Graduate from DC Central Kitchen’s Arlington Culinary Training Program moves into his own apartment. Fall 2011 The weight that James Muse carried for years was a by-product of a substance abuse problem he has now overcome. His addiction led the native Arlingtonian to commit a robbery, which landed him in jail. After serving time, Mr. […]

Fall 2011 Sanaa Darif moved to the United States from Morocco after her parents died. She stayed with her older sister upon arriving in the US but soon found herself living on the streets after her sister kicked her out. Sanaa was just 16 years old. Over the next several months, Ms. Darif did what […]

“Being homeless… you are in this long, lonesome tunnel. Most days, you just want to be ignored. It’s embarrassing.” Spring 2011 Her words speak to the thoughtfulness of the woman behind them. But they also suggest an endless struggle to locate services and stay healthy as a single woman living on the streets. Originally from […]

David Stanley began volunteering with A-SPAN over a year ago. Meticulous and orderly, he began doing data entry for our various housing program. HUD & County Housing grants require much record-keeping, a task that ordinarily takes up a good deal of staff time. By providing this service, Mr. Stanley not only guarantees up follow-up grants, […]

A-SPAN’s volunteer of the month is a full-time interpreter at local courts in Virginia, and works at night as a part-time security officer at an Information Technology (IT) company. During the winter while traveling from one job to the other, she stops in often at the shelter to serve up dinner and talk with clients. […]

All of us at A-SPAN are proud to announce that the Arlington Community Federal Credit Union (ACFCU) awarded our volunteer Missy Snelling the 2010 “People Helping People” Community Service Award on July 28th. With her background in public relations, Missy devoted much of her time and energy this past year to helping A-SPAN publicize our return to managing […]

Every month we will introduce you to a volunteer who makes a difference at A-SPAN, both to our clients and our operations. Our first member of this A-LIST is Devona Watson. Since October 2009, Devona Watson has been volunteering at Opportunity Place (OP) every weekday morning. With her cheerful expression and dedicated work ethic, Devona (and other OP […]

Spring 2010 At the age of 57, after 40 years of struggling with alcohol, Nathaniel Randolph made a choice. He “could either die or go to jail. I was out of resources and I couldn’t get a grip on nothing.” He called his friend and asked to be taken to a detox program at Arlington’s […]

Fall 2009 Darren Clark is a middle-aged African-American man with a warm smile and a love for gospel music. Severe glaucoma has left him nearly blind and in need of surgery. Even without his vision, he knows the streets of Rosslyn far too well.  He is one of 527 homeless people living on the streets of the County […]