Gift from Elliot Lewis family given in memory of parents and to honor New Hope co-founder
$100,000 supports Growing New Hope capital campaign
Bloomington — Local real estate developer Elliot R. Lewis presented New Hope for Families with a gift of $100,000 in support of the Growing New Hope capital campaign. New Hope is currently moving services to its newly-constructed facilities at 1140 S. Morton Street.
“We are pleased to accept this extraordinary gift,” said New Hope Executive Director Emily Pike. “The generous support of Elliot and the Lewis family will help expand our capacity to provide emergency shelter, accredited childcare, and other critical services for children and families impacted by homelessness in Monroe County.”
Dr. George Lewis and Sydell Lewis
“My siblings and I gave this gift in memory of our parents George and Sydell Lewis,” Lewis said. “Our father, the late Dr. George Lewis was born 100 years ago. He served this community for more than 50 years as an internist and neurologist. Our mother, the late Sydell Lewis, was frequently involved with helping to raise money for worthwhile community projects. She was a very effective solicitor; you just could not say ‘no’ to her. From a young age, my siblings and I learned from our parents the importance of philanthropy and other forms of community involvement.”
Lewis continued, “Our gift is also inspired by the community involvement of my employee and longtime friend Ken Ritchie. Ken helped to found New Hope in 2011.”
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Family is central to Elliot Lewis. His own family cared deeply for family, home, and the community.
Elliot’s parents, Dr. George Lewis and Sydell Lewis brought 4 young sons to Bloomington in 1969. Dr. Lewis stepped into the practice of a retiring physician instantly gaining a family of patients. The practice extended to being the Bloomington GE factory physician, as well as for IU departments, making him a highly regarded “town and gown” physician who knew and cared about his patients. He often announced to his crowded waiting room that they could see how busy he was but assured them that each patient would have his full, personal attention when their turn came.
Sydell Lewis was a physical education teacher prior to dedicating herself to raising 4 boys. An avid IU Basketball fan, she “adopted” several Hoosier hoopsters during the Knight era. She had a courtside seat due to a mobility impairment, but nothing limited her vocal coaching encouragement or the reciprocating appreciation of the players.
Together, George and Sydell set an example for their children in giving back to the community and embracing their neighbors as family. Beth Shalom temple was realized in significant ways from their initiatives. Regardless of mobility struggles, Sydell ardently took to the phones as a fundraiser for charitable causes. And then there were Lewis family spontaneous cookouts with Dr. Lewis grilling hamburgers. They became word-of-mouth picnics welcoming over 100 neighbors on Sunday afternoons.
An enterprising couple, George and Sydell constructed his office on Curry Pike that also featured apartments above and accommodations for Sydell’s women’s clothing store, “Joy’s,” that borrowed her middle name. They called this initial development “Cedarview.”
Their first son, the late Barney Lewis, whose career was in real estate helped grow Cedarview into a family business by 1972, with apartments and a rental office on East Tenth Street. Sydell joined in management and bookkeeping, and Barney’s siblings began learning the business. The youngest, Elliot, earnestly saved to own a house to rent. At age 17, he added his first rental property to Cedarview Management.
Time passed and Elliot earned both Accounting and JD degrees from IU. After practicing law in a large firm and a large corporation, he returned to take charge of the Cedarview family business and grow it. Brothers Marshall and Marvin made sure the family remained close while pursuing careers beyond Bloomington. Marshall is a professional bridge player worldwide and resides in Croatia. Marvin works as an audiologist in Phoenix, Arizona.
In 2021 the brothers marked their father’s 100th birthday. They honor George and Sydell’s enduring legacy of embracing the entire community as family, and recognize Ken Ritchie’s founding efforts and deep commitment to New Hope, with a $100,000 check to fulfill the promise of a new home for the New Hope family.
“We are so grateful to Ken Ritchie for his years of service,” Pike commented. “His compassion, quiet good humor, and tireless attention to detail made such a difference in those early days. Ken was truly dedicated to helping children and families when they needed us most.”
On April 7, 2022, New Hope hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its new buildings in which the agency’s five founders cut the ceremonial ribbon. The scissors were wielded by Ritchie, Sue Shindell, Mike Gentile, Jim Riley, and Jan Kohr (representing her late husband Roland “Bud” Kohr).
Representing the founding five of New Hope for Families, left to right: Jan Kohr (widow of Roland "Bud" Kohr), Sue Shindell, Ken Ritchie, Mike Gentile, and Jim Riley cut the ribbon to open our new family shelter.
Growing New Hope Capital Campaign
After more than two years of planning, New Hope announced its $5.75 million Growing New Hope capital campaign in April 2021. The ultimate goal of the campaign is to fund the construction of two new buildings in order to better serve the needs of children and families impacted by homelessness in our community.
One of the new buildings will provide emergency shelter to 12 families, representing a 70% increase in the agency’s previous shelter capacity. The other new building will house New Hope’s early childhood care and education programs for children from birth up to 5 years old, increasing the agency’s capacity from 16 to 48 children, a 200% increase.
The fundraising goal will also provide for an increase in the size of New Hope’s endowment in order to help sustain the organization and maintain its new buildings far into the future.
About New Hope for Families
Established by local volunteers and community leaders in 2011, New Hope for Families has emerged as a community leader in social services for families in crisis. New Hope is the only place in Monroe County where families with children can find emergency shelter together. In addition, New Hope offers nationally accredited child care and early learning programs. New Hope is now located at 1140 S. Morton Street in Bloomington, Indiana.
