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Northern Virginia Family Service Shelter Groundbreaking 2011

Ralph F. Boyd, Jr.
President and CEO, Freddie Mac Foundation

August 2, 2011

• Thank you.

• The Freddie Mac Foundation is fortunate to be a long-time partner of Northern Virginia Family Service and HomeAid.

• This is such an important project — to build a family-friendly wing for children and their parents who need emergency shelter. We feel privileged to support your work to provide a safe, comfortable and supportive environment for homeless families — and to move these families to permanent housing. 

• And we're delighted that another wonderful partner, HomeAid, is so involved, along with K. Hovnanian Homes, to provide the services needed to expand the shelter.

• I'd like to recognize Mary Agee [CEO of NVFS] and Christy Eaton [ED of Home Aid] , along with their staff, for their leadership and for all they've achieved over the years for our community. I'd also like to thank K Hovnanian Homes for doing the heavy lifting on this project.

• It's hard to imagine what life is like for a child who doesn't have a home … Or for a parent worrying about where their children will sleep that night.

• Housing is one of our most basic needs, and one of the greatest challenges for families that are struggling, especially in tough economic times like these. [Right here in the DC metro region, homelessness affects more than 11,000 people. Nearly half are families, and a quarter are children.]

• The Freddie Mac Foundation, which is entirely self-funded through its endowment, works with nonprofits that have a long-standing history of delivering measurable results for vulnerable families.

• Our mission is to make home a place where children and families thrive. Many of our partnerships help provide homeless families shelter, transitional housing or permanent housing — along with supportive services, such as case management and job training. [We also work to find adoptive homes for children in foster care, and to increase academic achievement and career success for young people.]

• With the number of homeless families growing in Prince William County, this partnership will help provide additional, critically needed space for homeless children and families.

• Thank you again for the opportunity to be part of your important work to help house and stabilize our most vulnerable families…. And to strengthen our community.