And we're in!

The prayer turret at 'The Circle'

The Circle is finally finished!  Well, almost – there are still some things like an amazing mould growing room in the basement to be sorted and a working front door to be achieved.  But we are in.  It has been very touching to see the enthusiasm of the neighbours.  One day we came home to find a beautiful plant on the porch, no card, just the plant.  The house had been effectively derelict for a couple of years and had become a magnet for a local gang.  Some of the rooms had been so well ‘tagged’ you could barely see the walls and we spent hours scrubbing graffiti off the marble in the hall.  Who knew marble was quite so porous?!  

Bienvenedas bunting - welcoming women to 'The Circle'

It has meant a lot to the local community to have the building bought and renovated.  Some of them confided in Licha that the houses opposite had all started to fix their porches and buy plants for the garden.  Already they are feeling so much better about the area. 

Helpers celebrating the move in....

We had a gathering of Helpers here last weekend to see the place in its post-renovation splendour.  It was fun showing them round and imagining the life that will go on in these walls.  It brought it home too, how much of a shared project this is.  Many people had already contributed furniture, pictures, equipment, prayer and enthusiasm.   As attention turns to the programmes, classes and support ‘The Circle’ will offer, this just continues.  We met this week with a doctor who is also an acupuncturist and keen to offer group sessions at low prices, there is a nutritionist offering teach nutrition and cookery, psychotherapy students coming to do their internships  and a number of young bilingual women ready to offer their time.  Every week, someone else seems to come on board. 

So although there are still rooms to be furnished, the parking lot to be laid, the garden to be landscaped and the program to be finalised - it really feels like things are taking shape.  It has been a lesson in trusting in Providence, if ever there was one!