If you’ve driven past our property on the corner of Walnut & Church streets you might have seen something a little different.

This week we had the fine folks from Snavely’s Garden Corner, Inc. in Hagerstown landscape a beautiful memorial garden in front of our Thrift Store on the Walnut Street side.

The garden is in memory of Ellen Resh, the founding partner of The Hope Center at Hagerstown Rescue Mission. She and her husband, Jim, followed the call of God to move their family from the quiet, peaceful life in Cascade, MD to the gritty and unthinkable atmosphere of Jail Alley in downtown Hagerstown.

For years Ellen worked as the “Mission Mom” to create a family environment not only for her own children but for the hundreds of men who were residents and guests through the years.

Ellen wasn’t just raising her children during those years. She was also raising the new converts of men who passed through the doors. She became a positive female influence to all the grown men who were in desperate need of a mother’s love.

Ellen was an important part of the ministry of rescue throughout the years. She was an important part of Koffee Klatch, our weekly Bible study & fellowship time for women. She also oversaw the Sorting Room and all the merchandise that was priced and placed into our stores.

But when Ellen wasn’t busy working at The Hope Center, she enjoyed the quietness of God’s creation at her home outside of Hagerstown. She enjoyed the beauty of flowers and trees and loved feeding and taking care of animals – especially cardinals.

Our Auxiliary decided that the best way to pay tribute to the founding mother of The Hope Center was to create a garden in her memory.

She would love to see the flat, grassy area between the Thrift Store and Walnut Street be landscaped into something beautiful and provide a place for the birds to sit and sing their praises to God.

The garden is not exactly finished at this point. We are in the process of getting a sign installed in her memory.

As beautiful as this garden turned out, we are hoping to do more of these along Walnut Street in the future. Adding trees and plants not only makes our property more beautiful but it also is another way to celebrate God, the Creator, and helps us to be more environmentally responsible by adding more trees to help provide fresh air in the downtown environment.

We want to thank Snavley’s for doing such a beautiful, professional job on the garden.

And we also want to thank the Ladies’ Auxiliary at The Hope Center for funding this gorgeous addition to our property! We appreciate all the work that these ladies do to help improve our facilities and keep the ministry moving forward!

If you or someone you know are interested in learning more or joining our Ladies’ Auxiliary, please call 301.739.1165 or email hagerstownrescue@verizon.net for more info.