For six years, Ferne Skidmore and her friends gathered weekly at the Velda Rose Estates clubhouse in Mesa, Ariz., sewing Christmas stockings to fill and give to underprivileged children.

In 2014, they made more than 3,000.

But one day last year the HOA president barred them from the clubhouse, saying the association’s bylaws prohibited use by groups with religious affiliations.

Skidmore, 81, filed an appeal to the state agency that handles HOA issues, describing her group as “charitable” and “non-secular.” She took $550 from her air conditioner repair fund to pay the filing fee.

In September, a judge ruled in the ladies’ favor, even ordering the HOA to reimburse Skidmore’s $550.  Read more: