Saturday, April 27, 2013
Facets has made great strides since 1988, but the vision "is a long way from being realized."
In 2011, Lisa Kennedy lost her job. Along with it, Kennedy, a single mother, lost a way to make ends meet. Soon, she couldn't pay the rent. But she tried: For the next year, Kennedy was in a state of flux, hopping from job to job but often finding herself without a paycheck. What Kennedy needed was help on a path to more steady employment — and she got it through Bridging Affordability, a Fairfax County service that helps the area's most in-need residents establish better self-sufficiency, safe housing and a more stable life. Today, Kennedy and her daughter live in a two-bedroom apartment. She has a regular part-time job and is also pursuing a business degree. “The goal, of course, is to be self sufficient, and this program is helping me …
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Here's what they found.
More than 200 volunteers spread across Fairfax County last week and registered 462 chronically homeless people. The group held a debriefing and presented a report of their findings on Monday at the Jubilee Christian Center in Fairfax. Here's what they found: People who are chronically homeless must have lived on the street for more than one year or three times in the last four years. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Related Story: Searching for Centreville's Homeless -------------------------------------------------------------------- "We learned that chronic homelessness comes in many forms for many reasons," said Pam Michell, Executive Director of New Hope Housing, "and each story is unique and each …
Friday, March 1, 2013
Volunteers spread out across the county this week to register chronically homeless people.
Read more: Life in the Shadows: Searching for Centreville's Homeless
Vounteers fanned out across the area this week to search for and register chronically homeless people.
The sky is pitch black at 5 a.m. on this cold winter morning, as five men and women push their way past prickly black branches and enter the small patch of woods between the Centreville Square shopping plaza and a hotel parking lot. As a woman lightly hums “Morning Has Broken,” and another calls out cheery hellos, they walk past a rotting old couch without any cushions. Thousands upon thousands of empty beer cans, layered upon each other, are visible on huge patches of ground by the faint bit of light coming their flashlights. No one is here this morning, but it’s obvious that to these volunteers from FACETS—an organization that helps those living in poverty in Fairfax County—that people have inhabited these woods for a long time. And it …
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Receive and organize gifts in December for families in need in Fairfax County.
- VOLUNTEERS IN THE NEWS
- Beth Lawton
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Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Throughout the holiday season, Patch is teaming up with Volunteer Fairfax to highlight volunteer opportunities throughout Fairfax County and beyond. You can let the community know about your local volunteer opportunity, too, by posting an announcement here. Holiday Drive Assistants FACETS is looking for volunteers who can receive and organize holiday gift donations from Dec. 14 - 21. Volunteers can help anytime from 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. daily. More information is available here: facetscares.org/volunteer/current-volunteer-opportunities/. "FACETS opens doors by helping parents, their children and individuals who suffer the effects of poverty – so often unnoticed – in Fairfax County. We meet their emergency shelter, food, and medical needs, …
Thursday, April 26, 2012
A fiesta, a bartender's night, book sale and more.
1) The Centreville Regional Library is holding a used book sale from May 4-6. The Friends of the Centreville Library are collecting book donations now. Tax-deductable donations will either be used for the book sale or to replace worn-out copies in the library's collection. Drop off books in good condition at the library. 2) The Centreville Immigration Forum is hosting a fiesta with dancers and musicians who will celebrate Mexican, Guatemalan, Indian and Korean traditions. The fiesta starts at 7 p.m. Friday at Centreville Fire Station 17 and continues til 10 p.m. There will be food, a market and more available. Proceeds will benefit the Centreville Labor Resource Center. 3) Local nonprofit FACETS Cares, which is dedicated to helping the …
Friday, February 24, 2012
"Now is not the time to cut funds from programs that are helping neighbors in need who are struggling to become self-sufficient."
- OPINION
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Friday, February 24, 2012
The recession may be over, but the reality for too many families we serve is they have to make tough choices: do I buy groceries or pay rent, do I care for sick child or go to work, or do I buy gas or school supplies? These are questions that the General Assembly must take into consideration as they reconcile the budget. Now is not the time to cut funds from programs that are helping neighbors in need who are struggling to become self-sufficient. That was the message that I along with a group of 50 other leaders from Nonprofit Virginia delivered to the General Assembly in Richmond recently. Unfortunately, if the Virginia Legislature cuts funds that support our core services and diverts sales taxes to fund transportation, the choices will …
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Nonprofit organization's "sibling shops" help local kids give a gift to their siblings during the Christmas season.
For over a dozen Centreville-area kids, Christmas came a little early this year. FACETS, a nonprofit which helps local families in need, held a holiday party on Friday, called a "Sibling Shop," for local kids to pick out a present for their siblings or for themselves. FACETS has hosted the holiday parties in Fairfax County for over a decade. Kids in elementary, middle and high school, and younger ate Christmas cookies and pizza, put together holiday crafts, then rummaged among the basketballs, baby dolls and other toys for gifts. For 15-year-old Zaid, who picked out a gift for his little brother, Saad, the parties are something of a holiday tradition. He's attended them for the last nine years. What keeps him coming back each year, …
