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TextHOST Highlights
Housing Opportunities Support Teams (HOST) provide flexible and adaptive services needed to help individuals and families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness obtain or maintain housing in the Fairfax-Falls Church community. In addition, as the human services regions across the county continue to move us forward with the 10-Year Plan, we will be sharing regional highlights on a quarterly basis to showcase the teams' efforts working with clients, partner organizations and the HOST system. The next quarterly update will be posted in July. Exits to permanent housing will continue to be highlighted on a monthly basis.
April 10
During February 2013, 58 people who were homeless (18 families and 16 single adults) moved into permanent housing from emergency shelters and transitional housing programs, according to Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) data.
Northern Region:
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(Region 3) Reston Interfaith Housing Corporation (RIHC) has been acquiring, preserving, rehabilitating and managing affordable housing since 1990. The organization is celebrating the acquisition of its 50th affordable townhouse unit to provide formerly homeless and at-risk individuals and families with a place of security and an opportunity to rebuild life.
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Congressman Connolly and Reston Interfaith's Kerrie |
Local elementary schools are making an impact on Reston Interfaith’s programs by implementing the Fairfax County Public School Food Recovery Program. Six different elementary schools from our area collect unopened perishable and nonperishable foods that are not consumed during school lunchtimes, and donate them to the Embry Rucker Community Shelter. The snacks are also shared with the children at Laurel Learning Center. The donations of milk cartons, yogurts, fruits and snacks have reduced the shelter’s dairy order expense by almost $1,000 a month.
Congressman Gerry Connolly, Chris Neighbors with IRS-SPEC, Dave Macklin with the Computer & Communications Industry Association and Anthony Bedell with the Intuit Financial Freedom Foundation joined Reston Interfaith CEO Kerrie Wilson for a visit to Reston Interfaith’s Herndon Neighborhood Resource Center (HNRC) to highlight the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program. In addition, U.S. Senator Mark Warner visited the Reston Interfaith offices where he met with representatives from diverse faith communities, advocacy groups, community leaders and students for a roundtable discussion on immigration policy. Warner noted that the talk was the first of a series of listening events to come.
Also, Reston Interfaith CEO Kerrie Wilson "calls a technical" on
the impact of sequestration on homeless and low-income working families
in her opinion piece published in the Connection Newspapers.
Read full article. 
Central Region:
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Volunteers of America-Chesapeake/Baileys Crossroads Community Shelter
(VOAC/BCCS) (Region 2) is proud to be involved with the 100,000 Homes Fairfax
campaign. BCCS has a large donation base, which provides furniture
and household items that have been specifically designated for clients
housed by the 100K initiative. With this large amount of goods, these
clients will benefit—not only from having a place to call their own,
but also by being able to walk into a fully furnished and
"ready to go" home. It is believed that having the
comforts of home around them will help serve as a motivator to help
these neighbors stay housed.
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On March 25, Shelter House (Region 4) launched a new program that provides permanent housing with supports to three families. The Ives House program is run in partnership with the Falls Church Presbyterian Church (FCPC). FCPC has owned Ives House (a 6 bedroom, 3 bath historic home) for more than 40 years. The church wanted to use the house for a mission, and explored various possibilities before choosing Shelter House as a partner. HomeAid Northern Virginia then took on a $37,000 house renovation project with Van Metre Homes. The renovation included a remodeled kitchen and improvements throughout the interior and exterior.
The Ives House program offers permanent housing and supportive services including case management, assistance with life skills and budgeting support. The families moving into the program come from NOVACO, Shelter House’s Katherine Hanley Family Shelter and New Hope Housing’s Next Steps program. The property will house three sets of single mothers who have two children each. The mothers are all working, and the program will focus on increasing their earnings and self-sufficiency. FCPC will offer volunteer support, including family mentoring, after-school tutoring and special projects, in addition to property management.
When Shelter House staff informed one mother that she had been selected for the program, she said, "Now I can sleep at night!"
If you or your group, association, faith community, etc. are interested in supporting Ives House in any way or have further questions, please contact Laura Martin at laura.martin@shelterhouse.org. Support opportunities range from making designated donations to the program to joining in volunteer tutoring or mentoring.
FACETS' Board Chair John Martin and Executive Director
Amanda Andere at the Dulles Regional Chamber of
Commerce 2013 Awards Gala. -
On March 9, FACETS (Region 4) was recognized as the Large Nonprofit of the Year at the Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce 2013 Awards Gala. As we gear up to celebrate 25 years of positive impact in the lives of people in Fairfax County/City, this award could not come at a better time.
Last summer FACETS received a grant from the Giving Circle of Hope that recognizes positive peer pressure can influence youth to make safe and healthy decisions. Because of this support, three youth from FACETS’ Education and Community Development program (ECD) attended the 28th Annual Youth Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention Project (YADAPP) conference at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia.
The youth that attended the conference last summer are currently running a 20-week long prevention program for fourth through eighth grade students at the Robinson Square Community Center. The group meets twice a week for an hour, and the topics include drug and alcohol abuse prevention, bullying, Internet safety and suicide awareness. Attendance ranges from 14-20 children. In addition, the teens have enlisted routine assistance from two other high school students who have expressed interest in attending YADAPP this summer.
Over the past 10 winter seasons FACETS has partnered with more than 40 faith communities to offer overnight shelter and nutritious meals to our homeless neighbors through our Hypothermia Prevention and Response program. During the 2012-2013 hypothermia program, which concluded on March 16, 279 individuals received services with over 140 participating in case management services.
The case management services we offer have led to an average of 10 hypothermia participants a year moving off the streets and into housing. This year we were able to house 12 hypothermia participants.
The following success story is just one example of the impact FACETS has in the lives of the people we work with. After losing his job and having little to no income, a young resident became homeless. Moving from place to place with no success securing safe and sustainable housing, he decided to participate in FACETS’ Hypothermia Prevention and Response Program. Working with a FACETS case manager, he applied for food stamps, participated in life skills classes and gained employment. In November of 2012, he and his case manager applied for a Project Homes voucher through Fairfax County and this past month he moved into his new apartment.
FACETS client holding keys
to his new apartment.
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