The Lamb Center
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
According to a Point-in-Time count conducted by Fairfax County, there were 1,191 people experiencing homelessness in Fairfax on a night in 2022. This is a slight decrease of 3 percent (31 people) from 2021. Addressing the challenges of homelessness is a priority need in our community. The Lamb Center (TLC) is a unique social service provider in Fairfax County. TLC welcomes clients, whom we refer to as our "guests," six days a week to our day-time drop-in program. We are a low-barrier center offering an array of basic services, including meals, laundry service, hygiene items and showers, clothing, dental and nurse practitioner clinics (including vaccinations), a mailing address, recovery meetings and other facilitated groups.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Lamb Center
The Lamb Center is a daytime drop-in center for individuals who are experiencing homelessness in Fairfax, Virginia. We provide breakfast, lunch, showers, laundry service, Bible studies, case management, employment opportunities, housing and job counseling, AA meetings, small group opportunities, nurse practitioner services, a dental clinic, and much more.
Our mission is to live out the compassionate heart of Christ by serving our neighbors experiencing homelessness.
We envision a community where every individual is known, cherished, and has a place to call home.
Where we work
External reviews
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Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Total number of clients experiencing homelessness
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Lamb Center
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Number of individuals served per year at the daytime drop-in shelter. COVID-19 impacted the number of guests we served. Our numbers have begun to trend upward toward 1600 guests each year.
Number of meals served or provided
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Lamb Center
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of health/hygiene product and/or tools of care (mosquito nets, soap, etc.) administered
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Lamb Center
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Number of loads of guest laundry washed per year
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
The Lamb Center has 3 primary goals for the 2023 - 2026 Strategic Planning timeframe
1. Provide quality holistic programs
TLC will provide quality guest services including sustainable supportive housing. We will also maximize strategic partnerships with community, business, and faith community partners in order to meet our annual strategic objectives. We are committed to excellent programs and endeavor to secure the resources necessary to maintain high-quality services.
2. Foster a healthy and effective organization
We rely heavily on a strong corps of volunteers who are critical to the daily operations of the Lamb Center. We want to continue to retain and attract quality volunteers through enhanced volunteer experiences that include volunteer recognition, training opportunities, and impactful experiences with guests.
In addition to attracting and retaining quality volunteers, we aim to draw the best talent in the Northern Virginia area and provide a healthy work culture that makes TLC one of the best places to work. We recognize that a healthy workplace fosters the delivery of top-notch services, and we will continue to develop a healthy work culture. A healthy workplace is organized and equipped to respond to guest, staff, volunteer, donor, and community needs promptly, accurately, and efficiently.
3. Educate and engage our community
Our social service organization recognizes the importance of educating our community on the detrimental effects of homelessness on both our neighbors and the wider community. Given the complexity of this issue and its impact on diverse groups, we seek to engage partners from various backgrounds to meet the diverse needs of our guests. The success of our vital work is made possible by the contributions of government funding, grants, individuals, corporations, faith communities, and civic organizations. As we strive to deliver high-quality services, we remain committed to engaging numerous partners to secure the funding and material resources necessary for our mission.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We assist all interested guests with benefits applications, document readiness, income improvement, access to medical, behavioral health and substance abuse treatment, and other services to increase guest success in working with our Continuum of Care partners. We build relationships of trust while providing basic services, including meals, showers, laundry, and clothing. We also offer the opportunity for nurse practitioner visits and mental health outreach services. Pre-pandemic, we offered AA meetings, dental cleanings, access to peer support, etc. With adequate funding, we would subsidize the cost of rental application fees, holding fees, security deposits, renter's insurance, and first-month rent.
Case managers identify guests eligible for Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH), including VA or mainstream vouchers with intake using VI-SPIDAT. Case managers document disability, homeless history, income, assets, and program-specific requirements. They refer individuals to the Coordinated Entry Prioritization Pool and advocate for the guest once in the Pool. Case managers assist the guest to be document-ready (ID, birth certificate, SSA). If the guest is selected for PSH, they accompany the guest through the process and transition them to a new provider. If the guest is eligible for a voucher, they complete the application paperwork and documentation. Case managers assist with the housing search, applications, leasing, applying for funding for application/holding fees, renter insurance, utility connection, security deposit, and 1st-month rent. They coordinate the donation of household goods. Case managers perform quarterly home visits and monthly contacts for the first 12 months. Guests are responsible for keeping appointments, participating in obtaining documentation and housing search, and abiding by the case plan. Timing averages one month for referral; time in the pool varies; and the timing is 60-90 days for the voucher process.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We have a professional staff of eleven full-time employees and three part-time employees, and hundreds of volunteers, as well as an established group of individuals, churches, and community groups that support us and allow us to serve an average of 90+ guests each day. Our center provides holistic services that assist our guests with meeting their immediate needs so they are able to then focus on their long-term needs such as employment, housing, recovery, or physical health and mental health treatment.
Through the Lamb Center's City Jobs program, we help guests develop employment skills and seek jobs so they can be self-sustaining. The Lamb Center is partnering with both the City of Fairfax and Fairfax County to provide approximately 20 individuals with paid work maintaining city parks and public spaces throughout the county and city. For some workers, City Jobs serves as a stepping stone to full-time private sector employment; for all involved, it offers the dignity and sense of purpose that comes with earning a paycheck.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
In FY22, we served 762 Unique guests and served 18,279 meals. One of the greatest unmet needs for our guests is housing. In January 2023, the Lamb Center staff and board acquired a site on Fairfax Blvd in Fairfax City to build Northern Virginia's largest permanent supportive housing community. The housing building will be a five-story, 54-unit community comprised mainly of elderly and disabled residents with very low incomes. Each resident, who holds their own lease, will have access to wraparound services to address individual needs. The projected completion date of the development is the fourth quarter of 2025.
Additionally, we are expanding various services to our guests to address the whole person by adding more case managers, identifying funding streams for additional dental services, creating a mental health treatment program, and beginning the expansion of our workforce development program.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
We don't actively use collected feedback
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, We don’t have the right technology to collect and aggregate feedback efficiently, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time, It is difficult to get honest feedback from the people we serve
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
The Lamb Center
Board of directorsas of 05/08/2023
Cathy Liverman
No Affiliation
Term: 2020 - 2023
Cathy Liverman
Shannon Allen
Lori McLean
Lisa Hess
Karen Kershenstein
Edwina Lawson
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Alan MacDonald
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Chris Graham
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Mark Attwa, CPA, CMA, CFA
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Shelley Thames
Lesley Hatch
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 05/08/2023GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.