A Reston-based nonprofit organization is helping local refugees establish a new life in the U.S. by providing cars to them for free.

Last week, Rides for Refugees donated two cars to refugees living in Northern Virginia. Both of them are Afghan refugees who received special immigration visas.

One individual, Mohamed, received a visa after supporting the U.S. in Afghanistan through military service and humanitarian work. With a law degree in hand, Mohamed is actively looking for a new job after he and his family lost their home when they fled Afghanistan, where the Taliban re-assumed control in 2021.

“Rides for Refugees has given me hope,” he said. “Not only for myself, but for all my family. Having this car, I can get more professional jobs.”

The second recipient, Zed, is a college graduate who worked with U.S. military and defense contracting staff in Kabul. He arrived in the U.S. last summer after facing “enormous difficulty during a long journey” and is now working and taking classes, though the car will enable him to look for jobs farther from his new home, according to Rides for Refugees.

“This is a big moment for me,” Zed said.

The organization is the brainchild of Jacqui Olkin, a lifelong Restonian and graduate of Fairfax County Public Schools. She also owns a web design consulting firm, Olkin Communications Consulting.

Olkin founded Rides for Refugees, which serves individuals across the country, in 2022. The nonprofit began providing cars to refugees this month after receiving tax-exempt status from the government.

She was inspired to found the organization after her friends, Slava and Nina, faced major transportation hurdles as refugees from Ukraine.

“They went through a horrible ordeal and lost their home, cars, jobs, and belongings,” Olkin told FFXnow. “The bank accounts were frozen because their city is a conflict zone. They were resettled in a small village in a European country, far from jobs and services, and their life has been extremely difficult.”

According to Olkin, Slava says she and Nina miss their cars the most out of all the material possessions they lost.

“Vehicles mean opportunity — to work for yourself, to look for jobs, to get to work and be financially independent,” Olkin said. “My friends’ ordeal got me thinking about what the refugee experience is like in the United States, and the role transportation plays in refugees’ ability to restart their lives and become self-reliant.”

In her research, Olkin said she found that 45% of Americans don’t have access to public transit, and few organization meet the transportation needs specifically of refugees.

“Rides for Refugees is national is scope,” she said. “In our application process, refugees must prove their identity, income level, and legal status and have a resettlement agency or other not-for-profit cosign the application. Refugee applicants are referred to us by many of the U.S. government-funded national resettlement agencies, as well as local nonprofits who help refugees.”

With cooler temperatures returning after an unseasonably warm Friday (Jan. 26), a nonprofit headquartered in Reston is putting out a call for winter clothes to distribute to homeless adults throughout Northern Virginia.

An operator of wellness centers that assist people experiencing challenges with mental illness, substance use and homelessness, the Recovery Program Solutions of Virginia (RPSV) launched a winter gear clothing drive earlier this month that will continue until the end of the season.

The organization is seeking new or gently used coats, gloves, wool or thermal socks, scarves, hats, hand warmers and mylar blankets — all items that it says are “urgently” needed by its clients. The drive will also accept first aid and personal hygiene items, tarps, waterproof tents, sleeping bags, and waterproof rolling backpacks, according to a press release.

Donations can be dropped off at RPSV’s five recovery centers:

• Arlington Peers Helping Peers in Recovery (3219 Columbia Pike, Suite 101)
• The Consumer Wellness Center in Annandale (7611 Little River Turnpike, Suite E100)
• Merrifield Peer Resource Center (8221 Willow Oaks Corporate Drive, Suite 1-105)
• Reston Wellness Center (1850 Cameron Glen Drive, Suite 200)
• The South County Recovery and Drop-In Center in Mount Vernon (8794-S Sacramento Drive)

Founded in 2011, RPSV serves Fairfax County, Falls Church, Alexandria and Arlington. Staffed by people who are in recovery, the nonprofit offers peer-run support groups, access to treatment, employment assistance, referrals to housing and financial assistance, and other services.

Two golden retrievers will be the stars of a new, Herndon-based nonprofit that aspires to brighten the world with some literal puppy love.

Established at the start of the new year, Canine Concierge Corporation will offer animal-assisted therapy (AAT) services for free to hospitals, nursing homes, senior centers, police departments and other organizations in need throughout Fairfax County.

The idea for the organization came to founder Michael Stokes, a retired information technology contractor, when he encountered a service dog himself while hospitalized in fall 2022.

“It had AAT training, and…it just elevated me,” Stokes recalled in a recent interview. “I mean, my spirit was just incredible, and then, you know, out of the blue, I got flashes [of] just ‘This is what you’re going to do and this is how you are going to do it,’ and then the resources just started to appear.”

The meeting with the service dog came at a fortuitous time for Stokes, who says he had been in the hospital for three months by then and was mourning the unexpected death of Leo, his dog of 14 years. Stokes had rescued Leo while working in Kuwait as a contractor for the U.S. Army.

Hoping to share the feeling of uplift that he got from the service dog’s visit with other people, Stokes began researching how to set up an animal-assisted therapy practice as soon as he got released from the hospital.

The process hasn’t been easy. For instance, after initially planning to work out of a hotel suite as a home-based business, Stokes was told two-and-a-half months later that the hotel’s legal department wouldn’t allow the arrangement.

Instead, Canine Concierge will operate out of a leased Regus space in the McNair area near the Dulles International Airport. The nonprofit recently got a certificate of good standing from the Virginia State Corporation Commission, and now all that’s left is for the IRS to approve its tax-exempt status, a request that has been pending since March, Stokes says.

“That is crucial to the business operation because we need that to apply for grants and also to allow people to get a tax-deductible receipt when they make a donation,” Stokes said. “So, those kind of things, that license is very important, but…it’s out of our control.”

When it officially launches, Canine Concierge will have two AAT-trained golden retrievers from the American Kennel Club named Stella and DaVinci, according to its website. Research has suggested being around pets, particularly dogs, can decrease stress and generally improve people’s mood.

Stokes notes that Leo had always seemed to sense his emotional state, sleeping at the foot of his bed when he felt “normal” and sleeping next to him on a pillow when he felt sick or melancholy.

“They have some innate ability to feel people, and they’re just going to capitalize on that in training,” he said.

Eventually, Canine Concierge intends to convert a hotel suite into a “state-of-the-art facility” for the two dogs, but to reach that point and ensure that services can be provided free of charge, the nonprofit will rely on grants, sponsors and community donations.

The fundraising goal for the first year is $208,000 to cover the training, supplies, marketing and other operating costs. Once its tax-exempt status is approved, donations will be accepted online through Paypal.

Stokes says he can’t wait to take one of the dogs to a hospital for the first time.

“I’m just looking forward to being officially launched, because now, we’re here,” he said. “We’re ready to go.”

Cornerstones, the Reston-based nonprofit that runs the Embry Rucker Community Shelter, among other services, has received an early Christmas present in the form of a big check.

Earlier this month, The Rosendin Foundation — a charitable corporation that aims to support local communities through financial grants and volunteer work — awarded $20,000 to the organization.

Other organizations that received funds include:

• Women Giving Back ($25,000), a Sterling-based organization that serves women and children in crisis
• Mobile Hope ($10,000), a Leesburg group that provides support and emergency shelter to young people
• Our Minds Matter ($5,000), a youth suicide prevention organization centered in the D.C. area
• The Chris Atwood Foundation ($5,000), which is based in Fairfax and provides resources and advocacy for people affected by substance use

“The Rosendin Foundation continues to stand by its commitment to support community initiatives and organizations that resonate with our mission to positively impact communities, build and empower people, and inspire innovation,” The Rosendin Foundation President Jolsna Thomas said in a press release.

The organization is the charitable arm of Rosendin Holdings, which is based in San Jose, California, and one of the largest electrical contractors in the country.

A new distribution center at the Cathy Hudgins Community Center at Southgate (12125 Pinecrest Road) in Reston will bring the Christmas spirit alive this holiday season.

Better a Life, a nonprofit organization that aims to support children and families in need, will host a Christmas meals and toy distribution event at 2 p.m. tomorrow (Saturday).

The nonprofit organization has been providing food to families in need every Wednesday at noon. It has also offered support to two Reston elementary school by providing meals over the weekend and essential items, such as blankets.

“We invite you to join us this Saturday to witness firsthand the tremendous need that exists in the Reston community and the efforts we are making to address local child hunger,” BetterALife CEO and founder Elizabeth Ford said. “Together, we can make a difference and bring hope to those who need it the most.”

A longtime Reston resident, Ford founded Better a Life in response to her experiences with poverty and food insecurity as a child, according to the organization’s website.

She and her mother moved several times due to evictions. After dropping out of high school and obtaining her GED, she worked table-waiting jobs to sustain herself financially. Eventually, she went to college online and earned a degree in information technology, making a commitment to help children in need.

Tomorrow’s distribution event will involve handing out meals, winter coats and toys. Local volunteers are encouraged to attend.

Cornerstones, a Reston-based nonprofit organization, has expanded into Sterling.

The nonprofit organization — which has offered food and other supports for individuals and families in need since it was founded in 1970 — opened the Free from Hunger Center last week.

The 10,000-square-foot center is a food distribution hub intended to keep food pantries throughout the Dulles corridor area stocked up and ready for demand.

Cornerstones CEO Kerri Wilson said the hub addresses an organizational issue, not a supply problem. Many organizations that offer hunger relief suffer from an unconventional challenge: inadequate storage space.

“This is not about interrupting existing supply rescue chains; it’s about figuring out how to be smarter,” Wilson said.

The center will also house soon-to-expire food from grocery stores and offer storage for local food pantries, while providing services for the community.

Larry Schwartz, who chairs Cornerstones’ food hub task force, said the hub will have space for offices, training, and events. Thousands of tons of food that may otherwise have gone to waste will be collected, sorted and repackaged.

“This opportunity to scale our food programs in ways we couldn’t before, this opportunity to reduce food waste, food insecurity and carbon emissions all at the same time — opportunities like this, to effect systemic change, don’t arise often and they don’t occur without hard work, without your generosity,” Schwartz said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Nov. 27.

The center was made possible by the support of several community partners including Bob and Lisa Van Hoecke, HomeAid Northern Virginia, Floris United Methodist Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Creative Strategies, and Gary and Kate Buschelman.

Bob Van Hoecke, a principal and CEO of a Reston-based oil industry consulting firm, compared the hub to an Amazon warehouse.

“What we are talking about here, in my mind, is transformative,” he said. “We have the ability to evolve how we’re going to deal with this problem. Every day, tons of food is destroyed, but yet people are going home and going to sleep at night hungry.”

Some local families got an early holiday present this past weekend, courtesy of the Mouse House.

Disney offered an advance screening of its latest animated film — appropriately titled “Wish” — at Tysons Corner Center on Saturday (Nov. 18) to beneficiaries of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the nonprofit that grants requests from kids with critical illnesses.

The 11 a.m. screening at the AMC Theatres in Tysons drew more than 150 attendees, according to a Disney spokesperson.

“At Disney, we’ve always believed in the magic of making wishes come true,” Lisa Haines, senior vice president of corporate social responsibility at The Walt Disney Company, said in a statement to FFXnow. “Our relationship with Make-A-Wish has spanned over four decades, and it’s a testament to our commitment to delivering joy to children and their families.”

Launched in 1980, Make-A-Wish began in Phoenix, Arizona, after the community united to support a 7-year-old boy with leukemia who wanted to become a police officer. The nonprofit has now granted more than 520,000 wishes worldwide, according to its website.

The Mid-Atlantic chapter, which encompasses the D.C. area, was founded in 1983 and has granted more than 11,000 wishes to kids diagnosed with cancer, heart disease and other serious illnesses.

According to Make-A-Wish, it has been partnered with Disney since its inception, and one out of every two requests from kids in the U.S. are fulfilled by the company that has become synonymous with childhood entertainment.

Disney conceived of “Wish” as an homage to classics like “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” and “The Little Mermaid” to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Walt Disney Animation Studios, though early critical reviews suggest it struggles to capture that past magic.

Directed by “Frozen” alums Chris Buck and Fawn Veerasunthorn from a script by Jennifer Lee and Allison Moore, “Wish” follows a girl voiced by Oscar winner Ariana DeBose who must save the fictional kingdom of Rosas from its villainous king. She gets help from “a little ball of boundless energy called Star” that she brought into existence with the titular wish.

The movie officially opens tomorrow (Wednesday), but screenings will get underway at the AMC in Tysons and other local theaters this afternoon in anticipation of Thanksgiving weekend, which is typically a busy period for moviegoing — at least in pre-pandemic times.

A nonprofit dedicated to providing resources for Northern Virginia’s LGBTQ community has officially chosen Oakton for its headquarters.

After operating as a pop-up for 18 months, NoVA Prism Center opened its first physical offices at 10467 White Granite Drive, Suite 322, on Nov. 1. Open by appointment from noon to 7 p.m. daily, the headquarters hosts a publicly accessible library, a clothing closet and events, along with the organization’s administrative base.

“With the public opening of NoVA Prism Center, we will give our community a place to come together, learn, and thrive with access to stories about queer lives, bodies, and history,” Executive Director Leon van der Goetz said in a statement. “While we will not stop our Library Pop-up programming, our goal is to provide access to our community year-round, because the need for connection and representation doesn’t stop at the end of June.

Founded in May 2022, NoVA Prism was created by local transgender educators and activists after book challenges in 2021 led Fairfax County Public Schools to temporarily remove Maia Kobabe’s “Gender Queer: A Memoir” and Jonathan Evison’s coming-of-age novel “Lawn Boy” from library shelves.

With schools and libraries across the U.S. continuing to face pressure to ban books, particularly ones that deal with race, sexuality and gender identity, NoVA Prism wants to ensure the local LGBTQ community has access to books and other resources going forward, its website says.

Prior to opening its headquarters, the nonprofit appeared at local Pride festivals and other events, including ones hosted by Fairfax County Public Library. It has also brought a pop-up library to businesses and community groups, such as Reston Museum.

The organization announced the location for its new headquarters at an inaugural “Coming Out Gay-la” fundraiser in Reston on Oct. 20.

Van der Goetz says NoVA Prism Center chose 10467 White Granite Drive as its headquarters because the building already houses several other nonprofits, including ServiceSource and the Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons, “whose communities frequently overlap with our own.”

“The opportunities for collaboration and connection, intentional architecture supporting the Disability community, and access to a shared community classroom and conference rooms to support our programs made the space ideal for meeting our needs,” he told FFXnow.

The nonprofit is continuing to fundraise to bring more events and resources to its new center. In addition to accepting donations through its website, it publishes a zine called The Lantern that focuses on the experiences of LGBTQ teens and adults in the D.C. area.

A nonprofit that has been serving free meals made at Lewinsville Senior Center throughout the COVID-19 pandemic hopes to establish a permanent presence at the McLean facility.

Fairfax County Neighborhood and Community Services (NCS), which operates the senior center at 1613 Great Falls Street, applied in late 2022 for a special exception amendment that would let SevaTruck Foundation keep using the center’s kitchen to cook, store and package food.

NCS is now seeking public input on its partnership with SevaTruck. It will host four information sessions on the application, starting with a virtual meeting on Thursday, Nov. 16 at 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

“SevaTruck serves a crucial role in addressing hunger and food insecurity and has a deep understanding of the communities it serves,” NCS said in a press release announcing the meetings.

SevaTruck provides “free, fresh, nutritious warm meals to children attending Title 1 Schools and…living in historically low-income, marginalized communities across Fairfax County and the Washington DC, metropolitan area,” according to a statement of justification for the application.

Areas served so far include McLean, Tysons, Reston, Herndon, Fairfax, Annandale, Falls Church and Alexandria. The nonprofit also has chapters in Richmond, Michigan and the San Francisco Bay Area.

The D.C. area chapter began operating out of Lewinsville Senior Center early in the pandemic after the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors declared a local emergency, which suspended zoning requirements that would “preclude a temporary modification to an activity, use, or structure where the Zoning Administrator determines the modification is needed to respond to the COVID-19 emergency and its impacts.”

However, the county’s official state of emergency for Covid ended on March 1, giving SevaTruck and other organizations or businesses operating under an emergency waiver 12 months to obtain the approvals and permits necessary to continue.

In the application, NCS regional manager Karen De Mijango says two SevaTruck employees work out of the senior center Monday through Friday, preparing 1,800 meals a week that are delivered to around 1,400 Fairfax County residents both on-site and off by an 18-foot-long food truck.

“Meals are either picked-up from the senior center by partners, delivered in either a personal car, or in the food-truck,” De Mijango wrote in the statement to the county’s zoning division. “Partners picking up from the center does not cause disruptions to the senior programs. SevaTruck uses the backdoor of the kitchen to load/unload with a cart-roller.”

She noted that SevaTruck is seeking to expand by boosting its base of volunteers to assist with off-site food distributions, but no increase in staff is planned.

The application is currently scheduled to go to the Fairfax County Planning Commission for a public hearing on Jan. 24, 2024. Two more virtual information sessions will be held on Dec. 12 and Jan. 11, and an in-person meeting is planned at the senior center on Jan. 9.

A hearing before the Board of Supervisors, which is responsible for approving the application, hasn’t been scheduled yet.

The Junior League of Northern Virginia has committed to providing at least 8,000 period products to clients of the Lorton Community Action Center over the next year.

The mission of the Lorton center is to enhance the quality of life for clients by providing food, basic needs, and self-sufficiency programs.

“The Lorton Community Action Center has had a longstanding relationship with the Junior League of Northern Virginia,” said Rob Rutland-Brown, executive director of the center. “We are thrilled that JLNV is stepping into an even more generous role – these donations will ensure that women have access to necessary period products whenever they need them,”

The deepened partnership is part of the Junior League’s new focus: Women Helping Women, a commitment to providing essential services and professional development training opportunities for women and families in the community, according to a news release.

Michelle Freeman, president of the Junior League, noted that statistics show that 20% of women in the Washington area live in poverty.

“Lack of access to period products is often a hidden consequence,” she added. “Our partnership will provide much-needed period products in our local area and really embraces our new focus area.”

Photo via Google Maps. This article was written by FFXnow’s news partner InsideNoVa.com and republished with permission. Sign up for InsideNoVa.com’s free email subscription today.