MANSFIELD — Hannah Gilbert has learned how to break down a house renovation project into small steps.
That experience came in handy for the inaugural Engage Richland class’ capstone project — renovating the conference room at Rubies Women’s Group new house.
Gilbert, a 2025 Engage Richland graduate, said she was in a unique situation as one of the few Engage Richland class members who has home renovation experience.
“I kind of inadvertently gave myself the lead on this project because I knew what questions to ask,” Gilbert said. “My dad (Eric Gilbert) is in the Leadership Unlimited class, so that’s fun how we can talk about what we learn.”
The Engage Richland class of 2025 selected Rubies Women’s Group as its nonprofit of choice for their capstone project.
Rubies helps women recover from sex trafficking and/or addiction. The program helps survivors find self-worth and faith in God through group Bible studies and counseling.
Rubies also provides all housing, clothing, hygiene, food and transportation for its residents. Volunteers and employees are trained in compassionate and trauma-informed care.
Rubies earned small nonprofit of the year at the annual Small Business of the Year awards in December 2024.
Candace Cole, founder and executive director for the faith-based recovery program Rubies Women’s Group, received the house as a donation from Synergy Properties in 2022.
The nonprofit has since been working on repairing the roof and renovating the 10,000-square-foot home to expand services for Rubies’ clients.
“We really want to create a safe place for survival and healing for people to get direction,” Cole said. “The project has been a big lesson in waiting on God’s timing and trusting that he’ll bring the right people and resources to help with this project.”
Engage Richland class donates time, materials
Cole said Rubies is working to complete offices at the home first, then work on therapy rooms or residential spaces.
She led the Engage Richland class on a tour of the home in November 2024.
The cohort members chose the conference room as the space they would renovate because of the group’s timeline, experience and the effort required.
“It’s obviously a huge project,” said American Homestead Exteriors office manager Hannah Gilbert. “The vision is there, there’s just a lot of steps to get there.
“When we did the walkthrough, it boiled down to what room she wanted to get done first and what we were able to accomplish on our timeline.”
PPG Paint Store donated paint for the conference room and American Homestead Exteriors donated supplies and tools.
leadership unlimited capstone project
Rubies had $2,000 budgeted for conference room windows thanks to a grant, Cole said.
“The windows were step number one,” Gilbert said. “What I worked out with Candace is Rubies covered costs of materials, and American Homestead covered everything else for the windows.
“Those windows happened to be exactly $2,000.”
The Rubies home renovation project has 10 rooms in total. Other groups have offered material donations or labor to complete different projects, Cole said.
“Each thing that gets done I feel really represents the women who will be served through Rubies,” Cole said. “Having windows to look out and see clarity and a different perspective is exactly what we want to do with our people.”
Work of Engage Richland class ‘a breath of fresh air,’ says Rubies founder
Cole said seeing a group of young professionals tour the Rubies house and help with the project has been impactful.
“It’s been a breath of fresh air to see their excitement knowing that they’re contributing to something greater,” Cole said. “I’ve allowed them to take the lead, they’ve asked me what colors I want for the paint, but everything else, they’ve for the most part handled themselves — which is really nice.”
Cole said two people from the Engage Richland class knew about Rubies and what the organization did before choosing the project, but a lot of them were learning about the nonprofit as they worked on the conference room.
“I think that piece of outreach, for them and for us, is really great,” the founder said. “Becasue they can reach people that aren’t necessarily in my network or circles and tell them about the work we do.
“I’ve gotten a board member out of this project as well.”
Cole’s vision for the home on 4th Street is to expand services for her clients. She originally pictured it as an opportunity to expand housing for women and add children, but said that has pivoted to expanding the nonprofit’s current services for women.
“We want to house more than six here, but there’s still lots of things in play, so I’m not sure,” Cole said. “We will house women, our offices and go with what the Lord wants from there.”
Rubies’ clients also got to help demolish walls in April 2023, where they had written words that had been said to them to make them feel unworthy of redemption. Then, they demolished the wall down to the studs.
Evan Stuart, marketing and communications coordinator for the Richland Area Chamber and 2025 Engage Richland graduate, said the conference room project was “a perfect reflection of what this program has meant to us.”
“We saw it as a space where people could come together, share ideas and support one another,” he said. “Throughout this project, we’ve worked as a team to raise monetary donations, secure in-kind contributions and contribute physical labor hours. It’s been a true group effort.”
Some members of the Engage Richland class, while they graduated from the program April 17, plan to come back to put the finishing touches on the room after HVAC installation is completed.
“We’re committed to finishing what we started and are excited to see the space come together,” Stuart said. “This project has shown us just how much we can accomplish when we roll up our sleeves and work together.”
Applications for the 2026 Engage Richland class are now open.
Rubies Women’s Group is also on Facebook and online at rubiesoutreach31.com. Anyone interested in volunteering or donating materials or labor can contact Cole at candace@rubiesoutreach31.com.
People can also donate online or by check. Donors can specify whether they want their money to go to Rubies’ general fund, the house renovation project Rubies and Gems, or the Engage Richland capstone fund.
Checks can be sent to Rubies post office box at Rubies Women’s Group Inc, P.O. Box 341, Mansfield, Ohio 44901.
Photos provided by Engage Richland class of 2025 and Candace Cole.
