‘Beauty in the storm.’ Tri-Cities hotel and charity knocked down by coronavirus find each other

Wendy Higgins never expected that “out of that storm, beauty would happen.”

Hotels were hard hit when Washington’s stay-home order began in March to slow the spread of COVID-19.

“There weren’t enough customers,” said Higgins, general manager of The Lodge at Columbia Point. “We had three guests in an 82-room hotel.”

The Richland four-star hotel shut everything down to a minimum.

In addition to the hotel’s spa, fitness center and pool being off-limits, Drumheller’s Food & Drink and Vine Wine & Craft Bar also shuttered, sending all but a few employees home without a paycheck.

Then The Lodge was approved for a Paycheck Protection Program loan from the Small Business Association.

The SBA loans will be forgiven if companies meet certain requirements — including keeping employees on the payroll for eight weeks after receiving the loan.

Higgins struggled with how to use the workers when the hotel was far from full.

She was putting out feelers via email when she stopped to check in some guests for an overnight stay.

“Honey, this is the kind of flooring I want at Grace Kitchen,” she overheard Amanda Lorraine saying to her husband as they stood in the lobby of The Lodge. She had surprised him with the night away from home.

What happened next left both women in tears.

Whether calling it serendipity or the stars aligning, Lorraine and Higgins say God had a hand in that moment.

The email Higgins had stopping writing moments before was addressed to “Amanda” at Grace Kitchen — a nonprofit hiring women to be trained in the food industry.

Amanda and Devin Lorraine, a pastor at Lighthouse Church in Richland, started the job training project to help women in poverty become self-sufficient.

Higgins was proposing The Lodge pay its employees to work at Grace Kitchen.

Grace Kitchen

The project is in its infancy but it will start with the trainees selling dry food items, such as spices, with the goal of opening a catering business and eventually a restaurant.

The couple finalized the purchase of the Tri-City Union Gospel Mission’s former men’s shelter in mid-March.

The aging downtown Pasco building needed a lot of TLC, the Lorraines told the Herald in an interview at that time, but they had hoped to hire the first three women by the end of April.

Renovations began immediately with the help of volunteers.

“All of the volunteer work stopped when COVID hit,” Amanda Lorraine said. “Volunteers were working hard — all that stopped immediately.”

Then came the chance meeting at The Lodge lobby.

After drying their tears, Lorraine and Higgins set a meeting time to hash out a plan before the idea was presented to hotel employees.

It didn’t take much for Higgins to sell the idea — and all 27 employees were all in.

Employees from maintenance to housekeeping to kitchen staff went to work at Grace Kitchen, and the once again were getting paid.

Renovation work

Workers tore out old carpeting and did sanding and painting. They helped deep clean and washed down everything.

Crews will keep working for about another week while The Lodge ramps up to partially reopen to more guests and offer in-room service and drinks from the bar sent to their door.

“It has been incredible to have all those workers. They are buying into the vision and the greater purpose,” Lorraine said.

And Higgins said employees are grateful for giving them the opportunity to give back, sharing stories of their own experience with poverty or homeless families members.

She takes pride in the growth she’s seen in her team and the leadership they’ve shown.

“This is the most incredible team exercise I could have ever imagined, and I didn’t even have to orchestrate it,” she said.

“The best part is having the workers come together as a team, and we’re doing it for a really, really good cause,” Lodge employee Dave Coates told the Herald. The 32-year-old works in maintenance and has been overseeing the Grace Kitchen remodel.

Wiggins said employees have shown her that they have loved being there, and they are excited to what comes of Grace Kitchen.

“I think what Amanda is doing is pretty amazing,” said Crystal Riding, a 37-year-old front desk employee. “I would love to come back and serve here.”

“It’s an honor to come out and give back to the community. It blesses us and it blesses them. It’s a win-win,” she said.

This story was originally published May 3, 2020 at 10:18 AM.