By Rebecca Barnes, Publisher, Prince William Living
For 47 years, CFH has been helping Northern Virginia residents find something most of us want for ourselves and our families: a safe, stable place to call home.
Today, Creating Foundations for Hope, better known as CFH, does that in more ways than its founders probably imagined in 1979. The Manassas-based nonprofit helps first-time homebuyers, provides affordable rental housing, assists seniors facing financial emergencies, helps renters with security deposits, and operates a Mobile Food Pantry that served thousands of local families last year.
That ability to grow and respond as the community’s needs have changed is one of the reasons Laura Nickle nominated CFH for the 2026 Prince William Living Giving Back Award.
Nickle, a contractor with the organization, calls CFH the “little nonprofit that can.”
For nearly five decades, it has continued to find practical ways to help its neighbors.
A Manassas Community Worth Saving
One of the best examples can be found at East End Mobile Home Park in Manassas.
In 2018, the community was facing potential condemnation because of ongoing water and sewer problems. CFH and its partners stepped in and purchased the property.
Today, East End is home to 56 units and 242 residents. CFH has continued to invest in the property and the people who live there, addressing infrastructure needs and adding programs, events, a community resource center, a playground, and other improvements.
In FY2025, CFH completed the first phase of drainage improvements at East End and continued planning additional work.
East End has also become an important part of CFH’s food assistance efforts, which started during the pandemic and grew into something much larger.
When an Emergency Program Becomes a Community Resource
CFH began distributing food at East End during the pandemic. As the immediate crisis eased, the need for food did not.
The program continued growing.
With a Mobile Food Pantry and help from volunteers and community partners, CFH now distributes food at mobile home parks, neighborhoods, schools, and other locations throughout the area.
In FY2025, CFH’s Mobile Food Pantry provided assistance to 9,052 households and 26,607 individuals.
Those numbers stood out to Nickle, but so did the way the program developed.
“CFH doesn’t simply respond to immediate needs, it creates foundations for hope,” she wrote in her nomination.
The food pantry is a good example. What began as a response to one immediate need at East End has become an ongoing resource for thousands of people.
Helping People Stay in Their Homes
Food security is only one piece of CFH’s work.
The organization’s Dr. Melanie Rochon Bush Senior Emergency Program assists older adults facing expenses that can threaten their ability to remain safely housed and independent.
In FY2025, the program helped 318 seniors dealing with rising costs, medical expenses, benefit disruptions, and other emergencies.
CFH also helped 285 people maintain stable housing through its affordable rental program, while its Edie Streett Security Deposit Program assisted 66 people.
A security deposit may not sound like a large housing issue, but for someone who can afford the monthly rent and cannot come up with the upfront deposit, it can be the difference between moving into a home and continuing to look for one.
That is where CFH often works, identifying a specific obstacle and helping someone get past it.
From Renting to Owning
CFH also helps first-time homebuyers with down payment and closing-cost assistance, education, and other support.
Nickle shared the story of Josselyn, a working mother of two who was able to become a homeowner with help from CFH.
For Josselyn, homeownership meant more than buying a house. It created stability for her children and the opportunity to begin building something for the next generation.
Stories like hers are why CFH describes its work in three parts: Creating Foundations for Homeownership Success, Creating Foundations for Housing Affordability, and Creating Foundations for Healthy Living.
They are different programs, but they are connected by the same goal.
CFH wants people to have the stability they need to move forward.
47 Years of Finding a Way to Help
CFH was founded in 1979 to address the need for safe, affordable housing. Forty-seven years later, affordable housing remains a challenge, but the organization has learned that keeping people safely housed can mean addressing many other needs along the way.
It may mean helping a senior with an emergency expense, delivering food to a family, helping someone cover a security deposit, preserving an affordable neighborhood, or helping a first-time buyer get into a home.
Nickle believes that willingness to adapt is part of what makes CFH deserving of the Giving Back Award.
“CFH exemplifies what it means to be a community cornerstone,” she wrote. “For 47 years, this ‘little nonprofit that can’ has continued to rise to the occasion, finding practical and creative solutions to the challenges facing individuals and families across Northern Virginia.”
There are plenty of numbers that show CFH’s impact, including thousands of people receiving food and hundreds receiving housing and senior assistance in just one year.
But behind each of those numbers is a neighbor who needed some help getting from where they were to somewhere a little more stable.
CFH has been helping people make that move since 1979.
Which Nonprofit Deserves the Giving Back Award?
CFH is one of the organizations nominated as Prince William Living and Give Back Prince William recognize nonprofits making a difference throughout Prince William County, Manassas, and Manassas Park.
Do you know a nonprofit doing work our community should know about?
Nominate your favorite Prince William nonprofit for the Giving Back Award.
Tell us who they are, what they are doing, and why their work matters. Your nomination gives us an opportunity to introduce more people to the organizations working every day to improve quality of life in our community.
About Give Back Prince William
Give Back Prince William works to strengthen our community and increase awareness through education while supporting organizations and initiatives that improve quality of life throughout Greater Prince William.
Learn more about Give Back Prince William.
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Giving Back Award nominations: princewilliamliving.com/givingbackaward/
Give Back Prince William: givebackpw.org/
CFH: cfhva.org/
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