When a Date Becomes an Address | Day of Service Part 8

I thought this was going to be a pretty slow week for our Day of Service.

Real Property Management Regions has been busy across the Virginia Northern Neck, Virginia Middle Peninsula, and Caroline County, and most of my attention this week had to stay on the business. I still worked on the Day of Service whenever I could. At one point, I happened to be in the same place as several people who have already committed to September 25, and what started as running into each other became an impromptu conversation about where things stood, what had changed, and how they might be able to help.

I didn’t make as many calls or meet with as many potential sponsors as I had hoped. By the middle of the week, I was already thinking I hadn’t moved the project forward enough. Then I realized I was measuring the week by the wrong thing. While I was looking at what I hadn’t gotten to, Ryan Elliott from The 516 Project
was working on probably the most important part of this entire project: finding the family.

Finding the Right Project

We’ve been talking about serving a veteran family since this Day of Service began, but finding the right family and the right project has taken some work.

Ryan went through the possibilities we had. We had hoped to find a family within the region we originally wanted to serve, but we couldn’t find a project that lined up with what we’re trying to accomplish. I’m glad we didn’t force it. September 25 is getting closer, volunteers are signing up, and companies are committing, so naturally there’s some pressure to get every piece in place. But the goal was never to find a house simply because we needed somewhere to send volunteers that morning.

We need a veteran family we can genuinely help and a project we know we can take on responsibly. Ryan kept looking and eventually found a family whose situation appears to be a very good fit. Rather than stopping there, he went to the house himself to see what the project actually looked like on the ground.

Somebody Has Actually Stood There Now

Ryan completed the initial site survey on his own, looking at the property, the needs, what could realistically be accomplished, and what it may take to get the work done. There wasn’t a group meeting or an announcement. He simply went and did the work that needed to be done.

For the past several weeks, September 25 has mostly existed on paper. It’s been a date on a calendar, a flyer, conversations with businesses, emails, volunteers, partners, and planning meetings. Having someone actually walk the property changed the way I looked at all of that.

Now there may be a front door attached to it.

There may be a driveway where volunteers will pull in that morning. There may be a yard where people will be working. There are actual needs behind all these conversations and, most importantly, there is a real veteran family on the other side of them. That’s when this week stopped feeling quite so slow.

We’re Not Ready to Tell Their Story Yet

Naturally, the next question is going to be: Who is the family?  We’re not there yet, and I think that’s important.

There are still things that need to be confirmed, and we’re going to respect the family’s privacy while that happens. I don’t want to get ahead of Ryan, The 516 Project, or the family simply because sharing more would make for a better story this Friday. When the time is right, and if everything comes together the way we hope, we’ll introduce that part of the story properly.

For now, knowing that someone has physically walked the property and begun evaluating what September 25 could look like is a pretty significant step.

Last week, in Part 7 of this journal, I wrote that the right partner doesn’t just help execute your plan. Sometimes the right partner makes your plan better. This week gave that thought another layer.

I still have calls to make. I want more local businesses involved. There are sponsors I’d like to sit down with, and there is plenty left for me to do. But this project has reached the point where it doesn’t depend on me personally moving every piece. While I was handling the responsibilities that needed me at Real Property Management Regions, Ryan was carrying his part. The people who have already committed were still talking about how they could help, and I kept moving things wherever the week gave me room.

That’s what allowed the project to keep moving even during a week when none of us were doing everything together.

Maybe It Wasn’t Such a Slow Week

If I measured this week by sponsor meetings or the number of things I personally checked off my list, it wasn’t particularly eventful. But a week ago, we had a date, partners, volunteers, and an idea of the family we hoped to serve.

Today, somebody has actually stood at a home.

There is still plenty to figure out. We need to confirm the project, understand the scope, and bring together the right volunteers, businesses, materials, and resources. I still have plenty of work waiting for me on my side of this.

But September 25 feels different to me tonight. It doesn’t feel quite as much like a date on the calendar anymore.

It’s beginning to feel like an address.

Coming Next

If everything continues moving in the right direction, the next part of this journey will begin shifting from finding the project to figuring out exactly what September 25 will require. And when the time is right to tell you about the family behind that front door, we’ll bring you into that part of the journey too.

Until then, we’ll keep doing the work before we tell the story.

Join the Journey

Our Day of Service is scheduled for September 25, 2026. If you’d like to follow the journey, volunteer, support the project, or learn more about our community work, visit the Real Property Management Regions Community Impact page.

Learn more about our Community Impact and how you can get involved.

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