According to Out of Reach 2011, approximately 46% of renters in Northern Virginia are unable to afford units in the private housing market. For those workers making the minimum wage of $7.25/hour, their affordable rent translates to $377/month.

February 17, 2011 - The Foundation for the Children of Haiti continue to make a profound difference in the lives of tens of thousands of people over the past year.

In a letter thanking us for our support, the Foundation cited some of the major improvements since the devastating earthquake last year in January. They have rebuilt and upgraded the Hope Hospital, the former Children’s Hospital that had been damaged, and provided critically needed medical equipment and supplies for its operation. With the total repair of the Hope Hospital, and with its major upgrade and renovations and a new operating room, delivery room and completed ultrasound facility, it now is one of the best general hospitals in the country. Hope Hospital has operated 24/7 since the quake struck; treating over 15,000 patients and it will continue to do so. No patients at Hope Hospital are being treated in tents.

On the one year anniversary Haiti's devastating earthquake, our Haitian brothers and sisters' lives are still threatened by horrendous conditions. They must survive, cholera, homelessness and desperation and it has become evident that the rebuilding process will take quite some time.

That devastating earthquake lasted approximately 35 seconds and reduced the country's capital to rubble, took the lives of around a quarter of a million people, injured hundreds of thousands more and left 1.5 million survivors homeless.