SERVE Campus
NVFS’ SERVE Campus houses a variety of programs that help our neighbors receive the immediate assistance they need, such as food and shelter, and develop the potential for future success, including rapid re-housing, health access and services for children. SERVE has been part of the Greater Prince William community since 1975 and merged with NVFS in 2009.
Shelter & Housing
With 90 beds, SERVE Family Shelter is Northern Virginia’s largest family homeless shelter. On average, more than 40 percent of shelter guests are children. While staying at our shelter, guests work with a case manager who helps connect them with the right tools, knowledge and resources for lasting well-being and self-sufficiency.
NVFS’ housing and homelessness prevention programs also help families and individuals with rent and utility assistance to prevent evictions and disconnections.
Food Assistance
The 8,000-square-foot Hunger Resource Center (HRC) serves more than 600 families per month, and nearly 9,000 unique individuals per year, with food and essentials. The HRC also provides nutrition education and strategies for buying healthy food on a budget.
Early Childhood Education
Healthy Families and Early Head Start foster learning and development in children and provide parents with the tools to continue this growth. In addition to SERVE’s Early Head Start classroom, home-based programs help families build strong parenting skills and ensure children are healthy and meet developmental milestones.
Health Access
NVFS connects children and adults with free or reduced-cost medical and dental care, as well as prescription medications. This helps families and individuals maintain good health, avoid more serious and costly health issues, and focus on higher-level needs.
Stories from SERVE Campus
After helping with two of her company’s corporate volunteering events, Debbie Fitzpatrick decided she wanted to invest even more time to helping her neighbors. She’s now a weekly volunteer at NVFS’ Hunger Resource Center.
Vanessa was doing her best to provide for her three young children, but was quickly running out of options. By the time she walked into the Hunger Resource Center (HRC) on NVFS’ SERVE Campus, Vanessa had been living in her car for some time.
During her morning commute, Halmon witnessed men, women and children experiencing homelessness and in an effort to show them that, despite their present challenges, they are our valued neighbors, she decided to dedicate a portion of her life to providing meals for those in need.
Rani was searching for volunteer opportunities in Northern Virginia to give back to her community, as well as gain valuable and professional experience to assist her in the job hunt down the line. Rani now volunteers with NVFS in multiple capacities.
Children at SERVE Family Shelter were so excited for ShounBach volunteers’ Halloween event that they were lined up at the door before the party, watching the volunteers set up!
Since April 2017, William Schuppert has been spending one hour a week assisting children at the SERVE Family Shelter with their homework through the Homework Club.
For the past several years, Lockheed Martin’s Manassas branch has supported NVFS’ SERVE Campus with a food and donation drive at its annual Chili Cook-Off. Company employees also volunteer their time at the Hunger Resource Center, and support NVFS’ holiday and back-to-school drives.
The Huheey family has been volunteering at the SERVE campus since 2001. Amy Sue and Rob became volunteers because they felt called to the work and liked how SERVE helps the community, especially families and children.
NVFS’ Hunger Resource Center provided more than food for M.P.’s family — it offered hope and compassion to people in need, and ensured they had what they needed to make it through difficult situations.
Frances is a fighter. Her family suffered financial hardship, job loss, and then eviction. In spite of this, Frances kept her family together. Frances submitted job applications every day, and eventually NVFS’ SERVE team identified an affordable home for her family.