Our new name and look was featured in the Vienna Connection newspaper. Our CEO Judith Dittman was featured, as well as our Vice President for Development, Jade Leedham. Reporter Colin Stoecker joined us for our announcement of “Second Story.”
Excerpt from Vienna Connection: “You don’t get to make a lot of decisions in your first story,” said Dittman. “Your second story is your own to choose, and ask yourself what choices are there before me? And this can lead to crises.”
Second Story, formerly known as Alternative House, was founded by seven churches in the Vienna area in 1972, and since has been serving northern Virginia’s homeless youth for four decades as Alternative House.
“A lot of people know us as the house with the purple door,” said Jade Leedham, development director at Second Story. “Purple became our color as Alternative House. The youth shelter is located in a single family home on Gallows Road, but it stands out.”
Second Story is there to help youth in times of crises, when they are thrown out of their homes, run away, or need guidance or simply a helping hand.
“Young people didn’t like the name Alternative House,” said Dittman. So she decided to ask for the assistance of a marketing firm and come up with a new name. Two years ago, the Meyer Foundation gave Alternative House a grant, and this helped spark the rebranding efforts. The process is also a way for Second Story to reach out into the community.”
