Program areas at NVFS
Health:community health equity - nvfs' community health equity programs provide access to health services and health coverage options for individuals and families who have no or insufficient health insurance, particularly supporting access to preventive and ongoing services/benefits. In fy23, 423 children accessed reduced-fee medical care and 215 children and adults received reduced-fee dental care. Access to free and reduced cost medications (valued at over $8 million) was provided to 658 individuals who could otherwise not afford their prescriptions.healthy families - nvfs launched the first Northern Virginia healthy families program in alexandria more than 25 years ago and now operates programs in the city of alexandria, arlington county, fairfax county, and greater prince william (prince william county and the cities of manassas and manassas park). Healthy families provides free, voluntary home-visiting services to expectant and new parents to achieve four primary goals: promote positive, nurturing, responsive parenting; improve child health and development; promote school readiness; and prevent child abuse and neglect. Services provided during home visits include parenting psychoeducation, pregnancy and maternal health education, nutrition education, developmental screenings, parent-child relationship-building, school readiness activities, and referrals to community resources to address other needs. In fy23, 92% of the children served met age-appropriate developmental milestones and were current on their immunizations.
Anti-hunger:nvfs' hunger resource center (hrc) engaged a comprehensive network of resources to provide several million meals in fy23 to help individuals and families address immediate and long-term needs related to food insecurity, basic needs essentials, and health education. The hrc prioritizes effective strategies that address the complex issues that perpetuate food insecurity. Nutrition education is provided through partnerships with local health clinics/providers. Additionally, over 100,000 meals at nvfs' serve Family shelter are supplied annually by the hrc, which provides three (3) daily meals to nvfs' homeless shelter guests. The hrc is located on the nvfs serve campus in manassas and is the largest food distribution center in the greater prince william area.
Special initiatives: nvfs has launched several special initiatives, including community inreach and mental health capacity building, some of which are an evolution of our covid-19 crisis response. Community inreach is a neighborhood-focused initiative that builds trusted relationships with residents and helps them identify and navigate many safety net services. Community inreach is focused on communities in loudoun, prince william, and fairfax counties. Aligned with our strategic goal to further develop our trauma informed competency, mental health capacity building has included training on core competencies and mental health first aid across Service delivery areas. In addition, nvfs operated eight affordable rental units in prince william county in fy23. These homes are designated for families living at 50% or 80% of the median Family income with the goal of providing an affordable housing option to families with low-income.
Work, life, and innovation:training futures - training futures teaches marketable job skills using a "transformational learning" methodology that addresses the emotional state of trainees as they enter the program and systematically builds up their sense of identity and what is possible in their lives. Training futures delivers in-demand job skills training through an intensive, cohort model in which trainees experience a workplace culture; develop foundational digital skills and digital literacy; participate in an internship/capstone project; engage in individualized coaching; and receive customized job search, retention, and employment services support. In fy23, 68 trainees participated in three (3) training cohorts; 78% graduated from the program and 45% secured training related employment. Escala - escala serves as a capacity building technical assistance partner to entrepreneurs who have traditionally been underserved. Escala provides technical assistance through individualized consulting and training workshops in both english and spanish to help entrepreneurs develop the knowledge, skills, and social and economic capital integral to achieve their intended outcome of launching a sustainable small business.vehicles for change - eleven (11) cars were distributed to families with low-income in fy23, ensuring they had reliable transportation to travel to their jobs, attend school, make doctors' appointments, and transport their children to childcare.career navigation - career navigation is an individualized, person-to-person approach that supports clients to increase their economic stability. Career navigators work with clients to identify goals and create an action plan to achieve career success. Career navigators support clients through career exploration and planning; interest assessments; goal-setting; identifying and pursuing credentials and certifications, when necessary; starting small businesses; identifying challenges and existing community resources to overcome those challenges; preparing tools and assisting in the job application process by helping to tailor resumes, practice interview skills, update linkedin profiles, etc. ; and much more. Career navigators meet clients in locations convenient to them sometimes meeting during evening and weekend hours.
Ventures:teamup - employers partner with nvfs navigators to teamup and offer on-site workforce development services during work hours for employees who earn less than a living wage. Navigators work with each employee to identify challenges and create a customized plan that includes setting goals (such as earning a degree, developing new skills, saving money, etc.) And linking employees to resources including housing, childcare, transportation, financial planning, and healthcare.thrift shop - nvfs operates a thrift shop in falls church, which provides opportunities for individual, corporate, and community volunteerism while generating financial support for nvfs programs through the sale of donated goods.
Child placement:nvfs' therapeutic foster care program recruits, trains, and supports resource families to provide therapeutic care for foster care children and youth (ages birth through 18) who have significant behavioral, emotional, developmental, cognitive, and medical needs. Resource families participate in an intensive, evidence-based pre-service training and nvfs' therapeutic foster care program staff provide resource families with ongoing in-service training opportunities and the practical and emotional supports/resources they need to meet the significant parenting challenges they face day in and day out. In fy23, foster care was provided to 13 children. Of these children, five (5) were reunified with their families, one (1) is pending adoption and an additional seven (7) are currently in process.