Patch Picks: Non-Profits Making a Difference

Welcome to Patch Picks, which highlights editor and reader picks of great local businesses, destinations, services, organizations, ways to spend a day off, and more. 

You’ll find useful lists to help you, your family, friends, and significant others find the best places for everything from Sunday brunch to New Year’s Eve celebrations, pumpkin patches, date night destinations, florists, girlfriend nights out, kids party places, parks and more. Our latest Patch Picks installment is Non-Profits Making a Difference.

The five below have won the Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce Best Non-Profit of the Year award.

Chesterbrook Residences

Chesterbrook Residences is located at 2030 Westmoreland Street, Falls Church, VA and is home to 98 residents. Unique in the Assisted Living industry as the only non-profit, mixed income assisted living facility in the greater Washington, D.C. area.

Of the 97 units, 49 are reserved for low-income seniors whose income qualifies them for The Housing Choice Voucher Program, with five units set aside for lower income seniors.  Of the remaining units, six are below market rate and the remainders are at market rate.

All units have a separate bedroom.  Residents from all walks of life enjoy a safe wholesome living environment, and a wide range of recreational activities, entertainment, arts and crafts.  They also have access to physical therapy, fitness programs and 24 hour nursing care.

Medical Care for Children Partnership

 The MCCP Foundation funds health care for the children of uninsured working families in Fairfax County.  There are over 10,000 children in our community who don’t have access to doctors and dentists when they need them.  This is a critical problem as good health is essential to school success and the foundation for a successful life.

These children are the victims of a “perfect storm”: families who work hard and have trouble earning enough to make ends meet; the difficulty of finding and affording health insurance; and a weak economy forcing cuts in public services is an important part of the solution.

McLean Community Foundation

In the years since MCF was created, it has funded projects of non- profit organizations in our community that benefit large numbers of McLean residents.

Historically, MCF challenge grants have done so much to enhance hour community and all it offers. MCF helped launch efforts to add a balcony to the Community Center's theatre and build a community hall so that the old one could house the McLean Project for the Arts. The historic church at Pleasant Grove and the farmhouse and environmental living center at the Claude Moore Colonial Farm were rebuilt with the help of MCF grants. McLean music groups, local PTAs, Little League and the Teen Center have also been grantees. Small buses or vans have been purchased for the Community Center, a nursing home, a day care center for underprivileged children and SHARE of McLean, Inc. MCF has helped the McLean Volunteer Fire Department buy new equipment and helped to build a bandstand and tot lot in McLean Central Park.

McLean Winterfest Parade

Winterfest is our only community-wide parade. McLean looks like a small town. Feels like a small town. But we don’t do the parades you find in small towns. No St. Patrick’s Day parade. Nothing for Memorial Day, July 4th or Veterans Day.

McLean once held parades. (There are pictures.) As we became upscale and sophisticated, we lost that symbol of small-down America.

Three years ago, the Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce decided to change that. At the urging of now retired fire chief Clyde Clark, Winterfest was born, said Trish Butler, president of  Sage Communications & Public Affairs, LLC. She headed the 2010  Winterfest Committee.

The two major attractions of Winterfest. The Saturday ReinDog Parade. Yes, dogs dressed as reindeer. The Sunday downtown parade.

Share

Share is an all-volunteer organization serving the needs of the less fortunate in northern Virginia which was formed by a coalition of local faith communities forty years ago.

In space generously provided by McLean Baptist Church, Share of McLean distributes food, clothing, and household items, providing staples to needy individuals and families in our area.

Share conducts food drives throughout the year. Sponsored by  local public and private schools, religious communities, service organizations and individuals, these food drives  provide much-needed staples for our food room at the McLean Baptist Church. Last year we responded to about 1000 calls to assist people distressed over the cost of rent, utilities, medical services, prescriptions, etc. Share of McLean operates a transportation network of volunteers who provide rides to hospitals, clinics, doctors’ offices free of cost.