August 2024 – Philoxenia House Ministry Update

We commenced implementing the Parish Council approved plan to establish the PHILOXENIA HOUSE MINISTRY approximately five (5) months ago.

The Lynn Street House is being transformed into the PHILOXENIA HOUSE, with two separate living units each having two bedrooms, kitchen, living room, bathroom, laundry room and outdoor deck/patio.

The response has been overwhelmingly positive from our St Demetrios church community, the Hellenic community of the Northwest and the greater Seattle community. As an example – one of our parishioners, Stephen Kassab, worked with his Boy Scout troop as his Eagle Scout project to clean up the backyard and build a new trellis for the grape vine.

Since mid-April we have made much progress.

We started with the demolition of the interior of The Lynn Street House with much of the demolition work being done by a group of St Demetrios young men.

Then, the plumbing and wiring were professionally roughed in and passed City of Seattle inspection as did the new HVAC systems for the two units. Presently dry wall boarding is being completed and in the next two weeks, texturing and interior painting will be completed. After new flooring is installed the new cabinets and new appliances will be put in place.

Cash donations in the total amount of $264,750 have been used to retire the house mortgage of $143,000, with another $50,000 paying ongoing construction expenses including new cabinets and appliances for upstairs and downstairs kitchens and bathrooms.
We have outstanding expenses for HVAC system, floor leveling, concrete work, waste management, lighting fixtures and other miscellaneous expenses.

Incredibly, we have received in kind donations of labor and products such as flooring, tile, dry wall boarding, plumbing, plumbing accessories, security camera system, internet wiring, exterior and interior paint, as well as a significant amount of donated labor for painting inside, carpentry & electrical work as well as for design and construction management time – all valued at $142,000 minimum.

We are launching on our website Philoxenia.org an online fund raise of $60,000 to pay for all new furniture for the two living units, with the first $10,000 being pledged by the St Demetrios Cook Book Committee. The purpose of this fund-raising effort is to create opportunity for all to join in supporting the PHILOXENIA HOUUSE MINISTRY at any level.

Additionally, we have a $6,000 pledge for each of the first two years of operation to fund the estimated annual operating budget of $10,000. In addition, the donor will lead the effort to raise the additional amounts needed for those first two years.

We are now targeting mid-October as a date for completion and, blessing of The Philoxenia House, and celebration.

During our Celebration we will recognize all who have contributed their time, talents and treasury to the establishment of the PHILOXENIA HOUSE MINISTRY.

PHILOXENIA HOUSE MINSTRY TEAM
Paul Plumis, Stephanie Dikeakos, Pandora Christie Dudler, Deena Maroutsos, Emilie John, George Hatziantoniou, and John T John