HJ374: Commending Homestretch.

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 374

Offered February 27, 2020
Commending Homestretch.
Patron-- Sullivan

WHEREAS, Homestretch empowers homeless families in Northern Virginia to secure permanent housing and to attain the knowledge, skills, and hope they need to achieve lasting economic self-sufficiency; and

WHEREAS, Homestretch has contributed substantially to efforts by Fairfax County and the City of Falls Church to end homelessness by providing housing and comprehensive services to more than 1,000 homeless families with more than 3,000 children since its founding in 1990; and

WHEREAS, Homestretch equips families to escape homelessness and poverty permanently through programs that help the family members acquire skills and education, reduce debt and repair credit, enter lucrative career paths, and restore their health; and

WHEREAS, Homestretch facilitates the economic empowerment of homeless parents with children in Northern Virginia, and launches them into careers such as nurses, chefs, teachers, accountants, real estate agents, dental assistants, pastors, commercial drivers, social workers, business analysts, pharmacy technicians, master plumbers, restauranteurs, and auto mechanics; and

WHEREAS, Homestretch provides high-quality early education for homeless and low-income children through its licensed preschool, Kidstretch, and ensures the educational success of youths in the program through its dedicated collaboration with the Fairfax County and Falls Church City Schools; and

WHEREAS, Homestretch has achieved unparalleled success in assisting homeless families secure and maintain long-term employment and permanent housing, with 90 percent of families completing the program by moving into permanent housing that they can afford and 95 percent of its graduates never returning to homelessness; and

WHEREAS, Homestretch has fulfilled its mission through the hard work of hundreds of volunteers and the generosity of more than 1,400 donors each year; and

WHEREAS, Homestretch demonstrates that dramatic transformation of lives is possible, given the right structure, support, and opportunity; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend and congratulate Homestretch on the occasion of its 30th anniversary and That the General Assembly express its admiration and gratitude for the important work of Homestretch, benefiting the lives of homeless families and helping to strengthen the future of our community; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Homestretch as an expression of the General Assembly’s admiration for its life-changing contributions to communities in the City of Falls Church and Fairfax County.