In FY 2012, 51 families received $25,070 in first-month rent assistance.

Family Care Shelter Expansion

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Update - June 15th 

The end is in clear sight!! Contractors have been hard at work getting the existing shelter space ready to re-open. Walls are painted, new floors are set, bedroom furniture has been assembled in all bedrooms, staff offices and cubicles are installed and the kitchen features a new, wide service window!. 

Re-opening News:  Clients begin moving into the existing shelter wing on June 25th. We will fill the existing shelter to its 60-bed capacity throughout the week. This will include homeless families and single adults. We already have clients--including five families--ready for intake.

The new family wing of the shelter will open around early August. As soon as the new space is open, all families will be moved from the existing wing into the new family wing and our capacity will officially increase to 92-beds.
 
Client Support: 
The five families awaiting shelter re-opening have been temporarily placed in hotels, with family or in other shelter programs. We are already providing supportive services to these clients and look forward to providing more comprehensive and intensive services to them.

Our Housing Locator, Kimberly Davidson, continues to provide critical intervention and prevention services to families and individuals who are precariously housed. NVFS is the only nonprofit with a full-time Housing Locator in Prince William County and it has a significant impact on preventing homelessness--over 2,000 community members have received affordable housing assistance, diverting them from homelessness and strengthening their housing stability. 

Update - May 31st 

The SERVE Shelter Expansion project continues making strides towards completion. The renovations to the existing wing are close to completion--new meeting rooms have been built, all of the walls have been painted and the flooring is about to be installed. The interior of the new wing is also taking shape.  

Re-opening News:  The existing wing of the SERVE shelter is expected to re-open in late June. It will open with a capacity to serve 60 residents (families and singles). Shortly thereafer the new wing will also open increasing capacity to 92 beds.

Client Support: 
All of the clients who were relocated to other shelters and hotels when the shelter closed have since moved in to more stable housing.

New homeless families in crisis have been placed in hotels and are being supported with regular case management, transportation assistance and food. These families will transition into the SERVE shelter when it re-opens in late June.

Additionally, families and individuals at high-risk of becoming homeless are being helped by our Housing Locator and through our Emergency Assistance office to prevent them from becoming homeless.

As already mentioned, none of the other SERVE campus programs and services have been affected by the shelter expansion project nor will they be.

We are growing!

Just two years after announcing our merger with SERVE, NVFS is proud to announce that we are beginning a significant expansion of the facility. The 4,000 square foot expansion will be a signature project for HomeAid in celebration of 10 years of service in Northern Virginia. The project also commemorates 35 years of commitment on the SERVE campus to help shelter and stabilize families in the Greater Prince William region. The project will increase shelter capacity from 60 to 92 beds, allowing NVFS to reach an additional 250 individuals a year.

Partners

NVFS is privileged to have the assistance of HomeAid partnering with K. Hovnanian Homes to be the Builder Captain for this expansion, which means they will contribute their time and talent to overseeing all of the work. Total project costs are estimated to be close to $1.2 million, much of that being donated through valuable partnerships that K. Hovnanian and HomeAid will leverage. In addition, the Freddie Mac Foundation has committed $400,000 to NVFS for the project along with individual donations and funding through Community Development Block Grants. The ongoing operations of SERVE are funded through a combination of local government support, individual contributions, foundations and state grants through the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development.

In The News

Serve Expansion to Benefit Families in Need

Official Press Release

The expansion will include the addition of a family support wing designed for larger families and flexible living space. In addition, adequate computer, mentoring and child services areas will promote appropriate family structured time and environments for learning and development. There will also be ample meeting space to support small group interactions and counseling support through life skills training, job development, case management and housing search assistance. 

Read the Press Release here.

Who to Contact