NOVA’S SOCIAL JUSTICE REGULAR COMMITMENT PROJECTS
OTHER COMMUNITY COMMITMENTS INVOLVING MONEY
COMMUNITY MEMBER COMMITMENTS OF TIME AND RESOURCES
2026
On Feb. 1, NOVA held its annual Social Justice Meeting to decide on the projects for our regular commitments for the year.
We acknowledge with gratitude our community’s ability to make generous financial commitments to organizations – and to NOVA’s own projects – on a yearly basis. We also acknowledge individual members’ separate donations throughout the year to further support NOVA’s own projects, such as the rental assistance program and the Dreamer’s stipend scholarship program, outside these regular commitments. And we acknowledge members’ generous responses to special collections as needs and crises arise.
We approach our decisions in a spirit of generosity and compassion, and with a sense of gratitude for the marvelous gifts we have been given to share. We have been admonished to give from our substance not merely our surplus, but we are confident that we are so overflowing with blessings that our generous response will not cut deeply into our own well-being.
The projects, as approved by acclamation, are listed below. The money will be distributed to most of these projects in two payments – in February and July. Each project has a NOVA member who brought the need to the community and "watches over it" and brings us news.
ACTION AFRICA Jeanne Clarkson
Action Africa began in 2000 with the goal of responding to the challenges facing children and families in rural villages of Nigeria and Sierra Leone. It focuses on health, education, growing the economy and human rights. In Nigeria, students at nine schools were taught computer literacy. Another 1,500 practiced spoken English. In a medical mission to Sierra Leone, Action Africa has assembled local staff to participate in pre-surgical tests of patients and getting them registered for surgery. In addition, Action Africa has established outreach programs in the DMV that respond to the needs of newly arriving lawful African immigrants and refugees. These programs include help in obtaining housing, and accessing educational opportunities, employment services and health care. In 2025, Jeanne and Tom Clarkson facilitated securing a truck to enable volunteers to collect food donations and more efficiently deliver them to various locations in the DMV where recipients could pick them up. The number of beneficiaries has increased 20-fold. It is especially important that NOVA’s support continues because so many sources of funding have been obliterated by the current administration.
AFAC Dianne Carroll
The number of families who rely on Arlington Food Assistance Center groceries for their regular meals has increased to 4,200 families per week, and the budget has increased by $2 million to $11.7 million. AFAC receives no federal or state funding. Arlington County provides 9% of what it takes to operate AFAC. The remaining 91% comes from private donations. Volunteer hours are equivalent to 25 full-time employees. There are MANY opportunities for volunteering. NOVA donates cereal and non-perishables each week – 3,000 pounds in 2025 – and Eric Carroll delivers the donations to AFAC. The Carrolls also are Empty Bowls sponsors each year.
BREAD FOR THE WORLD Peggy Meyer
Bread for the World is a nationwide Christian citizens movement seeking justice for the world’s hungry people by lobbying our nation’s decision-makers. BFW Institute seeks justice for hungry people by engaging in research and education on policies related to hunger and development. Peggy does not actively participate in Bread for the World. Her motivation to support this organization is that Jesus told us to feed the hungry, and more and more people are suffering from hunger.
BRIDGES TO INDEPENDENCE Kopp Michelotti
Bridges to Independence operates the Sullivan House homeless shelter and provides training, counseling and referral services to shelter families and other families in danger of homelessness and to economically stressed residents of Arlington. Five years ago, Bridges merged with the Bonder and Amanda Johnson Community Development Corp., a small nonprofit that serves the Nauck community of Arlington. Bridges has successfully integrated the two operations and has developed and expanded a community services center in Nauck. Aside from Sullivan House, Bridges has moved all of its operations to this community services center. The center has spaces for computer and Internet access for clients and for job counseling and for private counseling. Bridges has doubled the size of its youth development program. Because of an increasing number of clients, Bridges received substantially higher funding from Arlington County last year; Bridges also negotiated agreements with apartment complexes to rent several one- and two-bedroom apartments for overflow when the shelter is full. Bridges continues to explore ways to use the proceeds from the sale of its building on North Highland Street to benefit the communities it serves, such as a daycare or child development center. NOVA was one of the original founding congregations of Bridges (then Arlington-Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless). Kopp talks with the staff at Bridges occasionally during the year and passes on to NOVA opportunities to donate and to volunteer.
CHILDREN IN THE WILDERNESS: ZIMBABWE CHILDREN’S SCHOLARSHIP & FOOD PROJECT Don and Pat Sodo
Don and Pat are committed to this project and its growth and success in partnership with Children in the Wilderness in Victoria Falls, with whom they are continually in touch: “We discuss the addition of students to the project and get reports about academic progress and other pertinent issues. CITW will approach us about adding specific children, we've responded YES every time they ask. We also receive financial reports noting receipts and disbursements from the account that's been created to handle all donations we generate.” In 2026, the nutrition program will include supporting schools with food donations and also encourage all partner schools to establish and maintain functional gardens where they can grow a variety of vegetables to support the nutrition program. Any surplus produce can be sold within the local communities, generating much-needed income for the schools to cover essential operational needs. For 2026, a Minnesota-based nonprofit, So Others May Learn, is providing a 3:1 match of all donations we generate starting immediately. As a result of NOVA's generosity, the $4,000 requested would be matched with an additional $12,000 by SOML.
CHRIST HOUSE EVENING MEAL Tim White
Since the pandemic, in lieu of preparing hot meals every other month, NOVA has been furnishing bagged meals (as of 2026 Christ House has not returned to sit-down meals). Tim recommends NOVA continue serving bagged meals every other month.
CO-PARTNERS OF CAMPESINAS Archer Heinzen
Co-partners of Campesinas, a 501(c)(3) organization that works with women and youth in rural communities in El Salvador and Guatemala, did not submit a request for funding in 2026 while it is in the process of restructuring.
DREAM PROJECT Emma Violand-Sanchez
The Dream Project plans to award 100 four-year scholarships as well as Career and Technical Scholarships for $4,500 a year. NOVA’s assistance is crucial to fund scholarships for students who may lose access to in-state tuition as well as legal assistance under federal and state efforts to end that assistance for undocumented immigrants or non-citizens. The ACLU and Legal Aid Justice Center have joined the Dream Project in opposing these efforts in court. Emma is chair emeritus of the Dream Project and participates in events and advisory board meetings, and she mentors Dream Project scholars and parents. Meg Tucillo serves on both the Dream Project Board and its executive committee.
EDUCATE THE GIRLS Nancy Veldhuis NOVA’s financial contribution to ETG, a 501(c)(3), enables girls in the rural village of Kanoni, Uganda, to obtain primary and secondary education by providing for their school fees and school supplies, and by helping them to overcome obstacles, i.e. the need for shoes, feminine hygiene products, etc. that otherwise would keep them from attending school. The challenges to meet the needs to keep the girls in schools has not let up with tuition prices continuing to rise. The girls are eager to continue their education in the 2026 school term, all in secondary schools. When NOVA started its support of ETG, $750 was sufficient for three trimesters of tuition and fees at the secondary level. Today the costs range from a low of $2,163 to a high of $3,392, depending on the year of schooling and the rigor of the educational level of the school that an individual girl has chosen to pursue. As ETG president, Nancy is active all year long, arranging for the international transfers of funds that result from the Ugandan handicraft sales that she conducts each year and donations from multiple sources.
ELDERS CLIMATE ACTION Gloria Mog
This innovative and energetic organization responds to the increased consciousness about how much of a social justice issue the climate emergency is, and NOVA is very involved with ECA. Gloria Mog and Markie Harwood are co-coordinators of the Virginia Chapter. Joe Keyes is a strong supporter and training to teach the chapter’s Climate Change course. Carolyn Miller and Joe were named “chapter changemakers” in 2025. Several other NOVA members attend the monthly chapter meetings. National ECA has linked up strongly with the Environmental Voter Project, which has an enormous database on registered voters who support climate work but do not necessarily vote regularly. The Virginia Chapter participates in EVP’s year-round effort to get out the vote. ECA has a new initiative focused on climate change factors that harm individual and community health and well-being. ECA has received grants which, along with private donors like NOVA, have supported the organization in hiring a second full-time staff member. And ECA is hosting climate interns who are helping to create more robust programming and more chapter involvement.
EMMAH’S GARDEN Clyde Christofferson
Emmah’s Garden is a project to help a small farming village in Western Kenya work toward self-sufficiency. Most of the 2,400 villagers are farmers. The first task was pumping water from the river to provide a more reliable source of water for crops. This has been expanded with filtration systems and storage tanks to provide safe drinking water to neighborhood schools. NOVA’s base contribution of $1,800 has been instrumental in supporting this effort. Emmah earned a degree in agribusiness and has organized mostly women in the village to cultivate their “kitchen gardens.” There are currently seven kitchen garden groups each with about seven members. Emmah meets with them regularly to help them learn more effective farming techniques. Emmah uses a greenhouse to provide the groups with seedlings. Last year NOVA provided funds for a second greenhouse, which will be built based on further experimentation with the first greenhouse. The work of managing this project falls to Emmah and her brother Alloys, and NOVA is providing seed money for each of them as a contribution toward this work. The prime motivation for both of them remains their love of their village and desire to improve prospects for their community. NOVA’s continued funding is an important contribution to the success of Emmah’s Garden.
GREENWELL John Tarrant
Greenwell Foundation is now offering group sessions for first responders and military veterans who have experienced trauma. Southern Maryland, home to the Patuxent Naval Air Station, has a lot of veterans. The equestrian program for kids and adults as well as nature programs with kids from the public schools will continue. John is vice president of the foundation.
JUST NEIGHBORS CLIENT ASSISTANCE FUND Joe Keyes
This fund directly helps very low-income immigrant families pay fees needed to successfully apply for legal status. These required expenses (Citizenship and Immigration Services application fees, medical exams, country-expert reports, court documents, transportation to hearings, etc.) often stand in the way of a family’s ability to obtain a green card, citizenship or work permit. As prices of food and basic necessities continue to rise, Just Neighbors has seen it become harder for families to pay these fees. In addition, many immigration application fees increased as a result of 2025 federal legislation, and many applications that were previously free, now have fees attached to them. The biggest change is that now asylum applicants have to pay $100 each year that their application is pending (the enormous delay being the fault of the asylum backlog and not the client). Part of the NOVA grant in 2025 went to helping the four members of one family pay $550 each for work permit applications. The mother and her three children all have pending asylum applications due to violence caused by the father in El Salvador. Before this year, these fees were waivable for low-income clients, but now recent arrivals fleeing violence and trying to get on their feet without the ability to work, have to pay these fees – an impossible feat. The funds also paid part of the costs for the required medical reports for an Afghan refugee family of three. They were required to pay $1,650 for their medical reports to be able to apply for their green cards; the NOVA funds paid for one of these reports ($550) and the family came up with the rest. These were among 1,720 clients served in 2025, 179 more than in 2024. Joe Keyes, who no longer on the board, continues to meet with the group’s leaders on governance issues. NOVA is currently the only group that provides funds for these fees for Just Neighbors clients. Just Neighbors is so grateful to have this client assistant fund to help clients in dire situations pay for some or all of these fees.
IGNATIAN SPIRITUALITY PROJECT John Mooney
This project provides retreats for homeless persons in recovery: four retreats/year and weekly and monthly follow-up spiritual accompaniment, serving more than 650 since its start in 2008. NOVA’s contribution helps cover most of the costs for one retreat. John Mooney has served on the ISP leadership team since 2009 and leads two retreats a year. Don Sodo is also now on the team and will help lead the April 2026 retreat.
LITTLE FRIENDS FOR PEACE Yaneth Spaine
Little Friends for Peace, in partnership with Passion Aid Foundation Africa, has been implementing a Peace Education cycle focused on strengthening social and emotional well-being among women, children and educators in Lira City, Uganda, and surrounding communities. This partnership blends LFFP’s peacebuilding methodologies with PAF-Africa’s deep community relationships and experience working with vulnerable populations. Through both virtual and in-person engagement, the project has created safe, supportive spaces for healing, learning and transformation, particularly for women and children affected by violence and social stressors. For at least five years, NOVA’s support has provided a steady foundation that has allowed peace education to take root and grow in Uganda. Before his death, Scott Spaine faithfully attended the weekly Peace Circles via Zoom, and Yaneth wishes to continue his legacy.
NETWORK ADVOCATES FOR CATHOLIC SOCIAL JUSTICE Carol Reeder
With its active lobbying presence on Capitol Hill, NETWORK is positioned to influence federal legislation and policies to reflect NOVA’s commitment to Catholic social justice. NOVA benefits by receiving timely alerts to issues requiring advocacy, as well as inclusion in educational materials and workshop opportunities. NETWORK continues its focus on healthcare, housing, immigration, income, taxes, voting and democracy-for national as well as local advocacy. NETWORK is engaged in discussions with current and new partner organizations such as the Brennan Center for Justice. It is expanding collaboration with the national Black Sisters Conference and connecting with the Association of Latin American Religious Women Missioners in America. Carol Reeder serves as NOVA’s liaison with NETWORK.
OAXACA SCHOOL PROJECT Raquel Pastor
Teachers at the school in Santa Maria Quiegolani, Mexico, go out into the remote local mountainous villages to train parents to detect disabilities and to value and care for their children with disabilities, which is considered a curse or at a minimum shameful. Raquel provided an orientation and resources for a new high school course on human rights. The school also received a donation of Legos, and activities with this material help students develop creativity and teamwork. And, with the support of NOVA and the Home Ron Foundation, the school is raising chickens and producing food in two greenhouses. This makes agro-ecological education possible, improves nutrition, and allows families to move toward self-sustainability.
PATHFORWARD Meg Tuccillo
PathForward now operates two primary service locations in Arlington – the Homeless
Services Center in Courthouse and the Residential Program Center on Columbia Pike. Both locations provide housing-focused shelter and comprehensive support for adults experiencing homelessness. Together, these sites offer almost 100 beds, critical access to care, and a path to long-term stability. The Dream Team, consisting of a nurse, social worker and case manager, works to meet the medical, mental health and housing needs of the most vulnerable and medically fragile clients. In addition, staff provide supportive guidance to help clients transition from shelter to stable housing, Meg continues to chair the Emeritus Council and serves on the Special Gifts and Planned Giving committees. NOVA will continue to host the Timpane Memorial Walkathon to support PathForward this spring.
SALOMON KLEIN ORPHANAGE Emma Violand-Sanchez
The need of care for 150 abandoned children is essential especially for newborns, including four admitted in December. One of the four is HIV positive, requiring costly medical interventions. The orphanage also hopes to raise the remaining cost of $16,000 to complete a long-awaited library at the orphanage, which will greatly enrich the lives of the many older children who are never adopted and spend their formative years at Salomon Klein. Emma visited the orphanage in the fall and recommends NOVA’s continued support.
STREETLIGHT COMMUNITY OUTREACH MINISTRIES Pat and Don Sodo
Streetlight is a prominent and visible service provider to the unhoused in Prince William County, growing its support from community funders and its collaboration with other agencies. Notwithstanding the challenges in working with federal funders, the organization has adapted and is well managed, though not without its financial challenges. Don remains on the Board of Directors. He and Pat participate in their various service projects whenever possible.
STREET SENSE MEDIA CASE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM Tom Clarkson
Tom asks NOVA to continue funding at its current level. The funds support the Street Sense Media case management program, which helps the most vulnerable vendors obtain housing, health and mental health care and public benefits and provide support for those in recovery from substance use disorders. It also supports an emergency assistance fund that helps prevent evictions and utility cut-offs and provides emergency food assistance. The program helps about 160 people over the course of a year. And, since its start in 2017, it has helped more than 76 people secure permanent housing. In 2025, the program, which costs about $95,000 annually, will have no dedicated grant funding and therefore relies on a patchwork of donations from individuals and groups like NOVA. A new development that helps indirectly with housing is that in October 2025 Street Sense was awarded a contract by the DC Department of Human Services to assist their vendors who want to move to more traditional employment. As part of that effort, they have hired a full-time employment specialist. The Street Sense project is one of NOVA’s many bridges between the relatively affluent Arlington and Fairfax communities and poor people in the District. As NOVA’s liaison with this project, Tom keeps in touch with Street Sense’s full-time CEO, Brian Carome.
UPPER-NILE ORPHANS CARE ORGANIZATION Yaneth Spaine
The Hand of Hope Community School serves orphaned and vulnerable children in war-weary South Sudan, in the village where NOVA member Mary Grace volunteered. NOVA funds the school for a solid month. Mary is responsible for the UOCO (USA) fundraising arm, as volunteer president and liaison for the 501(c)(3). UOCO (NGO in Africa) runs the residential village school with local folks, and their own international UOCO Board. NOVA member Scott Spaine was a cherished UOCO board member until his death in August 2025, and Yaneth, former board member, has been a constant UOCO support, emotionally and financially. Turmoil has already sent more than 1,000,000 people flooding in from Sudan, exacerbating an already volatile situation where massacres are happening almost daily. Hand of Hope is working toward sustainable cottage industries to help raise awareness, and funds, locally, and students' gardens to supplement their food. We are now planning Peace Academy Zooms to further explore nonviolent conflict resolution skills, but have no electricity or WiFi. Mary still hopes to visit the school, as early as March 2026. Once there, she would launch a student hand-sewing project for washable menstrual supplies (taking a full suitcase of these supplies for the girls and local community), and was trained to teach culturally appropriate sex education, with local staff. NOVA’s support is furthered by Gloria's Grant, dedicated specifically for the compound buildings. The fence is complete with simple dorms, classrooms and kitchen anticipated by August 2026. All is delayed because of logistics, corruption and war. Once completed, we can double our student capacity, hence the crucial need for the operational funding NOVA provides, for now.
VOICE John and Nancy Veldhuis Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement (VOICE) is a nonpartisan, citizens’ organization of more than 50 interfaith and civic institutions in Northern Virginia, including NOVA. VOICE organizes to build power and do justice in middle- and low-income communities in Fairfax, Prince William and Arlington counties and Alexandria City. In 2025, VOICE members continued to work tirelessly with underserved residents of our communities, empowering them to speak out. VOICE continues to build something that lasts — real, steady power rooted in congregations, unions and community institutions that refuse to look away from the needs of our neighbors. In the past year VOICE members joined hands with local and state officials on housing, helping launch Prince William County’s first Affordable Housing Trust Fund and preparing for major statewide reforms in 2026. VOICE stood alongside partners to open the new regional Crisis Receiving Center in Woodbridge, which will serve thousands of families every year. In Arlington, VOICE helped secure new after-school opportunities for hundreds of vulnerable teens. In the spring of 2025, VOICE held its first-ever Faith & Labor Training, bringing together 100 VOICE and labor leaders to imagine building together in ways that meet the needs of this time in our communities. VOICE launched its Home For All campaign in the fall with 25 NOVA members attending with plans to lobby state legislators in the General Assembly’s opening days in January 2026. John and Nancy both attend VOICE Action Team meetings in Arlington and Alexandria when possible, and Nancy keeps NOVA up to date when their show of support is important at the Arlington County Board, Alexandria City Council, and general VOICE meetings.
WEEKEND FOOD PACKS 4 KIDS Cathy Showalter
Crossroads Connection is a community service organization that provides a weekend food program for food-insecure children in the public schools of Gainesville and Haymarket, VA. The goal is to eliminate hunger as an obstruction to classroom learning. Donors and volunteers operate as a chartered club of Heritage Hunt and the ministry of Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church of Haymarket. Bags of supplemental food are provided monthly to the schools, and the school staff distributes food on Fridays to students who have been identified by school counselors as in need.
WOMEN’S ORDINATION FUND Nancy Veldhuis '
The Women's Ordination Conference is the world's oldest and largest organization working solely for the ordination of women as priests, deacons and bishops into an inclusive Catholic Church. WOC is dedicated to renewing church governance to be inclusive, accountable and transparent; bringing about justice and equality for Catholic women; and incorporating women-centered theologies into everyday Catholicism. Women's ordination is no longer the taboo subject it once was within the church, but is now a matter of discernment for the global church. Under Pope Francis, women were able to vote for the first time at the Vatican after a two-year effort spearheaded by WOC and partner reform organizations came to fruition when 54 women voted inside the synod hall for the first time. WOC is working now in high hope that Pope Leo XIV, who has demonstrated great sensitivity in areas of justice and solidarity, will make a genuine effort to listen to women who feel called to pastoral ministry, as well as those already serving in parishes as pastoral assistants, and do them justice by ordaining them to the diaconate at the very least. WOC is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year with a conference May 22-24 in Detroit, which Nancy and other NOVA women will attend. The gathering will honor the feminist thought and leadership of the initial 1975 gathering and hopes to energize the movement for the future.
NOVA’S OWN PROJECTS
RENTAL ASSISTANCE TO PREVENT HOMELESSNESS Dianne Carroll, administrator
This program provides rental assistance on a one-time emergency basis for families in need in the Arlington Public Schools community. School social workers screen the requests and send the requests to Dianne, administrator of the program, on a form designed by NOVA. Dianne reviews the requests, sometimes recommending that the social workers contact other resources. Sometimes the referral is sent to the contact at Arlington Department of Human Services for advice. No other county or church program in Arlington is able to respond as immediately as NOVA to provide stability to families with a one-time financial need so that they can continue to stay in their apartments and their children can remain in their schools. This NOVA program is vital. It’s about keeping these families from eviction when they have had some crisis that has caused some temporary loss of income – crises such as illness or an accident or, in 2025 and continuing, the deportation of the primary breadwinner. The challenge for NOVA is that the need has grown exponentially. In 2007, six families were helped; in 2024, 104 families; in 2025, 171 families. As the cost of housing continues to rise, and the threat of deportation is too real, and the need to protect families from eviction continues to grow, the hope is that Arlington can continue to be a diverse community.
MARIE KEEFE/MARIE PINHO NOVA CATHOLIC COMMUNITY STIPEND SCHOLARSHIPS Linda and Jack Christie and team
When Marie Pinho died in 2015, she left her estate to NOVA. Several proposals were submitted on how to deal with those considerable funds. This team, including Eric Carroll, Linda and Jack Christie, Kathy Scheimer, Christina Smith and Meg Tuccillo, proposed creating scholarships in Marie’s name to assist Dreamers in obtaining their college degrees. The proposal was accepted by NOVA. When Marie Keefe died in 2021, her family also wanted to support these scholarships in her name. Students submit applications and if approved, the student receives $300 a month for nine months of a given school year – $2,700 per academic year or $10,800 over the typical four years of college – to help with incidentals that other scholarships might not cover such as transportation costs, books and school supplies. NOVA usually supports three students full- or part-time per year. Five stipend recipients have successfully graduated from four-year colleges. One (on his own) is pursuing his master's. In 2024, NOVA decided to continue adding funds to make the project permanent. In 2025-26, NOVA is supporting two full-time students.
KEN CHAISON FAMILY EMERGENCY FUND Dianne Carroll
This program uses the same application form as the rental assistance program, and applicants are screened by school social workers. These funds are for emergency needs of families that cannot be met in any other way. In 2025, 29 families were assisted with various needs such as payments of electric bills, cab vouchers, medical bills, eye glasses and dental care. Until now, donations have been provided by Ken’s family, friends and NOVA members. In 2026, we are specifying funding in order to meet increasing needs.
OTHER 2025 COMMUNITY COMMITMENTS INVOLVING MONEY
GIFT CARDS PROJECT Dianne Carroll, Markie Harwood
NOVA members donate gift cards or cash for gift cards at the beginning of the school year and at Christmas. The cards are given to the families of refugees supported by NOVA and to Arlington school social workers who then distribute them to families in need. At each of these times, NOVA has donated about 140 cards for distribution.
PATHFORWARD HOMELESS WALKATHON Meg Tuccillo
NOVA has participated in a PathForward (formerly A-SPAN) walkathon to assist individuals experiencing homelessness for many years. In spring 2022, we decided to honor the legacy of our own dear Mike and Gen Timpane (former A-SPAN board member and longtime supporters) by naming our NOVA walkathon “ The Timpane Memorial Walkathon.” The Timpane “kids” joined us at liturgy last spring to share in the walkathon, and we look forward to continuing the tradition.
VILLA CANDELARIA SCHOOL, Cochabamba, Bolivia Dianne Carroll
Twenty NOVA members sponsor students at this school, which serves age 2 through 6th grade. In 2025, 229 children were served, including 33 who are picked up from the prison each day. Children get a quality education, and low-income families are provided school materials and other items they need. Renewable energy is important, and solar panels are being added.
Money is sent to Cochabamba once a year.
COMMUNITY MEMBER COMMITMENTS OF TIME AND RESOURCES
BOOK GROUPS
Meetings are publicized in the NOVA Sunday announcements.
CALLS FOR JOBS Tom Clarkson
In February 2023, NOVA gave $5,000 for a Job Guarantee Project proposed by Tom. The project’s goal was to create a phone-calling campaign to promote a federal Jobs Guarantee. “Calls for Jobs” is now a fully incorporated, formal organization, and ready to start raising money on its own. However, raising money from the public requires fiduciary safeguards such as lawyers, accountants and reliable staff that it doesn’t have yet. Until now Tom has been the primary mover of this project, but taking the next steps with fundraising and further organization requires additional partners. Tom would be glad to talk to anyone who’s interested in helping to move “Calls for Jobs” into an active fundraising mode with a solid organizational structure.
CARE FOR CREATION Gloria Mog and Team (Joe Keyes, Kathy Scheimer, Judy Christofferson, David Mog, Markie Harwood, Carolyn Miller).
The team was formed in March 2019 in response to the climate crisis, the Laudato Si Encyclical and the growing realization that people of faith play an increasingly critical role in the worldwide response to this crisis. The team’s mission: • Provide education to the NOVA Community around environmental issues and actions needed to make progress on this problem. • Develop concrete personal and communal actions and encourage members to get involved whenever they can. • Integrate Care for Creation themes in the liturgical and prayer life of the community. • Advocate for legislative progress locally, statewide and nationally with guidance from the Virginia Chapter of Elders Climate Action. • Engender hope and motivation by reporting on progress on a regular basis.
IMMIGRANT RESETTLEMENT OUTREACH Dianne and Eric Carroll
In addition to financial support for our Guatemalan family and Afghan and other refugee organizations, NOVA members tutor immigrants to help them learn English and progress in school. We also collect and distribute furniture for them through RAFT and Homes Not Borders.
MY FRIENDS HOUSE, INC Teddi Ahrens
Teddi collects needed items for those Eve Birch serves in Martinsburg, West Virginia, including fresh and canned food; blankets; clothes, especially coats or jackets Size M-XL; building materials; sewing materials; paint; and craft materials. Eve welcomes helpers to spend a few hours or even overnights to paint, organize, do yard work or other "handy" work.
PRAYER GROUP Bill Meyer
NOVA members meet together to pray for intentions. A Prayer Book is available at liturgy for people to record an intention.
TRINITY NOVA TOGETHER FOR RACIAL JUSTICE Carmela Ormando, Jeanne Clarkson and Marion Spraggins
In its 11th year, this interfaith and interracial partnership of NOVA and Trinity Episcopal Church is dedicated to conversations, exploration and action toward creating a more racially just and inclusive community.
WOMEN’S PRISON BOOK PROJECT Pat Sodo
This project, based in Minneapolis, provides books to women across the country who are incarcerated. NOVA members support WPBP by donating books. Some are traded at a used book store for requested subject matter, and then everything makes its way to WPBP as books or cash. The project is self-sustaining and beneficial to both NOVA members and WPBP. Donors may fill out a donation receipt for tax purposes. Virginia does not have the program in its prisons; however, our books have gone locally to the Prince William County Jail and the Path Forward shelter.
OTHER COMMUNITY COMMITMENTS INVOLVING MONEY
COMMUNITY MEMBER COMMITMENTS OF TIME AND RESOURCES
2026
On Feb. 1, NOVA held its annual Social Justice Meeting to decide on the projects for our regular commitments for the year.
We acknowledge with gratitude our community’s ability to make generous financial commitments to organizations – and to NOVA’s own projects – on a yearly basis. We also acknowledge individual members’ separate donations throughout the year to further support NOVA’s own projects, such as the rental assistance program and the Dreamer’s stipend scholarship program, outside these regular commitments. And we acknowledge members’ generous responses to special collections as needs and crises arise.
We approach our decisions in a spirit of generosity and compassion, and with a sense of gratitude for the marvelous gifts we have been given to share. We have been admonished to give from our substance not merely our surplus, but we are confident that we are so overflowing with blessings that our generous response will not cut deeply into our own well-being.
The projects, as approved by acclamation, are listed below. The money will be distributed to most of these projects in two payments – in February and July. Each project has a NOVA member who brought the need to the community and "watches over it" and brings us news.
ACTION AFRICA Jeanne Clarkson
Action Africa began in 2000 with the goal of responding to the challenges facing children and families in rural villages of Nigeria and Sierra Leone. It focuses on health, education, growing the economy and human rights. In Nigeria, students at nine schools were taught computer literacy. Another 1,500 practiced spoken English. In a medical mission to Sierra Leone, Action Africa has assembled local staff to participate in pre-surgical tests of patients and getting them registered for surgery. In addition, Action Africa has established outreach programs in the DMV that respond to the needs of newly arriving lawful African immigrants and refugees. These programs include help in obtaining housing, and accessing educational opportunities, employment services and health care. In 2025, Jeanne and Tom Clarkson facilitated securing a truck to enable volunteers to collect food donations and more efficiently deliver them to various locations in the DMV where recipients could pick them up. The number of beneficiaries has increased 20-fold. It is especially important that NOVA’s support continues because so many sources of funding have been obliterated by the current administration.
AFAC Dianne Carroll
The number of families who rely on Arlington Food Assistance Center groceries for their regular meals has increased to 4,200 families per week, and the budget has increased by $2 million to $11.7 million. AFAC receives no federal or state funding. Arlington County provides 9% of what it takes to operate AFAC. The remaining 91% comes from private donations. Volunteer hours are equivalent to 25 full-time employees. There are MANY opportunities for volunteering. NOVA donates cereal and non-perishables each week – 3,000 pounds in 2025 – and Eric Carroll delivers the donations to AFAC. The Carrolls also are Empty Bowls sponsors each year.
BREAD FOR THE WORLD Peggy Meyer
Bread for the World is a nationwide Christian citizens movement seeking justice for the world’s hungry people by lobbying our nation’s decision-makers. BFW Institute seeks justice for hungry people by engaging in research and education on policies related to hunger and development. Peggy does not actively participate in Bread for the World. Her motivation to support this organization is that Jesus told us to feed the hungry, and more and more people are suffering from hunger.
BRIDGES TO INDEPENDENCE Kopp Michelotti
Bridges to Independence operates the Sullivan House homeless shelter and provides training, counseling and referral services to shelter families and other families in danger of homelessness and to economically stressed residents of Arlington. Five years ago, Bridges merged with the Bonder and Amanda Johnson Community Development Corp., a small nonprofit that serves the Nauck community of Arlington. Bridges has successfully integrated the two operations and has developed and expanded a community services center in Nauck. Aside from Sullivan House, Bridges has moved all of its operations to this community services center. The center has spaces for computer and Internet access for clients and for job counseling and for private counseling. Bridges has doubled the size of its youth development program. Because of an increasing number of clients, Bridges received substantially higher funding from Arlington County last year; Bridges also negotiated agreements with apartment complexes to rent several one- and two-bedroom apartments for overflow when the shelter is full. Bridges continues to explore ways to use the proceeds from the sale of its building on North Highland Street to benefit the communities it serves, such as a daycare or child development center. NOVA was one of the original founding congregations of Bridges (then Arlington-Alexandria Coalition for the Homeless). Kopp talks with the staff at Bridges occasionally during the year and passes on to NOVA opportunities to donate and to volunteer.
CHILDREN IN THE WILDERNESS: ZIMBABWE CHILDREN’S SCHOLARSHIP & FOOD PROJECT Don and Pat Sodo
Don and Pat are committed to this project and its growth and success in partnership with Children in the Wilderness in Victoria Falls, with whom they are continually in touch: “We discuss the addition of students to the project and get reports about academic progress and other pertinent issues. CITW will approach us about adding specific children, we've responded YES every time they ask. We also receive financial reports noting receipts and disbursements from the account that's been created to handle all donations we generate.” In 2026, the nutrition program will include supporting schools with food donations and also encourage all partner schools to establish and maintain functional gardens where they can grow a variety of vegetables to support the nutrition program. Any surplus produce can be sold within the local communities, generating much-needed income for the schools to cover essential operational needs. For 2026, a Minnesota-based nonprofit, So Others May Learn, is providing a 3:1 match of all donations we generate starting immediately. As a result of NOVA's generosity, the $4,000 requested would be matched with an additional $12,000 by SOML.
CHRIST HOUSE EVENING MEAL Tim White
Since the pandemic, in lieu of preparing hot meals every other month, NOVA has been furnishing bagged meals (as of 2026 Christ House has not returned to sit-down meals). Tim recommends NOVA continue serving bagged meals every other month.
CO-PARTNERS OF CAMPESINAS Archer Heinzen
Co-partners of Campesinas, a 501(c)(3) organization that works with women and youth in rural communities in El Salvador and Guatemala, did not submit a request for funding in 2026 while it is in the process of restructuring.
DREAM PROJECT Emma Violand-Sanchez
The Dream Project plans to award 100 four-year scholarships as well as Career and Technical Scholarships for $4,500 a year. NOVA’s assistance is crucial to fund scholarships for students who may lose access to in-state tuition as well as legal assistance under federal and state efforts to end that assistance for undocumented immigrants or non-citizens. The ACLU and Legal Aid Justice Center have joined the Dream Project in opposing these efforts in court. Emma is chair emeritus of the Dream Project and participates in events and advisory board meetings, and she mentors Dream Project scholars and parents. Meg Tucillo serves on both the Dream Project Board and its executive committee.
EDUCATE THE GIRLS Nancy Veldhuis NOVA’s financial contribution to ETG, a 501(c)(3), enables girls in the rural village of Kanoni, Uganda, to obtain primary and secondary education by providing for their school fees and school supplies, and by helping them to overcome obstacles, i.e. the need for shoes, feminine hygiene products, etc. that otherwise would keep them from attending school. The challenges to meet the needs to keep the girls in schools has not let up with tuition prices continuing to rise. The girls are eager to continue their education in the 2026 school term, all in secondary schools. When NOVA started its support of ETG, $750 was sufficient for three trimesters of tuition and fees at the secondary level. Today the costs range from a low of $2,163 to a high of $3,392, depending on the year of schooling and the rigor of the educational level of the school that an individual girl has chosen to pursue. As ETG president, Nancy is active all year long, arranging for the international transfers of funds that result from the Ugandan handicraft sales that she conducts each year and donations from multiple sources.
ELDERS CLIMATE ACTION Gloria Mog
This innovative and energetic organization responds to the increased consciousness about how much of a social justice issue the climate emergency is, and NOVA is very involved with ECA. Gloria Mog and Markie Harwood are co-coordinators of the Virginia Chapter. Joe Keyes is a strong supporter and training to teach the chapter’s Climate Change course. Carolyn Miller and Joe were named “chapter changemakers” in 2025. Several other NOVA members attend the monthly chapter meetings. National ECA has linked up strongly with the Environmental Voter Project, which has an enormous database on registered voters who support climate work but do not necessarily vote regularly. The Virginia Chapter participates in EVP’s year-round effort to get out the vote. ECA has a new initiative focused on climate change factors that harm individual and community health and well-being. ECA has received grants which, along with private donors like NOVA, have supported the organization in hiring a second full-time staff member. And ECA is hosting climate interns who are helping to create more robust programming and more chapter involvement.
EMMAH’S GARDEN Clyde Christofferson
Emmah’s Garden is a project to help a small farming village in Western Kenya work toward self-sufficiency. Most of the 2,400 villagers are farmers. The first task was pumping water from the river to provide a more reliable source of water for crops. This has been expanded with filtration systems and storage tanks to provide safe drinking water to neighborhood schools. NOVA’s base contribution of $1,800 has been instrumental in supporting this effort. Emmah earned a degree in agribusiness and has organized mostly women in the village to cultivate their “kitchen gardens.” There are currently seven kitchen garden groups each with about seven members. Emmah meets with them regularly to help them learn more effective farming techniques. Emmah uses a greenhouse to provide the groups with seedlings. Last year NOVA provided funds for a second greenhouse, which will be built based on further experimentation with the first greenhouse. The work of managing this project falls to Emmah and her brother Alloys, and NOVA is providing seed money for each of them as a contribution toward this work. The prime motivation for both of them remains their love of their village and desire to improve prospects for their community. NOVA’s continued funding is an important contribution to the success of Emmah’s Garden.
GREENWELL John Tarrant
Greenwell Foundation is now offering group sessions for first responders and military veterans who have experienced trauma. Southern Maryland, home to the Patuxent Naval Air Station, has a lot of veterans. The equestrian program for kids and adults as well as nature programs with kids from the public schools will continue. John is vice president of the foundation.
JUST NEIGHBORS CLIENT ASSISTANCE FUND Joe Keyes
This fund directly helps very low-income immigrant families pay fees needed to successfully apply for legal status. These required expenses (Citizenship and Immigration Services application fees, medical exams, country-expert reports, court documents, transportation to hearings, etc.) often stand in the way of a family’s ability to obtain a green card, citizenship or work permit. As prices of food and basic necessities continue to rise, Just Neighbors has seen it become harder for families to pay these fees. In addition, many immigration application fees increased as a result of 2025 federal legislation, and many applications that were previously free, now have fees attached to them. The biggest change is that now asylum applicants have to pay $100 each year that their application is pending (the enormous delay being the fault of the asylum backlog and not the client). Part of the NOVA grant in 2025 went to helping the four members of one family pay $550 each for work permit applications. The mother and her three children all have pending asylum applications due to violence caused by the father in El Salvador. Before this year, these fees were waivable for low-income clients, but now recent arrivals fleeing violence and trying to get on their feet without the ability to work, have to pay these fees – an impossible feat. The funds also paid part of the costs for the required medical reports for an Afghan refugee family of three. They were required to pay $1,650 for their medical reports to be able to apply for their green cards; the NOVA funds paid for one of these reports ($550) and the family came up with the rest. These were among 1,720 clients served in 2025, 179 more than in 2024. Joe Keyes, who no longer on the board, continues to meet with the group’s leaders on governance issues. NOVA is currently the only group that provides funds for these fees for Just Neighbors clients. Just Neighbors is so grateful to have this client assistant fund to help clients in dire situations pay for some or all of these fees.
IGNATIAN SPIRITUALITY PROJECT John Mooney
This project provides retreats for homeless persons in recovery: four retreats/year and weekly and monthly follow-up spiritual accompaniment, serving more than 650 since its start in 2008. NOVA’s contribution helps cover most of the costs for one retreat. John Mooney has served on the ISP leadership team since 2009 and leads two retreats a year. Don Sodo is also now on the team and will help lead the April 2026 retreat.
LITTLE FRIENDS FOR PEACE Yaneth Spaine
Little Friends for Peace, in partnership with Passion Aid Foundation Africa, has been implementing a Peace Education cycle focused on strengthening social and emotional well-being among women, children and educators in Lira City, Uganda, and surrounding communities. This partnership blends LFFP’s peacebuilding methodologies with PAF-Africa’s deep community relationships and experience working with vulnerable populations. Through both virtual and in-person engagement, the project has created safe, supportive spaces for healing, learning and transformation, particularly for women and children affected by violence and social stressors. For at least five years, NOVA’s support has provided a steady foundation that has allowed peace education to take root and grow in Uganda. Before his death, Scott Spaine faithfully attended the weekly Peace Circles via Zoom, and Yaneth wishes to continue his legacy.
NETWORK ADVOCATES FOR CATHOLIC SOCIAL JUSTICE Carol Reeder
With its active lobbying presence on Capitol Hill, NETWORK is positioned to influence federal legislation and policies to reflect NOVA’s commitment to Catholic social justice. NOVA benefits by receiving timely alerts to issues requiring advocacy, as well as inclusion in educational materials and workshop opportunities. NETWORK continues its focus on healthcare, housing, immigration, income, taxes, voting and democracy-for national as well as local advocacy. NETWORK is engaged in discussions with current and new partner organizations such as the Brennan Center for Justice. It is expanding collaboration with the national Black Sisters Conference and connecting with the Association of Latin American Religious Women Missioners in America. Carol Reeder serves as NOVA’s liaison with NETWORK.
OAXACA SCHOOL PROJECT Raquel Pastor
Teachers at the school in Santa Maria Quiegolani, Mexico, go out into the remote local mountainous villages to train parents to detect disabilities and to value and care for their children with disabilities, which is considered a curse or at a minimum shameful. Raquel provided an orientation and resources for a new high school course on human rights. The school also received a donation of Legos, and activities with this material help students develop creativity and teamwork. And, with the support of NOVA and the Home Ron Foundation, the school is raising chickens and producing food in two greenhouses. This makes agro-ecological education possible, improves nutrition, and allows families to move toward self-sustainability.
PATHFORWARD Meg Tuccillo
PathForward now operates two primary service locations in Arlington – the Homeless
Services Center in Courthouse and the Residential Program Center on Columbia Pike. Both locations provide housing-focused shelter and comprehensive support for adults experiencing homelessness. Together, these sites offer almost 100 beds, critical access to care, and a path to long-term stability. The Dream Team, consisting of a nurse, social worker and case manager, works to meet the medical, mental health and housing needs of the most vulnerable and medically fragile clients. In addition, staff provide supportive guidance to help clients transition from shelter to stable housing, Meg continues to chair the Emeritus Council and serves on the Special Gifts and Planned Giving committees. NOVA will continue to host the Timpane Memorial Walkathon to support PathForward this spring.
SALOMON KLEIN ORPHANAGE Emma Violand-Sanchez
The need of care for 150 abandoned children is essential especially for newborns, including four admitted in December. One of the four is HIV positive, requiring costly medical interventions. The orphanage also hopes to raise the remaining cost of $16,000 to complete a long-awaited library at the orphanage, which will greatly enrich the lives of the many older children who are never adopted and spend their formative years at Salomon Klein. Emma visited the orphanage in the fall and recommends NOVA’s continued support.
STREETLIGHT COMMUNITY OUTREACH MINISTRIES Pat and Don Sodo
Streetlight is a prominent and visible service provider to the unhoused in Prince William County, growing its support from community funders and its collaboration with other agencies. Notwithstanding the challenges in working with federal funders, the organization has adapted and is well managed, though not without its financial challenges. Don remains on the Board of Directors. He and Pat participate in their various service projects whenever possible.
STREET SENSE MEDIA CASE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM Tom Clarkson
Tom asks NOVA to continue funding at its current level. The funds support the Street Sense Media case management program, which helps the most vulnerable vendors obtain housing, health and mental health care and public benefits and provide support for those in recovery from substance use disorders. It also supports an emergency assistance fund that helps prevent evictions and utility cut-offs and provides emergency food assistance. The program helps about 160 people over the course of a year. And, since its start in 2017, it has helped more than 76 people secure permanent housing. In 2025, the program, which costs about $95,000 annually, will have no dedicated grant funding and therefore relies on a patchwork of donations from individuals and groups like NOVA. A new development that helps indirectly with housing is that in October 2025 Street Sense was awarded a contract by the DC Department of Human Services to assist their vendors who want to move to more traditional employment. As part of that effort, they have hired a full-time employment specialist. The Street Sense project is one of NOVA’s many bridges between the relatively affluent Arlington and Fairfax communities and poor people in the District. As NOVA’s liaison with this project, Tom keeps in touch with Street Sense’s full-time CEO, Brian Carome.
UPPER-NILE ORPHANS CARE ORGANIZATION Yaneth Spaine
The Hand of Hope Community School serves orphaned and vulnerable children in war-weary South Sudan, in the village where NOVA member Mary Grace volunteered. NOVA funds the school for a solid month. Mary is responsible for the UOCO (USA) fundraising arm, as volunteer president and liaison for the 501(c)(3). UOCO (NGO in Africa) runs the residential village school with local folks, and their own international UOCO Board. NOVA member Scott Spaine was a cherished UOCO board member until his death in August 2025, and Yaneth, former board member, has been a constant UOCO support, emotionally and financially. Turmoil has already sent more than 1,000,000 people flooding in from Sudan, exacerbating an already volatile situation where massacres are happening almost daily. Hand of Hope is working toward sustainable cottage industries to help raise awareness, and funds, locally, and students' gardens to supplement their food. We are now planning Peace Academy Zooms to further explore nonviolent conflict resolution skills, but have no electricity or WiFi. Mary still hopes to visit the school, as early as March 2026. Once there, she would launch a student hand-sewing project for washable menstrual supplies (taking a full suitcase of these supplies for the girls and local community), and was trained to teach culturally appropriate sex education, with local staff. NOVA’s support is furthered by Gloria's Grant, dedicated specifically for the compound buildings. The fence is complete with simple dorms, classrooms and kitchen anticipated by August 2026. All is delayed because of logistics, corruption and war. Once completed, we can double our student capacity, hence the crucial need for the operational funding NOVA provides, for now.
VOICE John and Nancy Veldhuis Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement (VOICE) is a nonpartisan, citizens’ organization of more than 50 interfaith and civic institutions in Northern Virginia, including NOVA. VOICE organizes to build power and do justice in middle- and low-income communities in Fairfax, Prince William and Arlington counties and Alexandria City. In 2025, VOICE members continued to work tirelessly with underserved residents of our communities, empowering them to speak out. VOICE continues to build something that lasts — real, steady power rooted in congregations, unions and community institutions that refuse to look away from the needs of our neighbors. In the past year VOICE members joined hands with local and state officials on housing, helping launch Prince William County’s first Affordable Housing Trust Fund and preparing for major statewide reforms in 2026. VOICE stood alongside partners to open the new regional Crisis Receiving Center in Woodbridge, which will serve thousands of families every year. In Arlington, VOICE helped secure new after-school opportunities for hundreds of vulnerable teens. In the spring of 2025, VOICE held its first-ever Faith & Labor Training, bringing together 100 VOICE and labor leaders to imagine building together in ways that meet the needs of this time in our communities. VOICE launched its Home For All campaign in the fall with 25 NOVA members attending with plans to lobby state legislators in the General Assembly’s opening days in January 2026. John and Nancy both attend VOICE Action Team meetings in Arlington and Alexandria when possible, and Nancy keeps NOVA up to date when their show of support is important at the Arlington County Board, Alexandria City Council, and general VOICE meetings.
WEEKEND FOOD PACKS 4 KIDS Cathy Showalter
Crossroads Connection is a community service organization that provides a weekend food program for food-insecure children in the public schools of Gainesville and Haymarket, VA. The goal is to eliminate hunger as an obstruction to classroom learning. Donors and volunteers operate as a chartered club of Heritage Hunt and the ministry of Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church of Haymarket. Bags of supplemental food are provided monthly to the schools, and the school staff distributes food on Fridays to students who have been identified by school counselors as in need.
WOMEN’S ORDINATION FUND Nancy Veldhuis '
The Women's Ordination Conference is the world's oldest and largest organization working solely for the ordination of women as priests, deacons and bishops into an inclusive Catholic Church. WOC is dedicated to renewing church governance to be inclusive, accountable and transparent; bringing about justice and equality for Catholic women; and incorporating women-centered theologies into everyday Catholicism. Women's ordination is no longer the taboo subject it once was within the church, but is now a matter of discernment for the global church. Under Pope Francis, women were able to vote for the first time at the Vatican after a two-year effort spearheaded by WOC and partner reform organizations came to fruition when 54 women voted inside the synod hall for the first time. WOC is working now in high hope that Pope Leo XIV, who has demonstrated great sensitivity in areas of justice and solidarity, will make a genuine effort to listen to women who feel called to pastoral ministry, as well as those already serving in parishes as pastoral assistants, and do them justice by ordaining them to the diaconate at the very least. WOC is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year with a conference May 22-24 in Detroit, which Nancy and other NOVA women will attend. The gathering will honor the feminist thought and leadership of the initial 1975 gathering and hopes to energize the movement for the future.
NOVA’S OWN PROJECTS
RENTAL ASSISTANCE TO PREVENT HOMELESSNESS Dianne Carroll, administrator
This program provides rental assistance on a one-time emergency basis for families in need in the Arlington Public Schools community. School social workers screen the requests and send the requests to Dianne, administrator of the program, on a form designed by NOVA. Dianne reviews the requests, sometimes recommending that the social workers contact other resources. Sometimes the referral is sent to the contact at Arlington Department of Human Services for advice. No other county or church program in Arlington is able to respond as immediately as NOVA to provide stability to families with a one-time financial need so that they can continue to stay in their apartments and their children can remain in their schools. This NOVA program is vital. It’s about keeping these families from eviction when they have had some crisis that has caused some temporary loss of income – crises such as illness or an accident or, in 2025 and continuing, the deportation of the primary breadwinner. The challenge for NOVA is that the need has grown exponentially. In 2007, six families were helped; in 2024, 104 families; in 2025, 171 families. As the cost of housing continues to rise, and the threat of deportation is too real, and the need to protect families from eviction continues to grow, the hope is that Arlington can continue to be a diverse community.
MARIE KEEFE/MARIE PINHO NOVA CATHOLIC COMMUNITY STIPEND SCHOLARSHIPS Linda and Jack Christie and team
When Marie Pinho died in 2015, she left her estate to NOVA. Several proposals were submitted on how to deal with those considerable funds. This team, including Eric Carroll, Linda and Jack Christie, Kathy Scheimer, Christina Smith and Meg Tuccillo, proposed creating scholarships in Marie’s name to assist Dreamers in obtaining their college degrees. The proposal was accepted by NOVA. When Marie Keefe died in 2021, her family also wanted to support these scholarships in her name. Students submit applications and if approved, the student receives $300 a month for nine months of a given school year – $2,700 per academic year or $10,800 over the typical four years of college – to help with incidentals that other scholarships might not cover such as transportation costs, books and school supplies. NOVA usually supports three students full- or part-time per year. Five stipend recipients have successfully graduated from four-year colleges. One (on his own) is pursuing his master's. In 2024, NOVA decided to continue adding funds to make the project permanent. In 2025-26, NOVA is supporting two full-time students.
KEN CHAISON FAMILY EMERGENCY FUND Dianne Carroll
This program uses the same application form as the rental assistance program, and applicants are screened by school social workers. These funds are for emergency needs of families that cannot be met in any other way. In 2025, 29 families were assisted with various needs such as payments of electric bills, cab vouchers, medical bills, eye glasses and dental care. Until now, donations have been provided by Ken’s family, friends and NOVA members. In 2026, we are specifying funding in order to meet increasing needs.
OTHER 2025 COMMUNITY COMMITMENTS INVOLVING MONEY
GIFT CARDS PROJECT Dianne Carroll, Markie Harwood
NOVA members donate gift cards or cash for gift cards at the beginning of the school year and at Christmas. The cards are given to the families of refugees supported by NOVA and to Arlington school social workers who then distribute them to families in need. At each of these times, NOVA has donated about 140 cards for distribution.
PATHFORWARD HOMELESS WALKATHON Meg Tuccillo
NOVA has participated in a PathForward (formerly A-SPAN) walkathon to assist individuals experiencing homelessness for many years. In spring 2022, we decided to honor the legacy of our own dear Mike and Gen Timpane (former A-SPAN board member and longtime supporters) by naming our NOVA walkathon “ The Timpane Memorial Walkathon.” The Timpane “kids” joined us at liturgy last spring to share in the walkathon, and we look forward to continuing the tradition.
VILLA CANDELARIA SCHOOL, Cochabamba, Bolivia Dianne Carroll
Twenty NOVA members sponsor students at this school, which serves age 2 through 6th grade. In 2025, 229 children were served, including 33 who are picked up from the prison each day. Children get a quality education, and low-income families are provided school materials and other items they need. Renewable energy is important, and solar panels are being added.
Money is sent to Cochabamba once a year.
COMMUNITY MEMBER COMMITMENTS OF TIME AND RESOURCES
BOOK GROUPS
Meetings are publicized in the NOVA Sunday announcements.
CALLS FOR JOBS Tom Clarkson
In February 2023, NOVA gave $5,000 for a Job Guarantee Project proposed by Tom. The project’s goal was to create a phone-calling campaign to promote a federal Jobs Guarantee. “Calls for Jobs” is now a fully incorporated, formal organization, and ready to start raising money on its own. However, raising money from the public requires fiduciary safeguards such as lawyers, accountants and reliable staff that it doesn’t have yet. Until now Tom has been the primary mover of this project, but taking the next steps with fundraising and further organization requires additional partners. Tom would be glad to talk to anyone who’s interested in helping to move “Calls for Jobs” into an active fundraising mode with a solid organizational structure.
CARE FOR CREATION Gloria Mog and Team (Joe Keyes, Kathy Scheimer, Judy Christofferson, David Mog, Markie Harwood, Carolyn Miller).
The team was formed in March 2019 in response to the climate crisis, the Laudato Si Encyclical and the growing realization that people of faith play an increasingly critical role in the worldwide response to this crisis. The team’s mission: • Provide education to the NOVA Community around environmental issues and actions needed to make progress on this problem. • Develop concrete personal and communal actions and encourage members to get involved whenever they can. • Integrate Care for Creation themes in the liturgical and prayer life of the community. • Advocate for legislative progress locally, statewide and nationally with guidance from the Virginia Chapter of Elders Climate Action. • Engender hope and motivation by reporting on progress on a regular basis.
IMMIGRANT RESETTLEMENT OUTREACH Dianne and Eric Carroll
In addition to financial support for our Guatemalan family and Afghan and other refugee organizations, NOVA members tutor immigrants to help them learn English and progress in school. We also collect and distribute furniture for them through RAFT and Homes Not Borders.
MY FRIENDS HOUSE, INC Teddi Ahrens
Teddi collects needed items for those Eve Birch serves in Martinsburg, West Virginia, including fresh and canned food; blankets; clothes, especially coats or jackets Size M-XL; building materials; sewing materials; paint; and craft materials. Eve welcomes helpers to spend a few hours or even overnights to paint, organize, do yard work or other "handy" work.
PRAYER GROUP Bill Meyer
NOVA members meet together to pray for intentions. A Prayer Book is available at liturgy for people to record an intention.
TRINITY NOVA TOGETHER FOR RACIAL JUSTICE Carmela Ormando, Jeanne Clarkson and Marion Spraggins
In its 11th year, this interfaith and interracial partnership of NOVA and Trinity Episcopal Church is dedicated to conversations, exploration and action toward creating a more racially just and inclusive community.
WOMEN’S PRISON BOOK PROJECT Pat Sodo
This project, based in Minneapolis, provides books to women across the country who are incarcerated. NOVA members support WPBP by donating books. Some are traded at a used book store for requested subject matter, and then everything makes its way to WPBP as books or cash. The project is self-sustaining and beneficial to both NOVA members and WPBP. Donors may fill out a donation receipt for tax purposes. Virginia does not have the program in its prisons; however, our books have gone locally to the Prince William County Jail and the Path Forward shelter.