Windy Hill at 40!

Written by Dulcy B. Hooper
Photos by Richard Hooper

Two weeks ago, Salamander Resort & Spa was the site of a well-deserved — and well-attended! — celebration of Middleburg’s Windy Hill Foundation. A full crowd of over 300 volunteers, staff, board members, and partner organizations attended the May 4 event, sharing stories of their involvement with Windy Hill and praising its mission: that of providing affordable housing, programs, and services that make a difference in the lives of residents. Fittingly, Windy Hill at 40 had over 40 sponsors, and was pleased to announce a generous $50,000 match contribution made by a local donor.

“Windy Hill creates a better community for everyone,” said Eloise Repeczky, executive director of Windy Hill Foundation. Windy Hill currently has 310 units, with 116 of those units located in Middleburg, The Plains, and Marshall. Slightly over 16% of Windy Hill residents in the local area are seniors and 37.2% are children.

Windy Hill started with one woman’s vision to improve the living conditions of her neighbors.  From her living room, Irene “Rene” Llewellyn began what would become the Windy Hill Foundation. At that time, the community was comprised of 15 families, some in homes with dirt floors. Residents shared six outhouses and two cold water spigots. All household water had to be carried home in buckets or jugs.

Windy Hill Foundation provides safe and affordable housing to low-income individuals, families, older adults, and adults with disabilities in Loudoun and Fauquier counties and encourages self-improvement and self-sufficiency among residents. In 2019, Windy Hill Foundation provided 310 units of housing in both Loudoun and Fauquier counties. The foundation also supports no-cost on-site programs and services for residents. 

Specific resident programs include after-school academic and social programs for children, including tutoring programs during the school year, family programming, and personal enrichment, social, and health programs for both younger and older adult residents. Windy Hill Foundation commits more than $200,000 annually to these programs, with help from many generous individual and organizational donors and grantors from Middleburg, Marshall, and The Plains, as well as the greater Washington, D.C., area. The goal of the Resident Services programming is to help residents to overcome some of the barriers — affordable housing, childcare, financial management, employment — that are making it difficult for them to move themselves and their families from affordable to market rate housing.

For more information about Windy Hill Foundation, contact Eloise Repeczky at (540) 687-3997 or by email at [email protected]. To make a donation to Windy Hill at 40, visit windyhillfoundation.com/volunteer/online-donation/2023-windy-hill-at-40-event-donation-page. 

Posted on May 19, 2023