A Franconia nonprofit needing more space and an unused church building seems like a match made in heaven, but plans to expand Koinonia Foundation have been stuck in development hell.
Koinonia Foundation has long since outgrown its current space at 6037 Franconia Road, where it operates a food pantry, a clothing closet, and emergency financial aid with counseling — all in an 1,100-square-foot space.
“We outgrew that space a long time ago,” said Judy Davis, executive director of the Koinonia Foundation. “Now the demand is double, even triple, what it was pre-pandemic.”
Davis said the demand for services has stayed elevated since the pandemic, and inflation driving up the price of goods has only increased the need for financial assistance.
At the same time, the price of a new location remained out of reach for the Koinonia Foundation.
“We thought with all the empty businesses, it would be more affordable, but no,” Davis said.
A year ago, however, a nearby Episcopal church merged with another congregation, and space just down the road at 6107 Franconia Road became available. Last November, Koinonia signed a lease with the Saint Martin de Porres Episcopal Church and started to move in, Davis said.
“It was perfect for us,” she said. “We started to do stuff, but then we found out about the permits.”
As the foundation started to work on the building, however, they discovered that they were in a bit of a bureaucratic quagmire. A few initial zoning permits led them down a rabbit hole, learning about past proffers from the church and zoning restrictions that limited the building to use only for a church or a related facility.
Now, Davis said the Koinonia Foundation has been working through an extensive zoning checklist in hopes that the nonprofit can move into the location sometime in the next few months.
“Zoning is a slow process,” Davis said.
Submitted to Fairfax County in late April, the rezoning application requests that the proffers be amended to also allow a “club, service organization, or community center” at the former Olivet Episcopal Church site. It will need to be approved by both the county planning commission and Board of Supervisors.
Davis said the organization is seeking not only approval to operate in the new location, but also permits for three partitions and updates to the building’s electrical wiring.
Once all of that’s done, Davis said the Koinonia Foundation hopes to have a larger space to serve those in need around Fairfax.
“We all need a helping hand,” Davis said. “You don’t know when it will be you who needs help.”
Photo via The Koinonia Foundation/Facebook
