Contact the Charity Committee with any questions or suggestions.

The following is a list of charities in the DC Metropolitan area and beyond, which NoVES has supported financially through sharing platform donations or through other fundraising campaigns.  Examples of tasks individual volunteers perform for the charities are given where appropriate. 

AACH (The Arlington-Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless) provides transitional housing and support services to homeless families and women in the Arlington County and the City of Alexandria.  Volunteers help with the children’s program, the food program, fundraising and moving families into apartments.

AHC Inc. develops affordable housing for low and moderate income residents in the mid-Atlantic area, helps individuals and families achieve homeownership and works with more than 2000 children and adults through seven community centers.  Volunteers work in afterschool programs for children and tutor and mentor teenagers. 

Arlington Food Assistance Center provides supplemental groceries to Arlingtonians who cannot afford to purchase all of the food they need.  Volunteers plant a row for the hungry, pick up food, plan events, glean and clean.

Arlington Free Clinic helps low income adults without medical insurance.  Non-medical volunteer jobs include receptionist, interpreter, clinic assistants and benefit and event volunteers. 

Arlington Pediatric Center provides health care, books and emergency clothing help to children through age 18 from low income families living in Arlington County.  Non-medical volunteers interpret, collect books, fundraise and do computer and clerical projects. 

A-Span advocates for a year-round emergency shelter in Arlington County and runs programs which provide services to the homeless including an emergency winter shelter, a bagged meal program, street outreach, case management and employment services. Volunteers prepare and serve meals and offer help as volunteer companions to people needing help in running daily errands.

Beacon House is a neighborhood based organization which supports at-risk youth and families of the Edgewood Terrace community in Washington, DC, offers educational, cultural, recreational and athletic programs.  Volunteers tutor, create arts and crafts projects and attend field trips. 

Bethany House provides temporary housing and support for women and children who have suffered domestic violence.  Volunteers provide outreach assistance, facilitate small group activities and sort, price and tag donated items for the organization’s re-sale shop.

Books to Prisons Project The U.S. has less than five percent of the world’s population, yet more than 25 percent of the world’s prisoners. Nearly one percent of American adults are incarcerated; the highest rate in the world. However, many prisoners have little access to books or educational material. Usually, prisoners are not allowed to receive books from friends or family. While some prisons have libraries, many do not. Of prisons that do, access and selection can be extremely limited. Programs like ours are one of the few options available to prisoners seeking books. 2012 Letter from Book to Prisons Click Here 

Bright Beginnings is a child and family development center in Washington DC that serves homeless infants, toddlers and preschoolers and their families while living in crisis centers or transitional housing.  Volunteers act as classroom assistants and readers and help with parent workshops and special events.

Embry Rucker Community Shelter is a residential shelter in Reston which provides healthy, safe emergency housing and other assistance for families and single men and women.  Volunteers pick up and serve food and help with events.

Food for Others is the largest distributor of free food directly to people in need in Northern Virginia.  Volunteers pick up, glean and distribute food as well as work in the office and the warehouse. Letter from Food for Others 2013 Click Here

Haven of Northern Virginia’s trained volunteers offer emotional support to the bereaved, the seriously ill, the dying and to their families and friends.  Haven volunteers help individuals work through their grief offering comfort and support by sharing insights, resources and techniques that encourage recovery and healing.

Herndon-Reston FISH responds to requests for rent, transportation to medical appointments, furniture, utilities, medical items (including prescriptions) and other short term emergency needs.  Volunteers work in the Bargain loft and teach or assist with workshops on financial literacy.
Hope and a Home is a DC organization that helps low income families with children create stable homes through transitional housing and educational, job and family support.  Volunteers repair and maintain housing and provide tutoring and family support.

James Mott Community Assistance Program provides clothing for job interviews, transportation for the elderly, and hourly employment targeting needy teenagers.  A volunteer is needed to help with food pickup from grocery stores on Mondays and Fridays.

Jeanie Schmidt Free Clinic offers health care to low income residents of Fairfax County including uninsured adults with diabetes or high blood pressure and children needing non-emergency care.  We need examples of volunteer jobs, website does not describe. 

Just Neighbors provides immigration legal services to low-income immigrants and refugees of all faiths and nationalities through their offices in Northern Virginia.  Volunteers provide general and administrative support, prepare documents, conduct intake interviews and translate and interpret.
Literacy Council of Northern Virginia teaches adults the basic skills of reading, writing, speaking, and understanding English in order to empower them to participate more fully and confidently in their communities.  Volunteers tutor, teach classes and act as classroom aides.

Legal Aid Justice Center The Legal Aid Justice Center provides legal representation for low-income individuals in Virginia. Our mission is to serve those in our communities who have the least access to legal resources.  The Legal Aid Justice Center is committed to providing a full range of services to our clients, including services our federal and state governments choose not to fund. 2012 Letter from the Legal Aid Justice Center Click Here

N Street Village provides homeless and extremely low-income women food, clothing, showers, transitional and permanent housing, mental and physical health care and support to re-enter the workforce.  Volunteers maintain the facility and the garden, prepare, distribute and serve meals and stay overnight at the shelter. Letter from the N Street Village 2013 Click Here

New Neighbors Education Center of Northern Virginia offers immigrant and refugee families nine levels of adult English classes, family literacy classes and guest speakers and field trips to connect students with community resources.  

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) NAMI is the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. NAMI advocates for access to services, treatment, supports and research and is steadfast in its commitment to raise awareness and build a community for hope for all of those in need.

Northern Virginia Therapeutic Riding Program offers horseback riding lessons to children and adults living with disabilities, youth at risk and veterans.  Volunteers help with lessons, feed the horses and work in the stables and on the farm.

Our Daily Bread sponsors “Secret Santa”, food maintenance and financial assistance programs.  Volunteers collect, sort and deliver food and teach classes on and provide mentoring in financial literacy.

The Reading Connection literacy programs improve the lives of at-risk children and families by helping them create and sustain literacy-rich environments and motivation for reading.  Volunteers read aloud to children at shelters and community centers and distribute free, new books to the children.

The Sentencing Project Founded in 1986, the Sentencing Project works for a fair and effective U.S. criminal justice system by promoting reforms in sentencing policy, addressing unjust racial disparities and practices, and advocating for alternatives to incarceration. Consider helping this charity reverse trends that result in incarceration and ruined lives for too many young, black men.

Shepherd’s Center of Oakton-Vienna involves and sustains who desire to live independently in their own homes through caring relationships, lifelong learning, creative expression, community service and the discovery of inner resources.   Volunteers are drivers, handy helpers, visitors and office help. 2012 Letter from Shepherd's Center Click Here

SOME (So Others Might Eat) moves men, women and families from crisis to security by providing emergency services, job training, addiction treatment, counseling and other support services and long-term affordable housing.

Songs in the Key of Free is a series of composer/musician workshops occurring at Pennsylvania prisons and correctional facilities, in which Philly musicians and songwriters and classically trained musicians from The Curtis Institute develop and celebrate the musical talent of people who are incarcerated via performance-based classes in songwriting, arranging, and musicianship.

Our mission is to stand with our sisters and brothers on the inside, to promote community and to cultivate leadership and dignity among those who have been marginalized and dis-empowered by providing opportunities to be of use and to lead. The foundation of the workshop springs out of the communion of music and song, which is powerfully redemptive for us all.  The transformative potential of being heard and known provides opportunities for participants to tap into the power of story to transform and heal our lives, and to access our core strengths. Music summons us back to our elemental goodness: telling our stories in song can set us free. 

Vecinos Unidos educates children who cannot receive homework help at home either because their parents do not speak English, are working, or both.  Volunteers provide homework help and mentoring and help with enrichment activities.

The Women’s Home offers a safe structured living environment for recovering women alcoholics and addicts.  Volunteers help maintain the home and garden and provide weekend relief for the overnight coordinator.

The Kakenya Center

The Kakenya Center for Excellence (KCE) is a non-profit organization focused on serving the most vulnerable and underprivileged girls in Kenya. Founded by Kakenya Ntaiya in 2008, the organization has built the first primary school for girls in Enoosaen, Kenya that focuses on academic excellence, female empowerment, leadership, and community development. Located in the Keyian Division of the Trans Mara District of Kenya, the Center opened in May 2009 with 32 students. Our goal is eventually to enroll 240 students in grades one through eight. KCE is the realization of Kakenya’s dream to forever alter the lives of girls in her village through education, empowerment and leadership.

View the videos at the top of the page to learn more about Kakenya's Dream!