Bethany House of Northern Virginia Inc.

Bethany House of Northern Virginia empowers women and children escaping domestic violence by providing safe, short-term housing and trauma-informed services. We help women and their children who have suffered from domestic violence regain health and dignity. We provide women with safe, restorative care while giving them the support and resources they need to transition into independent lives free from abuse. We are non-jurisdictional. We accept women and children from anywhere with any background. Once our families are stabilized, we help them get reestablished in their community by providing temporary housing and support. Realizing the vision of our founder Doris Ward, since 1979, BHNV has been a safe haven for women and children suffering the nightmare of domestic violence while also serving as a resource to our community at large. BHNV is funded by grants and donations from our community members.

Doris Ward founded BHNV in 1979 in response to the growing needs of women and children victimized by domestic violence. Ms. Ward observed the struggles faced by victims of abuse- a long wait through the courts, limited resources, and a lack of safe shelter. Compounding the problem was the perception of abuse as a private matter. BHNV programs address these crisis conditions, setting the standard for shelter-plus-care in Northern Virginia and the DC metropolitan area. Bethany House of Northern Virginia is among the oldest agencies in Northern Virginia providing specialized care, support services and assistance to individuals and families who have experienced domestic violence.

Source: Nonprofit submitted responses

Goal One: Provide as many emergency shelter home to domestic abuse victims and their children as possible.

Goal Type: Grow, expand, scale or increase access to the existing programs and services.

Goal Two: Expand the Trauma Recovery Initiative: This initiative helps our clients process the trauma they have experienced and to work through the multifaceted issues that arise during recovery from abuse.

Goal Type: Grow, expand, scale or increase access to the existing programs and services.

Goal Three: Increase Community Outreach: BHNV strives to strengthen interactions with public officials, community leaders, social and human service providers, and private individuals.

Goal Type: Grow, expand, scale or increase access to the existing programs and services.

Describe an investment in leadership

In an effort to better advance our core mission, and realigned our departments to form a more cohesive, efficient and focused organization Bethany House of Northern Virginia has gone through substantial restructuring with a new Executive Director, Director of development and Director of Counseling and Programs. The new executive team has completed a three-year strategic plan with input from a professional consulting firm, funded by a public grant, created a visionary plan that includes goals, objectives, and strategies for sustainability, administrative infrastructure, client services, community engagement, and volunteer management. The three-year plan will direct Bethany House through the following course: mitigate weaknesses, strengthen infrastructure to build capacity and deepen relationships and expand programs.

This organization mobilizes for mission in the following ways:

• Strategic Partnerships

• Networks of Collective Impact Efforts

• Thought Leadership

• Raising Awareness

• Community Building

• Policy Advocacy

What are this organization’s external mobilizaton efforts?

We are proud to have Memoranda of Understanding with the Marine Corps Base Quantico and the US Army Garrison, Fort Belvoir to provide emergency support to service members and dependents who have experienced incidents of domestic violence. We have also received countless honors and recognition from churches, clubs, organizations, and schools. Fairfax County Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross and Congressman Don Beyer have been avid supporters of Bethany House for several years. Finally, one of our most recent accomplishments is a collaboration with HomeAid of Northern Virginia along with NOVA Catholic Community, The Nest Collective, and others to completely renovate our shelter. The renovation involved expanding our safe-home shelter house by 75% so that we can accommodate even more women and children.

While going through a substantial leadership restructuring and In the face of a once in a century pandemic and in the midst of a major shelter renovation, Bethany House was committed to continuing the life saving work of empowering women and children escaping domestic violence by providing safe, short-term housing and trauma-informed services. Through massive shutdowns and stay-at-home orders, Bethany House never closed its doors to women who needed help. We actually experienced a stronger demand for our services during the pandemic forced isolation but were able to continue offering all our services throughout the last 2 years. We were fortunate to receive assistance from Fairfax County and other organizations to help us continue to provide services in the wake of this unprecedented time. During the pandemic we followed CDC recommendations and created pandemic protocols to keep our staff, volunteers and clients as safe as possible. We relied on online meetings and worked off site whenever possible. We were able to continue to offer all our services throughout the external and internal changes experienced by our organization.