On a recent evening at Solid Ground’s Broadview Shelter & Transitional Housing, several moms gathered around tables sharing stories and home-cooked dishes as their children stayed busy transforming fabric squares and paint into representations of things that matter: what they love, where they belong, and the memories they want to carry with them.
By the evening’s end, the table was covered in a patchwork of stories. Painted flowers filled one square. Another featured a smiling mom, a fishing rod, and a donut. Across a third, a burst of energetic blue captured a boy’s first jump into a saltwater pool.
That splash held the memory of a field trip organized through Broadview’s Children’s Program – a chance to explore somewhere new, try something brave, and experience the simple joys of being a kid. Put together, the children’s stories became the Broadview CommUNITY Quilt, which now hangs above the community room where families share meals and memories.
“Behind every quilt square is a story of what community makes possible: a family connecting over dinner, a parent enrolling in community college, and staff walking alongside families as they navigate systems that too often create barriers instead of opportunities.”
~Briana Stevenson, Solid Ground’s Development Director (pictured above)
Each year, approximately 300 survivors and their family members find sanctuary and support at Broadview while escaping domestic violence, a time when community support matters most. Every family arrives with their own strengths, needs, and vision for the future – and Broadview creates space for those possibilities to take root.
This begins with a safe place to stay, but it extends far beyond shelter. Families connect with resources, build stability and community, and move toward futures they shape for themselves. Children have room to learn, play, and create joyful memories while their families determine what comes next.
Behind every quilt square is a story of what community makes possible: a family connecting over dinner, a parent enrolling in community college, and staff walking alongside families as they navigate systems that too often create barriers instead of opportunities.
Each square is distinct, but the quilt’s message is most powerful when they’re joined together. The same is true of our community.
For 52 years, Solid Ground has partnered with families and individuals living on low incomes to meet a variety of essential needs, including secure housing, healthy food, and accessible transportation. But we also empower communities to advocate for systemic change and dismantle the conditions that perpetuate poverty and inequity.
Because poverty isn’t the failure of individuals, and no family should have to navigate unjust systems alone.
Ending poverty takes all of us – families leading the way, staff and volunteers working alongside them, advocates pushing for systemic change, and neighbors investing in our shared future. Together, we create spaces of safety, dignity, connection, and joy while strengthening the fabric of a community where everyone can thrive.
Double your impact!
Through December 31, your gift will be matched dollar for dollar (up to $175,000) thanks to generous friends of Solid Ground – doubling your impact for families and fueling our shared movement toward a future beyond poverty.
- PHOTO AT TOP: A portion of the completed CommUNITY Quilt (photo by Clarissa Magdich)
- All other photos by Neal Simpson
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