Northern Virginia Mental Health Foundation Inc

Northern Virginia Mental Health Foundation has been absolutely wonderful to work with. There are so many gaps in resources/assistance when working with individuals in the community not only to meet basic needs but also to help individuals increase independence and thrive. Northern Virginia Mental Health Foundation steps in to help address these gaps. They are very easy to work with. Every board member I have worked with clearly has the client wellbeing at the heart of their actions while also remaining good stewards for their agency and funds. This organization has helped change the lives of countless individuals to include several of my own.

In the past few years, NVMHF has been instrumental in assisting my clients obtain needed resources to continue living independently in their homes and meet their treatment goals. Clients received financial support for personal emergency response systems, a trailer hitch for wheelchair lift, bedroom and living room furniture, and assistance with a portion of burial costs for a client’s family member. These items are a small example of the assistance provided that allows for clients to maintain independence and safety in their home and age in place as well as tend to their physical and mental health care. The Board responds quickly to requests while also ensuring that other resources have been explored and utilized prior to approving requests in order to manage their funding effectively and serve as many in need as possible. NVMHF serves a vital role in meeting the needs of some of the most vulnerable clients in our area and their assistance is greatly appreciated by both clients and professional staff.

They are very easy to work with and understand our clients. They fill a void for services that are not found elsewhere.

Northern Virginia Mental Health Foundation has made a huge impact on the lives of so many individuals receiving behavioral health services from Fairfax/Falls Church Community Services Board! With not enough public resources to meet the needs of individuals with limited financial means and support, the small grants that NVMHF approves has helped them to work towards their goals of success and independence.

NVMHF has been very supportive in meeting the needs of my clients when no one else was able to . They address applications in a timely manner and have shown a level of kindness that unmatched. Their help has allowed my clients to feel empowered and cared for.

Amazing organization, generous, organize, professional, simple process and willing to help individuals who need assistance within the community. Had a client who needed financial assistance for dental work, her request was honored, and she is smiling happily ever since. Thank you NVMHF.

Wonderful resource able to provide financial assistance to help people in need achieve life-worth-living goals, whether it be obtaining necessary household items, paying for study materials, or funding health and wellness interventions.

The Northern Virginia Mental Health Foundation (NVMHF) is an excellent organization that is an amazing resource for the community. I have worked with them several times for grants that other organizations were unable to provide and NVMHF always came through. I have interfaced with Mary Kahn from the organization who was exceedingly responsive and disseminated the request in a timely manner. Thanks to the work of the NVMHF, not only was the support available, it came quick enough to really provide a positive benefit to the clients served.

When doing work with clients in a county where the needs far exceed the availability of resources, it can be difficult for us to be able to help clients with achieving their goals or getting their needs met. However, with nonprofits like NVMHF, we have been able to give clients hope and the life line they need to get them back on their feet or to break through some of the barriers that were keeping them from moving forward in their lives. NVMHF has helped me with so many of my clients and the speed in which they help the clients has been exceptional. I cannot imagine doing my job and helping clients without the assistance from NVMHF. I also think that it is so valuable that many of the NVMHF members have experience/expertise in behavioral health because this helps them truly understand how their decision to provide assistance can make a huge impact on the client's overall wellbeing. We truly need more nonprofits like them!!

I was so happy to support one of my clients in benefitting from a grant from the Northern Virginia Mental Health Foundation. The individual I worked with was four years into her co-occurring recovery journey. She had limited resources and health coverage and was seeking a part-time job to make ends meet while also doing her best to prioritize her treatment. Unfortunately, she was struggling with pain from a broken tooth that was impacting her ability to do so. She was able to use some resources from her local church to cover a portion of the costs, and a generous grant from NVMHF covered the remaining amount. With her dental work completed, she was pain-free and had renewed confidence in her smile. She now has a part-time job and is doing well in the community. She was so grateful for the support she received and the impact it had on her well-being.

As a professional in the Mental Health field and now a board member of NVMHF, I have seen firsthand the great work that NVMHF does. This small but mighty non-profit makes monetary grants to people with serious mental illnesses for important expenses that they cannot afford. From housing grants to purchases of health and wellness items, peoples' lives can be changed when they receive a grant.

When I was the director of a mental health program, we frequently saw people needing dental work that they could not afford. We also worked with individuals to find secure housing, but sometimes the security deposits and move-in expenses were more than our clients could afford. NVMHF funded every grant request that we made. The clients always commented on how transformative a grant was for them.

Now that I am retired and on the Board, I see the wide variety of needs that the Board fulfills. This is all done with a small, all-volunteer Board, which keeps the overhead expenses quite low. The work that the Board does is clearly a passion for the members and those receiving grants benefit greatly from their dedication.

As a clinician for the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board for over forty years, including 15 years as a Service Director, the creation of the Northern Virginia Mental Health Foundation in 1993 met very critical needs for those we serve.
Prior to its creation (under its original name, the Woodburn Foundation), we as a county agency did not have the ability to assist those we served with goods and services other than the behavioral health clinical services we were mandated to provide. Examples: When a person needed to put a security deposit to rent an apartment, pay rent to stay in their home, to pay medical copays to maintain their health care or to obtain medical services not covered by their insurance (e.g., Medicaid/Medicare), we had nothing to offer.
The Foundation has bridged that gap by raising funds for items and services that help a person move forward – and succeed - with their treatment/recovery goals. Just a very few examples: A person may need: to take a class to reach their employment goals; dental work to reduce pain and depression; transportation to their new job or art supplies to manage anxiety. The Foundation provides them the critical assistance they so need to continue on their road to recovery.
I have joined the Foundation for many many of their fundraising events over the many years because I truly believe that they are making a critical difference in the lives of vulnerable members of our community.

Since 1993 the "Foundation" has served as the primary funder for individuals in treatment needing services that are not funded by others at the Fairfax Falls Church Community Services Board [the public behavioral health agency]. They are a funder of last resort. Individuals who are considered Seriously Mentally Ill and in treatment are low income with 86% of them have an income of less than $1,400 a month and in this area, it is not enough for a one bedroom apartment.

The Foundation has developed a system for staff to apply for grants for these individuals regardless of the requested need, that can be funded by the Foundation. The request is based on treatment need and there are no restrictions on what can be requested. Over the years the Foundation has found that it is providing a valuable resource for individuals in the community who have no other funding options.

If someone is homeless and gets accepted into Transitional Housing, they need a security deposit before they can move in. The Foundation can provide a check made out to the management company is a matter of days. Housing is a foundational building block for achieving recovery. Or the Foundation will get a request for furniture for a homeless person moving into an apartment. These are basic needs that cannot be met in the community.

The Foundation volunteer board and no staff means the overhead for the organization is extremely low and donations go to serve those in need.

It was a pleasure to serve on the Mental Health Foundation Board, being able to fund needed services or items that make a significant difference in the lives of a person with mental health issues. There are a variety of skills on the Board. We'd read requests and vote online so it was a streamlined process. Friendships have continued even after rolling off the Board. A great group of people with meaningful work.

I have been so impressed with Northern Virginia Mental Health Foundation that I have supported them in their various fundraisers for the past several years. I have seen how they help people with mental health issues, and I have heard how grateful those recipients have been. The Foundation has helped them with rent and security deposits, critical dental work, medical copays, transportation to doctors appointments, classes to support employment, and so much more. The northern Virginia community has benefited from the work of this charitable organization.

Sam A., FFX/Falls Church CSB
Northern Virginia Mental Health Fund is a dedicated and true community partner in our collective goal of assisting individuals with mental health illness live and function independently in the community. I have been soliciting grants (big and small) from the Foundation since 2016, and the response is always the same “OUR BOARD HAS APPROVED YOUR REQUEST”. Fairfax Falls Church CSB is lucking to have you as a community partner. Thank you.

No. VA MH Foundation is our go to when individuals living with Serious Mental Health Illness and Substance Dependence need help with basic needs in order to live and work. They are responsive and thorough in their decision process. We are so grateful for their dedication to the community.

NVMHF is direct and timely help for our community neighbors with mental health issues. It is direct in that all of the money collected goes to those with great need. Dental work, for example, often goes undone unless NVMHF volunteers to help. Those on the foundation donate their time and resources to give help to those who truly need it. Those who give can know that, other than miniscule administrative expenses, 100 % of their money goes to those who need it. They would appreciate your help so very much.

Mike Porter
Donor

I have served as the Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary, and chaired various committees of the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board (F-FCCSB). The F-FCCSB is the Fairfax County, Virginia, agency that provides government-funded mental health services to the County's 1.2 million residents. I have also participated in the 2015 Fairfax County Police Practices Review Commission and served as the inaugural chairman of the stakeholders' group for Diversion First, the County's nationally-acclaimed jail diversion program. I'm a member of NAMI Northern Virginia, and have completed and presented to its Family To Family program. I'm a member of Concerned Fairfax, a local, grass-roots mental health advocacy group. Finally, I'm the father of a son who lived for seventeen years with Paranoid Schizophrenia.
In my various mental health-related roles, I have come to know and appreciate the superb and vital work performed by the Northern Virginia Mental Health Foundation ("the Foundation"). As I performed my various roles, I came to realize that helping people living with mental illness, day-to-day, is accomplished in the face of many practical requirements that cover a broad spectrum. Some, such as psychiatric research, share in the visibility of other medical research, and so are more familiar to donors and receive much-deserved attention.
Less-recognized requirements, related to more "pedestrian" elements of daily life, such as housing, training, and employment are often the most vexing, as they are "right now" requirements. For example, a homeless person living with mental illness faces a set of basic life challenges to recovery that a person with a stable housing situation might not face. In my experience, I came to understand considerations of this sort as essential "prerequisites" for recovery.
What I love about the Foundation is that it focuses on those essential areas. The Foundation's website describes their role in this way: "We partner with the Community Services Board of Fairfax and Falls Church to pay for goods and services otherwise unfunded but essential in helping persons with mental health issues to achieve his/her treatment goals." If a person living with mental illness needs funds for a security deposit in order to secure housing, or help with medical copays, for example, the Foundation is there to assist.
I am retired and no longer hold a CSB Board position. My formal involvement with the Foundation has evolved accordingly. However, I remain a committed, annual donor to support the great, vital, and practical work that they do.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

I volunteer for this non-profit. The foundation contributes to helping those impacted by severe mental illness in Northern Virginia.