Local

Bill Crowder is an organized Knight

Lisa Socarras | For the Catholic Herald

Bill Crowder stands in the Knights of Columbus group home “Queen of Peace,” which is under construction in Springfield.

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Giving back to the community has always been important to St.
Mary of Sorrows parishioner Bill Crowder, a former colonel
who served 26 years in the U.S. Army. Raised in Alabama as “a
good Southern Baptist,” he has been married for 42 years and
is a father, grandfather and Past Grand Knight.

Crowder is president of Marian Homes, Inc., a local nonprofit
organization that provides group homes for individuals with
intellectual disabilities. Established by St. Mary of Sorrows
Knights of Columbus Council No. 8600, the organization is
renovating its third group home, “Queen of Peace,” in
Springfield, which is scheduled to open July 1.

Marrying “a good Catholic” propelled Crowder’s journey in
faith toward joining the Catholic Church. A few months after
getting married in 1972, the Crowders were transferred to
California, where Bill attended St. Frances de Sales Church
in Oakland with his wife, Mary.

“It was there that I started understanding the Catholic
faith,” he said.

Jesuits would give the homilies at Mass, and two sermons
stand out in his memory: the Good Samaritan from the point of
view of the mule and one on the prayer of St. Francis of
Assisi.

“Lord make me an instrument – it has stood me well over
time,” he said.

Following the birth of their first child, the Crowder family
received an assignment in Germany.

“The second child came, and I said, ‘It’s time.’ I went to
the chaplain at the airbase and said I need to take some
classes. He put me on the ‘bucket docket’ shortly before
Christmas and had me confirmed at Easter,” Crowder said.

After he was transferred to Frankfurt, Crowder decided to get
more involved in his faith, so he became a lector. “One
Sunday, I’m sitting there with my wife and two daughters in
the back of the church and this hand drops on my shoulder.
Father said, ‘You’re the lector today and you’re also the
altar boy’ – that was my training. Been a lector ever since.”

After serving in Germany for four years, Crowder was assigned
to Fort Eustis in southern Virginia, and the family attended
St. Jerome Church in Newport News. They joined St. Mary of
Sorrows Church in Fairfax in 1983. After a two-year stint in
Japan, Crowder was assigned to the Pentagon in 1988, and the
Crowders moved back to Fairfax. He transitioned out of the
Army in 1993, but still serves on the Army Science Board. He
also serves as senior fellow at Logistic Management Institute
in McLean.

Crowder is an active member of Council No. 8600, which
established Marian Homes, Inc., in 1995 to meet a need in the
community for affordable group home housing. In 1998, they
opened “Marian House” in the Brecon Ridge development in
Fairfax, which is the home of five intellectually disabled
adult women.

“Regina House” was opened in the Greenbriar development of
Fairfax in 2010 where five intellectually disabled adult men
live in a suburban neighborhood setting.

The homes are a testimony of the Knights’ faith and belief in
Catholic social teaching, rooted in a respect for life and
the Gospel call to put faith into action. From the very
beginning, Crowder said they turned to their faith for
guidance.

“The day I put in a proposal (to Fairfax County), I went to
the 6:15 Mass that morning,” he said. “I turned in the
proposal at noon. I saw Father (James) Barkett and told him
that I was really nervous, that all of us were taking a leap
of faith that we could make this work.

“‘That’s the way God wants us,'” Father Barkett told Crowder.
“‘He wants us nervous so we can see His power.'”

Crowder received the news in mid-December that their proposal
had been accepted by the county.

“Ten months after we found the house and submitted the
proposal, we’re going to have residents in here,” Crowder
said. “That only comes about because everybody is committed
to make all their pieces work.”

The success and speed of the project reflects the commitment
of the council’s 500 members, including the 15-member Marian
Homes, Inc. board of directors who have worked as a team to
get the home up and running.

“We took possession Feb. 26,” he said. “By that afternoon, I
called them and said, ‘OK, you guys can start.’ By that
weekend, we had knocked out all of the sheetrock and got it
prepped for the contractor to come in and start taking down
the actual studs and walls.”

Over the course of three days, 15 to 20 guys came and pitched
in, Crowder said. They walked away every night knowing they
were doing something important.

Marian Homes, Inc., is paying a construction company to
remodel the home to meet county and state codes, including
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
regulations.

“Our council has always prided itself in our ability to raise
money and give it away. That’s what we do well. We said we
can do this,” said Crowder.

“This is the first time we have gone after county money, and
one of the first things they asked us was, ‘What do you pay
your board of directors?'” he shared. “I said, ‘Nothing .’
They responded, ‘What do you mean, nothing?’ I said, ‘Because
this is what we do.'”

After he was elected president, Crowder had to find five new
board members. Everybody has a gift to share, he said, so the
challenge is finding a way for them to apply their gift.

“I have a gift for organization,” Crowder said. “Bill Baker
has a gift for seeing how you put a house together. Walt
Purdy has a gift for getting publicity. You find what
somebody’s strength is and you let them go.

“The Knights are an amazing collection of Catholic men who
are trying to make a difference in the world,” he said.

KOVAR, a Virginia Knights of Columbus Charity established in
1971 to provide financial assistance through grants and home
loans to tax exempt organizations, helps Marian Homes with
money.

Crowder hopes that assistance will continue as they try to
open a fourth home. The challenge, he said, is, “can we
accelerate as fast as the county wants us to?”

The county is running the same program next year, which
covers the purchase price of the home. Marian Homes, Inc., is
covering the conversion and operating costs.

“They are encouraging us to put in a proposal again next
year,” Crowder said. But that means raising another $200,000
in the next 10 months.

Crowder said that there is at least one other council in the
country trying to do the same thing that’s being done in
Fairfax.

“It’s pretty daunting when you think about it,” he said.
“That’s the challenge – getting people in faith to take on
that long-term commitment.”

Crowder said right now he needs donations, and he invites
other organizations that want to do something similar to give
him a call.

Part of their charter is to reach out. He said that there is
one other council locally that is trying to do that, and we
are “nurturing them along.” One goal is to get more people
involved, including companies that will support the project.

“It takes time and effort,” Crowder said. “We are expanding
our outreach, asking other Knights and parishes and other
faith groups to support what we are doing. If you think it is
important, be a part of it.” Marian Homes, Inc., was
recognized by the Virginia Knights of Columbus as the
community program of the year in 2013.

“We always start our meetings with the Lord’s Prayer and end
with the Prayer of St. Francis,” Crowder said. “The bottom
line is, you have to have faith that it’s all going to work,
and you have to do the work to make sure the pieces all fall
into place.”

Socarras is a freelance writer from Annandale.

Find out more

Go to marianhomes.org.

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