HomeAid completes 150th project in region

‘An Amazing Gift’

HomeAid completes 150th project in Northern Virginia

HomeAid Northern Virginia completed its 150th project building and upgrading emergency shel ters and supportive housing facilities for those experiencing homelessness earlier in September.

Together, these 150 projects, including 30 in Prince William County, have allowed 167,000 of Northern Virginia’s most vulnerable residents – from families experiencing homelessness to victims of domestic abuse to runaway teens – to have a stable place to live.

HomeAid Northern Virginia has invested more than $18 million into housing options across Northern Virginia communities, including $6.2 million in Prince William. Projects have included building a new home for pregnant teens, updating the kitchens and bath rooms of supportive housing properties, expanding local food pantries and installing upgraded security at domestic violence shelters.

The group’s milestone 150th project was the re cently completed renovation of the Winchester Rescue Mission, where Dan Ryan Homes and three construc tion trade partners replaced flooring, repainted, and expanded storage of the 1930s building – and donated nearly 100% of the $70,000 renovation cost.

HomeAid’s Prince William projects have benefited 10 nonprofits providing housing and support services, including: • ACTS Women’s Empowerment Center (six projects) • BARN Community Housing (three projects) • Catholic Charities (two projects)

HomeAid Northern Virginia’s projects in Prince William County included a 2018 renovation of 12 apartments in Woodbridge operated by Catholic Charities’ St. Margaret of Cortona Transitional Residences. The homes are for families coming out of local shelters. This project included furnishing the apartments. PROVIDED

• Good Shepherd Housing Foundation (three proj ects) • Northern Virginia Family Services (10 projects) • Youth for Tomorrow (two projects)

At Youth for Tomorrow’s campus in Bristow, the projects included a home for girls. “HomeAid and its network of trade partners have provided an amazing gift to the children and students in our care,” said Dr. Gary Jones, CEO of Youth for Tomorrow. “This was not just a construction project, it was a home building project in the truest sense of the word – providing a safe, stable

and secure place for girls coming out of hardship to grow and rebuild. This home will help nurture the spir its of hundreds and hundreds of girls here at Youth for Tomorrow over the years ahead.”

The charitable arm of the Northern Virginia Build ing Industry Association, HomeAid Northern Virginia builds and renovates programmatic spaces of nonprofits directly serving those affected by homelessness. The organization mobilizes donated expertise, labor and re sources of homebuilders and suppliers, manufacturers, electricians, plumbers, landscapers and other partners.

Want to Volunteer?

There’s an app for that! ACTS’ Food Rescue Heroes collect, deliver donated food as community need increases

EMILY SIDES info@insidenova.com

Dumfries-based nonprofi t Action in Community Th rough Service launched its app, Prince William Food Rescue, in August 2019 to ask residents to volunteer by driving and delivering donated items on a one-time or weekly basis.

Equipped with an app that includes a map and provides directions, users, known as “Food Rescue Heroes,” can look at available pick-up locations and a time frame before claiming the food rescue. Rescues take about 45 minutes to complete from start to fi nish, so they off er a fl exible way to volunteer.

In the fi rst year of the program, volunteers completed over 6,000 food rescues, said Aaron Tolson, Prince William Food Rescue’s program director. Rescuers collected, redistributed or delivered over 3 million pounds of food, worth over $5.2 million.

Th e program is now averaging about 300 food rescues a week, Tolson said,

ACTS is processing over 360,000 pounds of food per week through its Prince William Food Rescue program. PROVIDED

with over 360,000 pounds of food being processed. Th at includes over 6,000 boxes of produce, 480 cases of milk and 3,000 boxes of nonperishable food.

Prince William Volunteer, a local organization, helps organize volunteers for

SERVICES PROVIDED BY ACTS

» Senior Link: Elderly residents can sign up to receive regular check-in calls. Call (703) 368-4141. » Free food home delivery: If you have a physical disability or are 70 years or older, call (703) 441-8606, extension 288.

ACTS, Tolson said.

ACTS’ app was downloaded about 1,000 times before March with about 700 profi les created and 200 active users, Tolson said. Since the pandemic began, the app has now been downloaded a total of 2,000 times, with 1,600 profi les and 500 active food rescue heroes.

“A lot of people are looking for ways to help out the community,” Tolson said. “Because we distribute food with no contact, it provided a way to get out of the house.”

Because of impacts from the pandemic, ACTS has seen a dramatic increase in people who are in need of food and

ACTS PAGE 11

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Marty Nohe, president of Appliance Connection and a former member of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors, is among ACTS’ volunteer “Food Rescue Heroes.” PROVIDED

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expects that to continue, he added. “So the need is defi nitely there.”

Before the pandemic, the Food Rescue Heroes would pick up food from community partners such as a grocery store and take it to ACTS or another nonprofi t.

In March, ACTS adapted its app to also allow users to pick up and drop off food for people who are disabled or 70 years or older. Since April, food rescue heroes have made 760 direct deliveries to people who are disabled or elderly, Tolson said.

ACTS, which has served the community for 50 years, provides food to those in need through its Hunger Resource Center and also provides housing assistance, including temporary shelter and help fi nding permanent housing.

Th e nonprofi t also provides fi nancial assistance with utility bills to those in need and off ers shelter, counseling, court

Users who download the Prince William Food Rescue app receive alerts when donors have food available to be picked up.

PROVIDED

advocacy and other services to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. It also has a thrift store that helps bring in money to the nonprofi t and a helpline. Each year, ACTS assists about 80,000 people.

“We are always looking for more food rescue heroes,” Tolson said.

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Free Food Fridays

Prince William County Supervisor Margaret Franklin of the Woodbridge District, helps the Prince William County Community Foundation during its Feed the Troops campaign at the Woodbridge VRE Station on Aug. 29. The C.H.O.W. Wagon is actually a distinctive orange-and-yellow van with a brightly painted logo. PAUL LARA | FOR INSIDENOVA

C.H.O.W. Wagon delivers thousands of meals

EMILY SIDES info@insidenova.com

In the summer of 2019, a new nonprofi t couldn’t be missed in its bright orange and yellow van. Th e C.H.O.W. Wagon distributed 9,000 breakfast and lunch meals to students in Prince William County. CHOW stands for “Combating Hunger on Wheels.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic began in March, Vanessa Gattis, president of Prince William County Community Foundation, which operates the C.H.O.W. Wagon, started providing free food. Th e C.H.O.W. Wagon’s 40 volunteers adapted by providing drive-through and contactless food distribution and have delivered 34,000 meals since March, she said.

“Th e need has increased, defi nitely,” Gattis added.

Earlier in the year, the wagon ran twice a week. Currently, the wagon is providing free meals on Fridays, Gattis said.

“We provide enough food for a family of four for the weekend,” she said.

Gattis started the foundation last year to focus on food insecurity during the summer, when students don’t have fi ve days a week of free or reduced lunch served at schools. According to the Virginia Department of Education, 39,258 students, or more than 42% of 91,724 students in Prince William public schools, qualifi ed in the 2019-2010 school year.

HOW TO HELP

To donate fi nancially to PWCC Foundation, visit PWCCFoundation.networkforgood.com.

Aft er learning about the need in the community, Gattis wanted to give back.

“Th at's how we came up with our child initiative, combating hunger on wheels initiative,” she said.

Gattis has lived in the county since 2011 and retired from the military in 2018.

“When I was contemplating retiring, I was trying to think of what else I wanted to do once I retired,” she said. “I wanted to continue to serve, but my heart was to serve in our community.”

Since the nonprofi t began, it has distributed food, such as produce, meat, juice, macaroni and cheese snacks and more, to about 4,500 children and families, Gattis said.

“When kids don't eat nutritious meals, it can aff ect them not only education but health-wise,” Gattis said. “So we want to focus on the total health of the child, so we try to make sure we give them a balanced meal when we do distribute our meals.”

Th e foundation has partnered with the school division and also with the ACTS nonprofi t in Dumfries and its Prince William Food Rescue initiative and Northern Virginia Family Services in Manassas.

“We’ve had a number of people and organizations who have been so faithfully dedicated to come out and support us in this eff ort,” Gattis said.

Ambassadors of Prince William County Community Foundation load food into a car during Operation Feed the Troops at the Woodbridge VRE, Aug. 29.

PAUL LARA | FOR INSIDENOVA