Thursday, December 8, 2011
Holy Family Catholic Church is reaching a diverse community with a wide range of needs and issues.
One of the first things you notice upon entering Holy Family Catholic Church off Ferndale Road is a large bin for food donations to supply the parish’s food pantry. All throughout the large building are signs, posters, brochures, or people advocating caring for those in need—the elderly, shut-in, homeless, sick, hungry, and defenseless. During mass, children bring food for the hungry and give it to be blessed during the offering time. The food pantry alone feeds an average of 10 to 15 people per day, not including walk-ins who “we just can’t say no to,” said Maureen Ruongrat, who works at the pantry. You can’t talk with the Reverend Gerry Creedon very long before the conversation leads to social justice and righting the world’s wrongs—…
Thursday, October 13, 2011
With cold weather coming on, the Bill Mehr Drop-In Center for the homeless needs blankets and other winter supplies to help prevent hypothermia.
As the digits on the thermometer drop, the weather can be not only uncomfortable, but dangerous for those without a home to live in. The Bill Mehr Drop-In Center accepts donations of blankets, coats and warm winter clothes to help the area's homeless. The most important needs right now are blankets and thermal underwear for both men and women, volunteer Yvonne William said. Waterproof winter work boots are also needed. The center cannot accept large bulk donations because they do not have room to store them, so for a current list of specific needs, check the center's website. The center is operated by the Cooperative Council of Ministries, a group of 27 churches in the eastern Prince William County area. It is run out of the county's …
Monday, May 16, 2011
Police sent a human skull to the medical examiner for identification.
The Prince William County police said that on May 14 a person reported that they found a skull in the woods behind Kmart off Dale Boulevard. Police spokesman Jonathan Perok said the discovery was made sometime before 2:21 p.m. when the person called police to report the findings. A homeless encampment existed near where the skull was found before State Police ordered people to move off of the land earlier this year. Perok said the skull was sent to the medical examiner for identification. There did not appear to be any signs of trauma to the skull, Perok said.
38.62713
-77.301949
Kmart
2851 Dale Blvd, Woodbridge, VA
/articles/skull-discovered-near-dale-boulevard
1457680
/locations/4404264
Friday, April 1, 2011
Virginia State Police said no citations were issued when they cleared the camps on Thursday.
Virginia State Police said they did not issue any citations for trespassing on Thursday when they cleared the area where many homeless people have long camped along Interstate 95 in Dale City. State Police spokeswoman Corrine Geller said troopers had cleared the entire area by early afternoon and deemed it vacant, at which point Virginia Department of Transportation contractors began to clean up the area. Troopers had been visiting the campsites every night for over a week to inform all the people living in those areas that they must be out by Thursday. Geller said most of the 36 campsites within the traffic loops were empty by Thursday, and troopers gave those remaining the entire day to finish packing up and leave. VDOT had requested the…
Monday, February 21, 2011
Community service organizations are collecting donations to help homeless individuals who lost their shelter and belongings in the brush fires over the weekend.
Action in Community Through Service, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the homeless in Prince William County, is accepting donations to help homeless people in Dale City who lost their shelter and belongings in the brush fires on Saturday. A large brush fire burned about 25 acres in the woods behind the K-Mart in Dale City on Saturday, one of several large fires throughout the county. Homeless people who live in those woods were forced to evacuate and leave their belongings. ACTS is collecting tents, sleeping bags, tarps, blankets, non perishable food items and other camp related items to help the homeless victims of the fire. Donations will be accepted on Tuesday at 3900 ACTS Ln. in Dumfries. Donations can also be made at …
38.631819
-77.295746
14730 Potomac Mills Rd, Woodbridge, VA
/articles/local-organizations-helping-homeless-after-fires
/locations/3462553
Sunday, January 9, 2011
The death of a homeless man in Dale City last week is drawing attention to the plight of those who live, by choice or necessity, in the campsites hidden throughout the area.
George Doughty, the homeless man with the big smile who loved to read Westerns, hadn’t come by the drop-in center in a year and a half. After multiple surgeries, he had trouble walking and it was a hard walk to the center from his campsite in the woods. But one day recently, he showed up unexpectedly in front of director Bonnie Schrader’s desk. “Hi Miss Bonnie, I just came by for a cup of coffee,” he told her. He stayed for a while and talked a bit. Then about two weeks later, Schrader found out he was dead. “It was a divine appointment,” Schrader said of having the opportunity to talk with Doughty one more time before his death. Doughty, 60, was found dead in his tent Wednesday morning. Police said the cause of death was medical-related. …
