at St. Ann’s years ago, when we were still on California Street in D.C. [prior to St. Ann’s 1963 Hyattsville move],” said Sister Suzanne. “Just as she was sharing her story, a man came up with his young children and said, ‘Oh my gosh. One of my parents was adopted from St. Ann’s around that same time!’ The man was visiting St. Ann’s for the first time, hoping to make a connection with his family’s past. And… it just so happened,” said Sister Suzanne.
She added, “You should have seen his face light up when he realized, ‘You would have cared for my father!’”
As the event concluded and guests departed through the North Pole themed lobby – blue souvenir Christmas ornaments in hand – another special moment occurred, underlining the reason behind the entire event, and the entire purpose of St. Ann’s Center.
Two resident families – both teen-aged mothers with their respective toddlers – re-entered the building after a local Sunday outing, with the youngsters clutching star-shaped balloons in their tiny fists, and they headed back to their private rooms in Grace House to relax and prepare for a happy, hopeful week ahead.
