When we started...

Here's a little glimpse of what it was like before The Samaritan Women moved into the property. After the news story broke about the people living (unofficially) in Ventnor Lodge, there was a lot of damage inflicted against the property by vandals. Over 40 windows were smashed, the front porch was destroyed, the kitchen was trashed.


In October 2007 were able to secure the propery and start the clean up. I'm sure only sites after Katrina rivaled what we saw! But we persevered, and even through all the trash, you could see the potential. (you couldn't SMELL the potential, but you could see it). We did get a little postscript coverage: (http://www.wbaltv.com/video/14251851/index.html)

We spent the first several months just peeling back layer upon layer: filling up over 4 dumpsters with trash, washing down walls and floors, repairing windows, adding security, and trying to reclaim the bare bones of the property so we could see what we really had to work with.

The saddest part was perhaps seeing how human beings are (perhaps forced, or choose) to live. It just makes you stop and wonder, "where was their family?"

... why don't we take better care of one another?