The Potter’s House Aiming to Build a New Future

The Potter’s House Aiming to Build a New Future

By Carina Elgin

The Potter’s House in The Plains

Photo by Vicky Moon

While The Plains area is known for its lush farms and rolling fields populated with well-bred horses and well-fed cows, some local residents are struggling, especially during the upheaval and aftermath of the pandemic.

Most Saturday mornings, a line of people often waits patiently for the doors of a small white building on Loudoun Avenue to open at 9 a.m. It's the Potter's House, started in 2010 by the Women of Worship Ministry of The First Baptist Church of The Plains.

The nonprofit serves those in need by collecting donations of household goods, clothing and toys, then allowing anyone to come by on Saturday mornings to take what they need. No charge, no questions asked. Carolyn Colbert, The Potter’s House director and its driving force, is there every day.

“There are a lot of people in need,” she said. “We try to do what we can to help.” Said the Reverend Weston Matthews from nearby Grace Episcopal Church, “The Potter’s House serves a part of our community that is often ignored. It’s a safe space, where people feel welcomed and loved, and can get things they need.”

The invaluable outreach has long outgrown that space, and the current building is in precarious condition, with a flooding basement and unsafe mold issues. Plans are now underway to create a place where people of all religions and cultures can come together to help and get to know each other, according to Pastor Tim Ahl of First Baptist.

One generous and anonymous community member has already donated land adjacent to the current facility. Thorough research and planning is taking place, with feasibility studies, engineers and architects working on the best way to address the community’s needs and the town’s regulations.

Pastor Ahl points to the architects’ drawings, indicating a large community room in the future building, where donations will be distributed more efficiently. Additionally, local civic groups will be able to use the space for meetings and events.

It’s intended for people to find help with social and medical needs, including mental health services. There are also plans for a kitchen, ample parking, and an outdoor pavilion area. The current historic Potter’s House, if salvageable, will become administrative office space.

The new building will truly be an opportunity for community members to work together, Ahl said, offering storage space for the toiletry items members of the Long Branch Church in Halfway currently provide, and for the food Grace Episcopal in The Plains makes available through its food pantry, Peas and Grace.

With land donated and preliminary funds in the non-profit’s account, the new and improved Potter’s House is off to a good start. Still, Pastor Ahl emphasized the project needs much more financial support. He hopes members of the community will volunteer goods and services, donate items, or make taxdeductible donations.

“We’re here to provide opportunity and diversity, to bring people together from every spectrum, to meld our hearts, and to show each other we’re really not different from each other,” he said.

“We want to expand on what has been started, where good trust has been built up and where there is a safe place where people feel welcome. But we need the community’s help.”

Details: To donate or get more information on The Potter’s House project, contact Pastor Tim Ahl at 540-253-5567.