The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia is awarding $805,940 in grants to 49 local organizations through its 2024 Community Investment Funds (CIF), Environment Fund, and Ross-Roberts Fund for the Arts competitive cycles. These grants, supported by charitable endowments and managed by the Community Foundation, will address current and emerging needs in the region.
Support this Community Resource
The Community Foundation’s annual discretionary grantmaking program is one of many tools the organization uses to promote regional equity. Specifically, its grantmaking supports the Community Foundation’s four strategic priorities:
- Promoting social and economic mobility
- Advancing racial justice and equity
- Supporting inclusive systems of economic growth
- Strengthening community resilience.
The Community Foundation’s flagship grant program directs funds toward organizations that serve the following critical interests across Northern Virginia:
- Aging
- Arts
- Child and youth development
- Education
- Environment
- Intellectual and developmental disabilities
- Mental health
- Military personnel and families
- Safety net support
Insight Region®, the Community Foundation’s center for community research, provided vital data and support to identify this year’s priority areas within each funding category. 112 volunteers—local experts, donors, board members, and other community stakeholders—reviewed 219 grant applications and made funding recommendations to the Community Foundation’s board of directors.
Grants were awarded to the following programs and organizations:
Aging | $36,000 | 2 Organizations
2024 Aging Grantee, Shepherd's Center of Northern Virginia
Prevention of Blindness Society of Metropolitan Washington ($18,000)
Serving Northern Virginia
Funding will ensure 250 Northern Virginia seniors with irreversible chronic vision loss have access to eye health education, resource navigation services, assistive technology training, and peer support. These resources enable seniors to live longer, safer, happier, and more connected lives.
Shepherd’s Center of Northern Virginia ($18,000)
Serving Fairfax County
Funding will help the Shepherd’s Center serve more clients in underserved areas and ensure the transportation needs of older adults (such as critical doctor appointments and food essentials) are met.
Child and Youth Development | $90,000 | 6 Organizations
2024 Child and Youth Development Grantee, Casa Chirilagua
Aspire! Afterschool Learning ($15,000)
Serving Arlington County
The Community Foundation’s grant will help Aspire, first, maintain the quality of its afterschool and summer programming by expanding to two new elementary school sites and additional permanent middle school programming. Furthermore, the grant will help Aspire meet higher-than-ever demand as students (especially those who have historically lacked access to resources and opportunities) continue to recover from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Belong! ($15,000)
Serving Fairfax County
Belong! provides weekly after-school mentoring for 81 immigrant/refugee children in grades K-8 who are 100% low-income. While all mentors are volunteers (and the organization receives much in-kind support), this grant will help provide resources like reading and math curriculum materials. A small allocation will also be used for organizational staff capacity.
Casa Chirilagua ($15,000)
Serving Arlington County
Funding will support the organization’s Leadership Pipeline, a program that guides students from elementary through post-secondary. The Pipeline instills confidence, structure, and teamwork that support students as they mature. Beginning with Kids Club in first grade, students receive twice weekly tutoring, homework help, reading support, computer practice, and a nutritious snack.
Girls on the Run of NOVA ($15,000)
Serving All of Northern Virginia
Although "Girls on the Run" suggests images of girls circling a track, this program aims to address participants’ social and emotional health with interactive lessons. Funding will support core costs so that participants who do not have the means to pay a registration fee can still access this positive, structured afterschool program.
*The House, Inc. ($15,000)
Serving Prince William County
This grant will support youth in underserved communities across Prince William County through leadership development, upskilling programs, total health initiatives, mentoring, and co-curricular elective opportunities. This programming tackles academic achievement gaps and boosts in-seat attendance while supporting social-emotional learning and the 4-year graduation rate.
The Spitfire Club ($15,000)
Serving Alexandria
This grant will help more than 80 “Spitfires” each week experience the magic of reading, connecting, and growing in The Spitfire Club (TSC). Funding will also help sustain TSC’s operations, underwrite staff time to create and facilitate club programming, connect Spitfires with trained, excellent mentors, and fund the purchase of books and supplies.
Education | $45,000 | 3 Organizations
2024 Education Grantee, English Empowerment Center
English Empowerment Center (formerly Literacy Council of Northern Virginia) ($15,000)
Serving All of Northern Virginia
This grant will provide critical operating funds to help English Empowerment Center's adult students from low-income, immigrant households build their English skills. Doing so enables them to meet their families’ immediate needs, access health and community resources, obtain new or better jobs, move on to higher-level learning, engage in their children’s education, and make lasting changes in their communities.
Hispanics Against Child Abuse and Neglect ($15,000)
Serving Fairfax County
This grant will provide general operating support for HACAN to pay qualified staff and implement outreach initiatives that involve parents and the community in the early childhood education program.
*Literacy Volunteers of America-Prince William, Inc. ($15,000)
Serving Prince William County
Funding will support hundreds of students from low-income, non-native-English-speaking, and medically underserved households through an innovative curriculum that leverages advanced technologies and blends English and health literacy.
Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities | $18,000 | 1 Organization
2024 Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Grantee, Best Buddies in VA and DC
Best Buddies in VA and DC ($18,000)
Serving All of Northern Virginia
Funding will support this organization’s Jobs Program, which offers vocational services to people with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities (IDD). Participants receive person-centered job development, supported employment services, customized employment, job coaching, and job readiness training. Best Buddies strives to create inclusive communities by helping individuals with IDD to find meaningful jobs they love, independence, and pathways to productive futures.
Lamond Fund to Benefit Children and Youth | $110,000 | 3 Organizations
2024 Lamond Fund to Benefit Children and Youth Grantee, Northern Virginia Family Service
Food For Neighbors ($30,000)
Serving All of Northern Virginia
This grant will help Food for Neighbors provide food, toiletry, and grocery gift card resources for students in six schools along the Route 1 corridor to tackle teen food insecurity so students can grow and learn.
Northern Virginia Family Service ($30,000)
Serving Fairfax County
This grant will support NVFS' Youth Initiatives, which partners with the City of Alexandria and Fairfax County Public Schools to offer trauma-informed mental health groups, psychoeducational workshops, and mental health services for immigrant youth and families in the Route 1 corridor. With support, youth can process trauma, learn positive coping skills, stabilize their mental health, and develop a stronger community connection.
United Community ($50,000)
Serving All of Northern Virginia
Funding will go towards CommUn1ty+, an initiative to support communities based on the health, safety, economic strength, child/youth well-being, and neighborhood livability needs expressed by Mount Vernon/Route 1 residents.
Latino Engagement and Achievement Fund (LEAF) | $15,000 | 1 Organization
Centreville Immigration Forum ($15,000)
Serving Fairfax County
This grant will help Centreville Immigration Forum serve its community by building competencies and advancing economic mobility, helping empower community members to break down barriers and advocate for systemic change. A leadership pipeline is central to its work, as it cultivates power and elevates leaders into positions of authority within the organization and the wider community to promote civic engagement.
Mental Health Fund | $75,000 | 3 Organizations
2024 Mental Health Fund Grantee, The HUB for Growth and Healing
The Family Counseling Center of Greater Washington ($25,000)
Serving Fairfax County
This grant will enhance the capacity of The Family Counseling Center of Greater Washington by adding two new licensed counselors and one intern to its team. This expansion will enable the center to better serve its diverse community, including low-income, multilingual Asian immigrants, by providing increased access to mental health and counseling services.
The HUB for Growth and Healing ($25,000)
Serving Fairfax County
Funding will support a clinical treatment expansion in the program and provide 300 additional mental health sessions for underserved children and families. Staff can add approximately 25 children/families to its patient pool, each receiving an average of 12 sessions. All clinicians are licensed or seeking licensure and supervised by a licensed clinician.
Rock Recovery ($25,000)
Serving All of Northern Virginia
Funding will equip Rock to scale and grow its outpatient, low-cost therapy programs, which offer services to patients in-person (in Arlington, VA) and virtually. These programs include individual therapy services and therapy groups for adolescents (14+) and adults who struggle with eating disorders and related mental health challenges (i.e. depression, anxiety, body image, etc.).
Military Personnel and their Families | $40,000 | 2 Organizations
2024 Military Personnel and their Families Grantee, Operation Renewed Hope Foundation
Easterseals DC MD VA ($20,000)
Serving All of Northern Virginia
Easterseals’ funding will support their employment support services for veterans and military spouses. The organization’s work helps these individuals (including those with service-related disabilities, formerly incarcerated, homeless, formerly homeless, or at risk of homelessness) to secure meaningful employment and transition into a fulfilling civilian life.
Operation Renewed Hope Foundation ($20,000)
Serving All of Northern Virginia
This grant will support the Operation Renewed Hope Foundation (ORHF) to provide any combination of the following services: outreach, case management, emergency and preventative financial assistance, direct housing assistance, housing improvements, renovations and maintenance, and supportive services to Veterans and their families experiencing homelessness.
Safety Net | $195,000 | 11 Organizations
2024 Safety Net Grantee, Boxes of Basics
Boxes of Basics ($15,000)
Serving Prince William County
This grant will provide the necessary funding to alleviate the clothing insecurity crisis in our area by providing a quality, seasonally appropriate wardrobe to over 1,500 local children from low-income households. These efforts furnish not just clothing but also love, confidence and empowerment to every child.
Carpenter’s Shelter ($30,000)
Serving Alexandria
This grant will support Carpenter’s Shelter as it empowers individuals experiencing or at risk of homelessness to attain lasting self-sufficiency through emergency shelter, rapid re-housing and supportive housing, access to comprehensive services (including a free health clinic and mental health services), and thorough guidance, education, and advocacy.
Child and Family Network Center ($15,000)
Serving Alexandria
Funding for Child and Family Network Center’s (CFNC) free childcare model will support the expansion of its Family Support Team—4 multilingual family support workers and a program director fluent in their assigned families’ languages (English, Spanish, or Dari). The grant will also connect 139 underserved children and working families with support for basic needs as well as assist parents in achieving their goals.
Homestretch, Inc. ($15,000)
Serving All of Northern Virginia
Homestretch’s grant will support its comprehensive service delivery programs. These include intensive trauma-informed case management, workforce readiness training, educational opportunities and ESOL training, tenant education and housing advocacy, a financial literacy program featuring debt reduction education, and services for children including an on-site nursery center and licensed preschool.
Just Neighbors ($15,000)
Serving All of Northern Virginia
This grant will support Just Neighbors’ immigration legal service offerings to low-income NOVA residents, enabling them to build better lives for themselves and their families. The organization helps immigrants obtain work permits, family unification, and citizenship.
LAWS Domestic Violence & Sexual Assault Services ($15,000)
Serving Loudoun County
Funding will support LAWS’ Safety programming, including its domestic violence shelter that provides families fleeing violence with temporary housing and support services as they work toward stable housing and self-sufficiency. In FY 2023, LAWS provided 3,772 bed nights of emergency shelter to 98 adult and 76 child survivors of domestic violence.
Loudoun Free Clinic ($15,000)
Serving Loudoun County
This grant will support free healthcare services for adults in Loudoun County with limited access to health insurance. Loudoun Free Clinic’s services include preventative care, sick visits, well-woman care, diagnostic services, lab work, prescription medications, nutritional counseling, certain immunizations, and some specialty care via volunteer providers.
Offender Aid and Restoration of Arlington, Inc. ($15,000)
Serving All of Northern Virginia
The operating grant will sustain OAR’s housing assistance services, helping over 100 Northern Virginia individuals and 30 families impacted by incarceration obtain and retain safe, stable housing. The organization aims to prevent homelessness and eviction. It also improves family well-being by assisting neighbors with emergency rent, mortgage, and utility payments (as well as other housing necessities).
Rising Hope United Methodist Mission Church ($15,000)
Serving Alexandria
Rising Hope aims to minister in love and build strong foundations and connections with the community along Route 1. The Community Foundation’s grant allows the organization to provide immediate assistance, such as food and household necessities as well as help with other need-based services to encourage and support long-term sustainability.
Second Story ($30,000)
Serving Fairfax County
Funding will empower youth in Second Story programs by providing those youth with safe shelter and support services, connecting them with caring adults who can help them succeed in education and employment, and addressing systemic inequities faced by marginalized youth of color.
Survivor Ventures, Inc. ($15,000)
Serving All of Northern Virginia
Funding will empower 20+ trafficking survivors in Northern Virginia with crisis shelter, employment, rental assistance, and self-employment support (in that order) during FY 2024. The organization aims to achieve 85% employment retention, 90% housing stability, and 25% business formation for income and self-reliance.
Ross-Roberts Fund for the Arts | $80,000 | 8 Organizations
2024 Ross-Roberts Fund for the Arts Grantee, Fairfax Symphony Orchestra
Better Said Than Done ($5,000)
Serving Fairfax County
Better Said Than Done (BSTD) boasts a history and reputation for compensating artists for their work. Funding will allow the organization to continue compensating storytellers in the WSF with a salary commensurate to the national rate for festival compensation.
Clearbrook Foundation ($5,000)
Serving Prince William County
This grant will help the Clearbrook Foundation upgrade its sound system for better program quality.
Creative Cauldron ($20,000)
Serving Fairfax County
This grant will allow Creative Cauldron to expand its ongoing "Artes Para Todos" work with youth from Spanish-speaking, underserved households and its "Bold New Voices" initiative supporting the development of a new play or musical written by a Latine woman for a professional production in 2025.
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra ($20,000)
Serving Fairfax County
Funding will support the expansion of the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra’s (FSO) educational programs by increasing elementary school students’ participation in Link Up from 1,600 to 2,000 students. It will also increase the diversity fellowship program by adding two fellows (bringing the total to seven annually).
Heard ($5,000)
Serving Alexandria
The funds will expand Heard’s leadership team, which needs consulting support to strategically plan the organization's growth in collaboration with its new Executive Director.
Sound Impact ($10,000)
Serving All of Northern Virginia
The organization’s grant will enhance its programming in Northern Virginia with capacity-building support. Sound Impact aims to bolster its team with a development position and expand its "Use Your Voice" Incarcerated Youth program by adding locations in the region to increase its impact.
South Loudoun Youth Chorale ($10,000)
Serving Loudoun County
This funding will facilitate the expansion of the South Loudoun Youth Chorale’s summer camp program by extending it an additional week and opening participation to grades 4-5.
Voce, Inc. ($5,000)
Serving Fairfax County
Voce will use its grant to fund the writing and recording of a new choral work by a composer for its 2024-2025 season. The selected composer and their work will reflect Voce’s commitment to supporting historically marginalized voices in classical music.
Environment Fund | $95,000 | 8 Organizations
2024 Environment Fund Grantee, Clean Fairfax Council, Inc.
Clean Fairfax Council, Inc. ($10,000)
Serving All of Northern Virginia
This grant will enable Clean Fairfax to develop a Plastic-Free Farmers’ Market hub with digital and print resources for regional farmers market managers, vendors, and customers. CF will engage selected FCPA Farmers Markets for a Plastic-Free July with in-person presence and educational promotions.
Earth Sangha ($20,000)
Serving All of Northern Virginia
Funding will go toward developing the organization’s Native Plant Propagation program, which grows and restores native plants throughout Northern Virginia, and training Conservation Interns in specialized, on-the-ground skills in native plant conservation.
Global Education Energy Environment Inc. ($5,000)
Serving All of Northern Virginia
The grant will cover the cost of a kit ($4,950) and tools ($50), which will be donated to a NOVA school to begin the program and participate in the next DC EVGP.
Hands On Harvests ($5,000)
Serving Fairfax County
Funding will go toward irrigation equipment for water conservation and demonstration; coir logs, accessory supplies, and native plants for slope stabilization, soil conservation and demonstration; multilingual signage; and a part-time garden manager for the most intensive part of the growing season.
NatureBridge ($20,000)
Serving Prince William County
The grant will help expand NatureBridge’s Prince William campus capacity, supporting local Mid-Atlantic staff efforts to strengthen the Prince William County School District’s partnership. Ultimately, funding will help provide immersive outdoor experiences to all 7,000+ 7th graders in the county.
Northern Virginia Families for Safe Streets ($5,000)
Serving All of Northern Virginia
The grant from the Community Foundation will help NOVA FSS continue delivering and expanding its Pedestrian Street Safety Education program curriculum. This program educates middle school students about the environmental and sustainability benefits of walking and biking as transportation.
PWCS Education Foundation ($5,000)
Serving Prince William County
This grant will help Prince William County Schools pave the way for a sustainable future through interactive environmental education. Specifically, students become "EcoHeroes" through service learning after attending “The EcoHero Show,” an elementary-level STEAM and environmental sustainability concert-like experience.
Sustainability Matters ($10,000)
Serving All of Northern Virginia
Funding will support this organization’s Making History Bloom project, which aims to remove invasive species and plant native meadows along the historic W&OD Trail. Activities will also include free events and workshops to educate adults and children about the environment.
Additional Grants | $6,940 | 1 Organization
2024 Additional Grants Grantee, FACETS
FACETS ($6,940)
Serving Fairfax County
FACETS believes everyone should have access to adequate and affordable housing. The funding will help the organization support thousands of people across Fairfax County who are pulling themselves out of a crisis related to housing, food insecurity, and poverty. The program empowers individuals and families to build stronger futures.
*Funding made possible by Haymarket Fund
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