For 50 years, Affordable Homes & Communities (AHC) has invested in its residents and its communities. That investment has always depended on people and institutions choosing, year after year, to invest in AHC through philanthropic giving.
AHC spoke with two longtime donors about what got them started and why they keep giving.
Relationship Built on Trust
The Washington Forrest Foundation (WFF) has been giving to AHC for more than three decades. In 1995, it donated a playground at one of AHC’s communities, Jamie Gravett, WFF Associate Director, said.
A playground was a fitting gift, and a preview of the kind of support WFF would go on to provide.
“Kids are a passion of the foundation. They always have been — all ages from zero to 18,” Jamie said. “And the support that AHC does with all kids in the community is exceptional.”
WFF is a family foundation guided by a core principle the foundation still names today: helping others help themselves. In the decades since WFF began donating to AHC, the foundation has passed from one generation of the family to the next. Jamie, who has served on the board for more than 10 years, now stewards the foundation alongside his sister, Rachel Mrad, the foundation’s executive director.
Yet through all the change, WFF’s mission — and its commitment to AHC — have remained strong.
WFF supports AHC’s Resident Services program, with a focus on education programming and social services. Jamie points to AHC’s College & Career Readiness (CCR) program as one of the programs that keeps the foundation giving.
“AHC’s College & Career Readiness program … really sets them apart from everyone else,” Jamie said. “That’s a gap in funding, not only in Arlington, but in the entire country, and they do an exceptional job.”
Jamie sees AHC’s Education programming — from afterschool tutoring to CCR — as a steadying force not just for kids but for families as a whole.
“Kids need a safe place to go while their parents are working one, maybe two jobs,” said Jamie. “So having something like that, where there’s a trust-based relationship [between] the kids and AHC, is amazing.”
Ask Jamie why the foundation has continued to support AHC decade after decade, and one word comes to mind.
“To me, AHC means trust,” Jamie said. “AHC is a trusted partner, a valued partner, and doing amazing work in the community.”
– Jamie Gravett, Associate Director, Washington Forrest Foundation
From Tutor to Lifelong Supporter
More than a decade ago, Christy Robinson walked through the doors of Gates of Ballston for her first volunteering session.
“A friend was doing some tutoring through AHC, and I was just looking for a way to be involved in the community and give back a little,” Christy said. “So, I signed up.”
She was paired with a high school student named Eskinder. Christy went on to work with Eskinder for a couple of years and counts her time with him among her most memorable at AHC.
“I think that has felt like the biggest contribution that I’ve made: seeing [Eskinder] graduate and then be the first in his family to go to college, to graduate, and then to get a great job. To see him settled and happy and successful is really, really touching.”
– Christy Robinson, longtime AHC donor and volunteer
While she was tutoring, Christy started seeing more of what AHC does for families beyond the impact on her own student.
“Being up close to AHC and seeing what an impact it makes in people’s lives, I started donating periodically,” Christy said.
After Eskinder graduated, Christy stepped back from tutoring to grow her own family. However, she kept finding new ways to stay involved with AHC’s residents, from calling Bingo for senior residents to joining the Capital Area Food Bank’s monthly Senior Brown Bag delivery route to AHC communities, which she still drives today.
In 2019, Christy became a monthly donor, and now her giving and her delivery route follow the same rhythm.
“I switched to monthly [giving], just because I was able to see what an important organization [AHC] was for the area and how it was changing people’s lives,” Christy said. “I believe in the value of monthly giving. It lets the organization know … they can count on that support.”
Christy’s kids, now 10 and 12, ride alongside her on food deliveries when they aren’t in school.
“I’ve tried, as they’ve gotten older, to instill in them the importance of helping people who may not have as much as us, or who may just be having a hard time at the moment,” she said.
AHC, Christy said, exemplifies how communities can do exactly that.
What Keeps Them Coming Back
Christy has been giving to AHC for more than 12 years, while WFF’s partnership stretches back more than three decades. Both donors point to AHC’s long history of success as the reason they keep giving.
“Fifty years is such a substantial amount of time to have built a presence in [the region],” Christy said. “I assume there will be new challenges to face, but having such a long, strong track record makes AHC more than fit to meet the moment.”
For Jamie, that confidence extends to the next 50 years.
“Looking ahead, I hope AHC continues to grow and do the great work that they’re doing,” said Jamie. “Everything AHC has done has been phenomenal. We couldn’t be prouder to be part of the growth of AHC.”
Want to join Christy and the Washington Forrest Foundation in supporting AHC’s mission? Learn how you can make a lasting impact today: ahcommunities.org/support-ahc
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