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They’ll Be Home For The Holidays
They’ll Be Home For The Holidays
By John E. Ross
Piper, April, and Travis Reed will be home for the holidays. Home for the Reed family is their two-bedroom apartment in Windy Hill Foundation’s Llewellyn Village in Middleburg.
You know April; her big smile has been greeting customers across the counter at The Upper Crust bakery in Middleburg for the last seven years. April and Travis are a couple, and 15-month old Piper is their daughter.
Sitting in her over-stuffed easy chair in her living room feeding Piper lunch of mac and cheese, April related how, in so many ways, their move from Hickory Tree Farm to Llewellyn Village has been nothing short of life changing.
As they were moving in, Antonio Martin, a Windy Hill Foundation (WHF) residential services coordinator, assisted Travis in finding a good steady job as a tow truck driver for Battlefield Service Center in Manassas. He also helped Travis update his resume and schedule interviews.
Good, steady jobs added stability to the Reed’s household. “We get up around 7 and drop Piper off at day care around 8,” April said. “I get to the bakery about 8:15 and after work, go to the library to do school work.”
April is studying on-line with Bryant-Stratton College to earn an associate’s degree to become certified as a foster care case manager. She said she enjoys studying on-line “because I can take my time.”
“I’m a visual learner,” she said. “I can take whatever notes I want and don’t have to rush. Instructors take the time out of their days to answer any questions I may have.”
Travis meets her at the library after work and together, they pick up Piper, who is enrolled in the Middleburg Montessori School through WHF’s Nest to Wings program. According to WHF Executive Director Eloise Repeczky, the program provides scholarships to Middleburg, Grace, and Mountainside Montessori schools and to the Piedmont Child Care Center in Upperville.
“We believe that a quality preschool experience is essential to facilitate the optimum development of a child’s full potential and lay the foundation for overall growth and lifelong learning,” said Eloise. “Research has shown that good preschool programs impact children in various areas related to their development, from supporting early cognitive gains to health, and social and emotional development in adolescence.
“Seventeen residents have received Nest to Wings scholarships. Since 2020, WHF donors have supported $140,000 for the scholarships.”
The Reeds have also taken advantage of WHF’s program, Finance 101. “People from the bank (Northwest Federal Credit Union) helped me figure out budgeting and credit cards,” April said, adding that one day, April and Travis plan to buy their own house.
The family has also benefitted from WHF’s partnership with Bainum Farm. Every week or so they get a box of fresh vegetables—tomatoes, carrots, zucchini, squash and herbs.
“I do love to cook,” she said with a smile. One of her favorite dishes is goulash with lots of noodles, beef, tomatoes, onions, herbs, and cheese. “It was my mom’s favorite,” she said. “I learned from her, from watching her cook and bake all the time.”
Last summer, the Reeds took a family vacation to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Of course they went to Dollywood and she was quite taken with its museum and the story it told of how Dolly Parton grew up in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains.
April registered for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library which has distributed more than a million books to families with preschool children. Piper receives a book every month. One book helps teach her to color. Another helps her learn about her senses of smell, taste, touch, and sight, and a third contains 100 words to learn in English and Spanish.
“Piper likes books,” April said. “She likes to flip the page. If I’m not reading fast enough, she’ll go and bring me another book. She keeps me on my toes.”
One look around April’s living room with toys scattered on the carpet and a special play pad for Piper in the corner, shows a happy family that now has a home. And neighbors in Llewellyn Village are like family.
“I like to hangout with my neighbor Brittany upstairs, and also Gracie and Tonisha,” April said, adding that her sister, Heather, who also works at The Upper Crust, lives down the street in a Windy Hill cottage.
Most days you can see April at the Upper Crust, where she is valued presence.
“April joined us at the Upper Crust as a teenager in 2018,” said Scott Stine, the bakery’s owner. "Heather came soon after in 2019. They have been a huge part of the bakery, and we think of them as family.”
At the bakery, she makes the egg and chicken salads, boxes special orders, and helps with baking. But mostly she loves waiting on customers. “We talk,” she said. “They tell me their stories, and they ask how we’re doing.”
