Welcome Kits for New Residents of Affordable Housing: Fairfax, VA
Every January, the Sri Sathya Sai Center of Fairfax, VA, faithfully organizes a winter care package service project involving Sai Spiritual Education (SSE) students. Traditionally, Sai volunteers purchase items like blankets, coats, and socks to distribute to unhoused individuals in Washington D.C.'s parks and shelters. However, this year presented a unique opportunity.
The Center partnered with Affordable Homes & Communities (AHC), a nonprofit based in Arlington, VA, to provide "Welcome Kits" for new tenants moving into affordable apartments. These kits contained essential household supplies, including cleaning products, toilet paper, paper towels, a plunger, and shower curtains with hooks.
The Fairfax Sai Center committed to creating 150 welcome kits. Given the substantial donation, AHC suggested delivering them to the newly opened Allium Place community in Silver Spring, MD, with 195 apartments. This community provides safe and stable housing for individuals on the economic margins, including immigrants.
On January 26, the project service day, AHC Volunteer Coordinator Millie Landis joined the Center just before the regular devotional session and SSE class. SSE children actively participated in packing the items and created handwritten "Welcome Home" cards with messages of love for each kit. During the Center's announcements, Landis spoke about the significance of the donation for the families moving into Allium Place. Following the activities, a caravan of dedicated SSSIO volunteers transported the kits to Silver Spring, nearly an hour away.
Landis later expressed her gratitude in a thank-you letter to the Fairfax Sai Center, stating, "Let me begin with a heartfelt thank you to your incredible community. I was truly blown away yesterday by the Sai Center's efficiency, generosity, spirit of collaboration, dedication to service, and overall genuine community bond. I was especially impressed with the kids' ability to jump in and help, as well as the extra commitment and dedication of the drivers who came all the way to Silver Spring to deliver the bags. It is evident how authentic the Sai Center's mission towards social justice is. We are so lucky to have partnered with you on this project. On a personal note, I also really appreciate your welcoming me for the entire Center experience; I found the devotional singing and students' testimonies quite moving."
Chitra Kumar, the project lead, remarked, "We are delighted that through this service activity, the Center can offer support to vulnerable individuals in an entirely new way. In the coming months, the Fairfax team will explore other ways that the volunteers can serve the members of that community. This is another step on the journey of deepening our connection to Sai, who taught us, ‘Love All. Serve All.’ and ‘Help Ever. Hurt Never.’”