Mondloch House

Mondloch House Fills Important Need in Our Community

Even With Your Busy Schedule - You Can Help!

KUDOS AND THANK YOU to all of the members of our Aldersgate family who served as Mondloch House volunteers this last year.

Mondloch House is operated by New Hope Housing, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing housing and a gateway to a better life for homeless families and individuals.  Mondloch House is a 45-bed shelter for homeless families.  On average, half of Mondloch House’s residents are homeless children. 

Families are referred to the shelter by Fairfax County’s Department of Family Services, and usually spend about eight to nine months at Mondloch House.  While there, New Hope Housing offers them not only food and shelter, but also helps to develop the life skills needed for successful independent living by offering counseling, teaching employment skills, providing an employment resource center, offering health services and transportation assistance, and providing educational enrichment and recreational activities for the children and their parents. 

For more than a decade now, Aldersgate volunteers have supported the important work of Mondloch House by providing fresh fruits and vegetables on a weekly basis to help feed the families residing at Mondloch House.  The time and financial commitment for volunteers is minimal, but the reward is great. 

Volunteers pick a week of their own choosing to shop for and deliver fresh fruits and vegetables to Mondloch House.  Volunteers are contacted early in the week with a list of the produce that is needed.  Volunteers can then purchase the requested items at a store of their own choosing (and sometimes right from their own gardens!), and deliver them to Mondloch House during business hours on the Friday or Saturday of the selected week.  

Volunteers are not expected to spend more than $30 on the fruits and vegetables (although you can certainly donate more than that amount if you wish).  Mondloch House is conveniently located just off of Route One, at 3516 Lockheed Boulevard.  All volunteers have to do is carry the produce into the reception area, and the wonderful and professional Mondloch House staff receives it and turns it into fabulous meals for the adults and children living there.  

This is a great volunteer opportunity for those who are only able to undertake volunteer opportunities that entail minimal time commitments.  It also lends itself to the involvement of children, who can help select the fruit and vegetables and who are welcome to come with you for the deliveries.  Children often get excited about and learn a lot from helping other children in such a direct and visible way.

If you would like to volunteer for one week (or more) in the coming year, the sign-up book is located on the podium by the water fountain near the front entrance.  If you have any questions, please contact me, Patricia Millett, at (703) 799-5814 or at Patricia.A.Millett@usdoj.gov  

For more information about Mondloch House, please visit the New Hope Housing website at http://www.newhopehousing.org.