Neighbors in Need Fund Deploys $714,300 to Help Area Safety Net Nonprofits Meet Unrelenting Demand

WASHINGTON-(Business Wire)-September 17, 2009 - Citing the greatest need for emergency services seen in its 36-year history, The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region announced today that its Neighbors in Need Fund is awarding $714,300 in new grants to safety net organizations that serve vulnerable residents throughout the metropolitan Washington region. The Community Foundation is the largest funder of nonprofit organizations in the Washington region.

The grants, awarded on a competitive basis, will help 37 charities including food banks, homeless shelters, and clothing, meal, and foreclosure-prevention programs meet the Washington, DC region’s escalating demand for basic human services.

“This week’s news may be that the recession is over but I’d be hard pressed to tell that to the many low and moderate-income residents of our area who are struggling to feed their families, find a job or keep their homes,” said Foundation President Terri Lee Freeman. “Interviews with the nonprofits we are funding reveal some alarming trends: seniors who are forced to choose between paying their utilities and buying food, foreclosure prevention programs that have had to turn people away, increasing numbers of teens showing up at shelters with a limited numbers of beds.”

Next month, The Foundation will launch an urgent fundraising campaign to raise an additional $2 million to address the rising need through its Neighbors in Need Fund. The Foundation has streamlined its grantmaking process in order to deploy money to the nonprofits as quickly as possible. Another round of grants, in support of organizations engaged in systems reform efforts aimed at strengthening the safety net infrastructure and ultimately improving service delivery, will be announced at year-end. The deadline for those grant proposals is Oct. 5.

Recent data illustrates just how hard the economic downturn has hit the area. For example, since the recession began, Virginia has experienced an 18% increase in the number of applications for food stamps, and some 633,000 DC residents are experiencing or at risk of hunger. Not surprisingly, the number of Neighbors in Need Fund applications received in the current round rose some 40% over the previous round earlier in 2009.

Applicants were selected by a diverse giving committee comprised of Foundation donors and representatives from the Washington region’s philanthropic sector. This is the second set of Neighbors in Need grants; the first group of 29 grants totaling $455,000 was announced in March 2009.

For many recipients, the funding could not come at a better time. For instance, at Sowing Empowerment & Economic Development, Inc. (SEED), located in Prince George’s County, three counselors are currently juggling nearly 400 open foreclosure cases with as many as 20 new calls coming in every day. With $25,000 in support from The Community Foundation, SEED has added an additional foreclosure prevention workshop each month. In addition, its food distribution center, which had reduced its hours to one day a week, is now open two days a week. “With the colder months coming, it’s scary to think about the new types of needs we’re going to see in our community,” said SEED’s director, Lisa Butler McDougal, reinforcing what others working on the ground have emphasized in recent weeks: this crisis is far from over.

Established in late 2008, The Neighbors in Need Fund was created with a founding gift of $150,000 from The World Bank and grew significantly with a generous donation of $2 million from The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation. Additional contributions have been made by area individuals, families and foundations. Committed to raising at least $5 million over the coming years, The Community Foundation will continue to replenish and grow The Neighbors in Need Fund. In addition, The Foundation’s regional affiliate, The Montgomery County Community Foundation, manages Neighbors in Need Montgomery, which to date has awarded $165,000 in grants to County-focused safety net providers. Neighbors in Need Montgomery has received strong endorsement from County Executive Ike Leggett as well as generous matching challenge grants from anonymous donors designed to leverage additional contributions.

The Community Foundation will also be adding a special section to its web site to share the stories of people and organizations hit hard by the recession and to track its impact on families throughout the region.

Founded in 1973, The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region promotes charitable giving and plays a leading role in finding innovative solutions to the Greater Washington region's most challenging problems. The Foundation is a community of givers – individuals, families and corporations have joined with the Foundation; as a result, the Foundation provides sound management of some 700 funds and $320 million in assets. In FY2008, The Community Foundation and its donors awarded more than $91 million in grants to nonprofit organizations in the Washington, DC region and beyond. The Foundation has two affiliates – The Montgomery County Community Foundation, and The Prince George’s Community Foundation. For more information, visit www.thecommunityfoundation.org.

A complete alphabetical list of September 2009 Neighbors in Need Fund grantees follows.

Alive! Inc.
Alexandria, VA
$7,500
To support the Family Emergency and Last Saturday Food Distribution programs in Alexandria, VA

Alternative House
Dunn Loring, VA
$25,000
To support food and transitional living programs for homeless teenagers, homeless teenage mothers, and children in Fairfax County, VA and throughout the Washington metropolitan region

Annandale Christian Community for Action
Annandale, VA
$25,000
To support emergency financial assistance for rent and utilities for families and individuals in sections of Fairfax County, VA

Arlington Food Assistance Center
Arlington, VA
$15,000
To support the food program serving families in Arlington, VA

Bread for the City
Washington, DC
$25,000
To support the food program, which provides critically needed and nutritious grocery supplies to some 10,000 vulnerable Washington, DC residents monthly

Central Union Mission
Washington, DC
$15,000
To support the overnight shelter and community-wide food distribution program for homeless and low-income residents in the Washington metropolitan region

Christian Communities Group Homes
Washington, DC
$10,000
To support Andrus House, a transitional-living facility for Washington, DC seniors emerging from homelessness

Community Support Systems, Inc.
Aquasco, MD
$12,000
To support the food pantry, shared senior-living home and assistance fund, all providing essential services for low-income residents of southern Prince George’s County, MD

Family Crisis Center of Prince George’s County
Brentwood, MD
$25,000
To support emergency shelter, food, and a 24-hour hotline for persons experiencing domestic violence in the District of Columbia and Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties in MD

Gaithersburg HELP
Gaithersburg, MD
$15,000
To support the food-distribution program in Gaithersburg

Good Shepherd Housing and Family Services, Inc.
Alexandria, VA
$25,000
To support the emergency services program, which provides housing stability through emergency financial assistance to families in Fairfax County, VA facing a short-term housing crisis

Housing and Community Services of Northern Virginia, Inc.
Springfield, VA
$25,000
To support foreclosure-prevention services for 120 homeowners south Fairfax County, VA

Housing Counseling Services
Washington, DC
$25,000
To support housing displacement prevention services, including foreclosure prevention counseling; clinics; and case management services to rental assistance recipients to prevent future emergencies for low-income residents in the Washington, DC region

Housing Opportunities Community Partners, Inc.
Kensington, MD
$10,000
To support the Housing Counseling Plus Program, which helps homeless families in Montgomery County, MD meet move-in costs

Korean Community Services Center
Annandale, VA
$10,000
To support emergency food and financial assistance programs

Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia
Washington, DC
$25,000
To support programs helping Washington, DC homeowners who are at risk of foreclosure to keep their homes

Legal Counsel for the Elderly
Washington, DC
$15,000
To support the Foreclosure Crisis Project, which protects low-income seniors from losing their homes due to foreclosure

Legal Services of Northern Virginia
Falls Church, VA
$25,000
To support the Foreclosure Legal Assistance Project, providing legal aid to low-income residents facing foreclosure

Lorton Community Action Center
Lorton, VA
$20,000
To support emergency food and financial-assistance programs for families in Lorton and Fort Belvoir, VA

Martha’s Table
Washington, DC
$25,000
To support emergency food and clothing programs for adults and children in Washington, DC

Metropolitan Community Development Corporation
Silver Spring, MD
$10,000
To support Emma’s Place, which provides food, clothing and emergency financial assistance to low-income immigrants in the region

Miriam’s Kitchen
Washington, DC
$25,000
To support the breakfast program for the homeless in Washington, DC

Mission of Love Charities, Inc.
Capitol Heights, MD
$15,000
To support the Basic Needs program, providing food and clothing, with a focus on women transitioning from welfare to work in suburban Maryland and the District of Columbia

Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless
Rockville, MD
$25,000
To support food, shelter and emergency financial assistance for homeless and formerly homeless residents of Montgomery County, MD

N Street Village
Washington, DC
$12,500
To support non-emergency shelter and support services for chronically homeless women

Northern Virginia Family Service
Oakton, VA
$25,000
To support the Housing Counseling Program, providing emergency financial assistance to low-income families in Arlington, VA facing a housing crisis due to landlord foreclosure

Shabach! Ministries, Inc.
Landover, MD
$20,000
To support the Shabach! Emergency Food Pantry and Clothing Closet program for low-income, newly unemployed, and unemployed individuals and families in Prince George’s County, MD

Sowing Empowerment and Economic Development
Riverdale, MD
$25,000
To support emergency food, clothing, and foreclosure-prevention assistance for families in Prince George’s County, MD

St. Camillus Food Pantries
Silver Spring, MD
$15,000
To support the food pantries of St. Camillus Catholic Community serving Silver Spring and Langley Park, MD

Stepping Stones Shelter
$24,800
Rockville, MD
To support shelter, food, clothing, and case management services for homeless families in Montgomery County, MD

Transitional Housing Corporation
Washington, DC
$12,500
To support transitional housing for families in Washington, DC

United Community Ministries
Alexandria, VA
$15,000
To support the Basic Needs program, providing low-income populations with emergency food and eviction/utilities-cutoff prevention in Alexandria, VA

Upper Montgomery Assistance Network
Gaithersburg, MD
$15,000
To support the homelessness prevention program, providing emergency financial assistance to families facing eviction/foreclosure and utilities-cutoff in the greater Gaithersburg and Germantown sections of MD

Western Fairfax Christian Ministries
Chantilly, VA
$20,000
To support expansion of the food, clothing, and shelter programs serving people in western Fairfax County, VA

Women Empowered Against Violence
Washington, DC
$10,000
To support food, shelter and emergency financial assistance for extremely low-income victims of domestic violence in the District of Columbia

Neighbors in Need Montgomery Grants

Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care, Inc.
Washington, DC
$25,000
To support the establishment of a new Neighborhood Service Center at Mary’s Center’s Montgomery County location in Long Branch, Maryland

IMPACT Silver Spring
Silver Spring, MD
$50,000
To support IMPACT Silver Spring's work to strengthen the emergency services system in the high-need Montgomery County neighborhoods of Gaithersburg, Wheaton, and Long Branch

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