For convenience and savings, groups put services under one roof - The Washington Post

A single mother on the verge of homelessness must decide which ofher children will make a sacrifice today: Will her son miss out onhelp from a tutor, or will her daughter give up free medical helpthree bus transfers across town?

According to Sarah Newman, executive director of the nonprofitorganization Helping Children Worldwide, such decisions are madeevery day by families in need of social services in Fairfax County.

After five years of planning, Newman's vision of a partnership ofnonprofit service providers in one location is about to become areality.

Connections for Hope, six private nonprofit organizations and theFairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board, will move into a new10,000-square-foot facility in Herndon next week.

Newman said the facility will allow the groups to deliver theirprograms more consistently, cost-effectively and conveniently.

'By spreading the operating expenses across several organizationsand taking advantage of the economics of resource sharing, eachnonprofit will have more financial resources to invest in programdevelopment and the delivery of services to those whose lives dependon them,' she said.

Helping Children Worldwide will sublease the space to thepartnering organizations. Newman said deciding on a location tooksome doing.

'We had some unique zoning requirements,' she said. Eventually,setting up shop at 13525 Dulles Technology Dr. in Herndon seemedideal.

'It is on the edge of a corporate park, and there are also twoelementary schools nearby, McNair and Hutchinson, both with a highnumber of students enrolled in the [National School Lunch Program],so there are obviously pockets of need around us here,' she said.

For some of the organizations involved, the need to establish aconvenient, central facility that pursues an integrated approach toserving the needs of the community could not be more pressing.

The Jeanie Schmidt Free Clinic, a community-based organizationproviding health services to uninsured low-income residents inwestern Fairfax County, began its volunteer services in thecafeteria of Herndon Middle School in 2002. It opened a clinicoffice in 2007, but demand has since outgrown what that facility canprovide.

'We treat children countywide and adults in the Herndon, Reston,Chantilly and Centreville area that have high blood pressure anddiabetes,' said Meagan Ulrich, the clinic's executive director. 'Wewould like to do more, but we just can't. Unfortunately, we have toturn many people away.'

Even so, Ulrich said that last year the clinic treated about1,000 people, a 62 percent increase from 2008. The clinic willrelocate to Connections for Hope next week.

'We will gain an extra exam room, and the overall space will bemuch more useable, even though the cost will remain relatively thesame,' Ulrich said.

Jeanie Schmidt, a retired public health nurse, initiallyconceived the idea for the clinic -- the first free clinic inFairfax County -- to provide low-income students with thephysicals they need for school and activities. The clinic expandedits services to adults soon after.

The clinic and Reston Interfaith often refer clients to eachother. Now, those in need can walk across a hallway to access bothorganizations.

gmacdonald@fairfaxtimes.com