The Beauty of a Second Chance
Beauty for Ashes is a local women's and children's home in Fredericksburg, Virginia. They provide a unique 9-12 month residential program that allows a mother and her child(ren) to stay and grow together as the mother is restored from a life-controlling situation.
Mike and Cindy Zello, Founders of Adult and Teen Challenge Virginia, have cared for individuals who struggle with addiction for 40 years. After serving in the Washington, DC area for 19 years, they moved with their children to Virginia in 2002 to pioneer a brand new Teen Challenge program in Fredericksburg, Virginia. They have successfully opened a long-term residential program for men, the Beauty for Ashes Women and Children's Home, and are actively pursuing a presence in Richmond, Virginia, with the programs they offer.
Executive director and founder of BFA, Cindy, explained the purpose behind her desire to found the organization, saying, "Mothers who are struggling with addiction or other life-controlling problems too often do not seek or find help because it means separation from their children, leaving both mother and child caught in a cycle of dysfunction, hopelessness, and brokenness."
She continued to express her observations, stating that the population is "in desperate need of residential care, [but] there are so few programs that provide long-term, residential care for women without separation from their children."
Thus, Beauty for Ashes was born from the vision God had given Cindy.
The property of Beauty for Ashes was acquired in 2013, dedicated in 2015, and– with the renovation help of many local businesses, churches, and community members– the doors officially opened in January 2016.
Beauty for Ashes provides all the components the mother and child(ren) may need to set them up for a successful life. This consists of a Christian faith-based curriculum, life skills training, continued education for the mothers, grade school education for the children, healthcare, and childcare. Beauty for Ashes is a holistic ministry that hinges on these families' social, mental, physical, and spiritual wholeness and restoration.
Cindy says, "Beauty for Ashes provides a safe, stable, loving home environment and offers help, hope, and healing to both mother and child."
Over the past eight years, BFA has had a remarkable impact, caring for more than 70 families, including 14 pregnant women. Many BFA graduates now live as thriving mothers in Spotsylvania or neighboring counties.
For each family, Beauty for Ashes has met them where they are at, recognizing that the needs of each mother and child are not identical. As Cindy says, "We love and care for them according to their needs," BFA adapts to each family's needs through intentional care that aims to help these families become healthy and whole to an extent where they can maintain this wholeness outside of BFA.
Beauty for Ashes can make a lasting impact on the lives of so many people because of the private funds they receive from local churches, organizations, and individuals.
If you, or someone you know, would like to support Beauty for Ashes and their cause, you can do so through donations or volunteer services.
As Zello summarized Beauty for Ashes's immense impact on the community, she said, "These women had been written off, and society had determined they didn't deserve to be mothers. Given the opportunity and the incredible program of Beauty for Ashes, they no longer live in shame and guilt or become another statistic representing failure. Families are being healed and made whole."
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To find out more visit, www.atcva.org. If you’re interested in information concerning the current tangible goods needed at BFA, to get involved through volunteerism, or becoming a community partner to host the BFA team for meetings, fundraisers, and church services/events, you can contact Cindy Zello at cindyz@atcva.org.
