FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FREDDIE MAC FOUNDATION GRANT ENABLES DOORWAYS TO REBUILD FAMILY SHELTER TO SERVE MORE ARLINGTON HOMELESS
NV Homes and HomeAid also Provide Important Support as Project Breaks Ground

ARLINGTON, VA – Doorways for Women and Families (formerly The Arlington Community Temporary Shelter, TACTs) announced plans to tear down and rebuild its emergency shelter serving Arlington County homeless women and families, made possible in part by a $500,000 grant from the Freddie Mac Foundation as well as donated building support from HomeAid and NVHomes.  The new “Freddie Mac Foundation Family Shelter” will be larger and better equipped to provide more homeless families with safe housing and intensive support services to prepare them for self-sufficient living.

With the new facility, Doorways will be able to provide care, hope and safety for 21 women and families.

“Amid all of our region’s prosperity, there still exists tremendous need.  For the families we serve, they face dire circumstances that leave them without the sanctity of a home.  We are so fortunate to be able to rebuild our family shelter to serve more of the need that exists with even better facilities.  Having committed partners including the Freddie Mac Foundation, NV Homes and HomeAid have made this major feat possible,” explained Linda Dunphy, executive director, Doorways.

“With this new shelter, Doorways will be opening the door to help more homeless families succeed.  I’m pleased to see so many local corporate leaders—such as the Freddie Mac Foundation, HomeAid, and NVHomes—join together to make this happen,” explained Congressman Jim Moran.

“Too many families in our community are facing homelessness, and we’re proud to support Doorways’ efforts to reduce that number.  Providing struggling families with a stable place to call home strengthens these families and ensures that their children face a brighter future,” explained Maxine B. Baker, president and CEO, Freddie Mac Foundation.  “Strong, stable families are the cornerstones of a healthy community.”

With the new facility, Doorways will be able to provide a lifesaving continuum of care, hope and safety for up to 21 women and families. The new shelter will have 11 bedrooms with 21 beds, which is six more bedrooms and five more beds than the current one.  Additionally the new shelter has a better layout to serve families.  The new shelter will be built with funding from the Freddie Mac Foundation, Arlington County, and donated building support and supplies from NVHomes, one of the region’s largest homebuilders, and HomeAid, a national non-profit organization that builds and renovates shelters for America’s temporarily homeless. 

Foundation President and CEO Maxine B. Baker stands before the current Doorways for Women and Families shelter, announcing its teardown and rebuilding to serve more individuals.

“Our mission is to help bring dignity to homeless families.  By building them a home, we can help them rebuild their lives.  We’re very excited that we’re able to make a difference for families in this Arlington community,” said Russ Rosenberger, president, HomeAid Northern Virginia.

Family homelessness in the suburbs has become a serious and growing issue, with children comprising 31 percent of the population.  A majority of the Washington, DC region’s homeless families live in the suburbs.  Doorways serves an even greater proportion of children as fully half of their clients are children. 

Although most families do not remain homeless for long, the experience can be devastating, increasing the likelihood that families will dissolve.  Homeless children are also more likely to be placed in foster care, are less healthy, experience disruptions in schooling, and are more likely to have developmental delays than poor, housed children. 

Doorways empowers woman and families who are abused, homeless or at-risk to live safe, secure and self-sufficient lives. It provides self-sufficiency and prevention services and educates the larger community about domestic violence and homelessness.  Prior to Doorways' founding 25 years ago, the only shelter for battered or homeless women and their children in Arlington was a night in a motel. 

Funding transitional housing programs that create stable, healthy environments for homeless children and families is an important way that the Freddie Mac Foundation is helping these families and their children be more self-sufficient and independent.  Everyday, the Freddie Mac Foundation works to increase family stability and strengthen communities by providing funds for a variety of nonprofit organizations serving children and their families. 

Following the announcement, Congressman Moran, County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman joined Doorways, Foundation, and other dignitaries to start demolishing the old shelter.  The new shelter, which will neatly fit in with the character of its historic Arlington neighborhood, will be complete next summer.  To see a drawing of the new shelter, visit www.doorwaysva.org.

Doorways for Women & Families, formerly the Arlington Community Temporary Shelter (TACTS), empowers women and families who are abused, homeless or at-risk to live safe, secure and self-sufficient lives.  We provide shelter and services, advocate, educate the community, build and work in coalitions, and influence policy.