“There is a lot of joy in knowing you have touched someone else and provided something new to their lives. However, the biggest reward is that they have touched you and expanded your life.”
Ann first learned of Project Knitwell in 2014 through the Smith Center for Healing and Arts’ Knitting in the Nook site. Having recently retired, she picked up knitting again to pursue a creative outlet and participate in a supportive, healing community.
Around the same time, Ann started volunteering at Street Sense, the DC newspaper focused on solutions to homelessness and housing insecurity written by men and women who are homeless. Several of the Street Sense newspaper vendors commented on Ann’s knitwear, and out of those conversations, she was encouraged to teach a knitting workshop at Street Sense.
Ann asked Project Knitwell if it would sponsor the site at Street Sense, and Project Knitwell agreed. She recruited two additional volunteers from the Smith Center group, Robin and Barbara to join her in offering knitting instruction, and the new site was up and running. After a year at Street Sense, the site was moved to N Street Village, which serves women facing homelessness and/or the challenges of low income. The group is thriving and spreading the healing value of knitting.
“Volunteering with Project Knitwell gives me an opportunity to give back and stretch my horizons,” says Ann. “There is a lot of joy in knowing you have touched someone else and provided something new to their lives. However, the biggest reward is that they have touched you and expanded your life.”
Ann lives in DC with her husband Bill. She finds knitting a productive way to unwind and enjoys working with new knitters who are discovering the relaxing, stress release that knitting provides. In addition to knitting, Ann enjoys gardening with Bill in their organic community garden plot, hiking, reading and traveling. Bill is a sketch artist who specializes in drawing from life and has provided the drawing above.
