Founded as an orphanage in 1915, The National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) is a force for human change. We serve homeless children and their parents, survivors of domestic violence, impoverished families, and abused and neglected adolescents. It is our mission to ensure that those who have suffered significant assaults on their childhood have the opportunity to heal and grow.
Nationally accredited, NCCF propels more than 51,000 children, youth, and families annually into an improved quality of life through over 24 local programs—emergency shelters and transitional housing, therapeutic residential care, foster care and adoption, teen parent services, and community-based prevention services—while relying on community education and training, volunteerism, and advocacy. Our programs have become social service models, redefining both NCCF's reputation and the agency's position in the human service continuum in the Washington Metropolitan Region.
To create total, healthy living environments for vulnerable children, youth, and families, and the quality of life which empowers their ability to thrive and demonstrate responsibility.
We envision a society in which children, youth, and families live in sustained, supportive communities, which reinforce the integrity and unity of the family. The vision will be realized through:
Adolescent Services provides a continuum of care to youth victimized by neglect, abuse and/or abandonment. The Residence (GAP-R) is a high-intensity residential learning community for males who do not live with their families due to family problems, histories of abuse/neglect, and behavioral difficulties. The FutureBound Independent Living Program is a supervised community-based program for older youth who learn to live independently prior to aging out of the child welfare and juvenile systems. The FutureBound Transitional Housing Program provides housing support and workforce development for young adults who are homeless. The Northwood High School Wellness Center provides ethnically and culturally specific trauma informed youth development, case management, and mental health services to students and their families at Northwood High School in Montgomery County, Maryland.
Out-of-School Time Services provides comprehensive social service supports to children and families in Wards 7 and 8 of the District of Columbia. The J.C. Nalle Community School is a full-service community school offering academic and cultural enrichment activities, structured out-of-school time, and health, mental health, and social services to students and their families. NCCF’s Freedom Schools are an after-school enrichment program and summer camp for children living at the Kennedy Short Term Family Housing, the Sterling Short Term Family Housing program, and the New York Avenue hotel housing programs in the District of Columbia.
Family Services provides emergency shelter, transitional housing, and supportive services to children and families victimized by homelessness, poverty, and/or domestic abuse. Betty’s House provides transitional housing and a safe, supportive environment for immigrant women and their American-born children who are survivors of domestic violence. The Family Stabilization Program is a subsidized transitional housing program for homeless families. The Greentree Shelter in Bethesda provides emergency shelter and supportive services to families in Montgomery County. The New Beginning Short Term Family Housing, The Kennedy Short Term Family Housing, and The Sterling Short Term Family Housing in the District, are the most recent additions to the portfolio of services offered to homeless families and house more than 200 families annually. The Young Adults Rapid Re-Housing Program serves homeless families, headed by young adults under the age of 25, through a rapid re-housing program.
Foster Care and Adoption Services provides traditional and therapeutic foster care and adoption services for children who have been abused and neglected. This division includes the Greenleaf Treatment Foster Care Program, which serves children and youth in the State of Maryland, and the Family Focused Initiative (Traditional & Therapeutic), which serves children and youth in the District. Young teen mothers are also supported in foster care settings.
The Neediest Kids (TNK) Program provides thousands of low-income students in school districts throughout the Washington Metropolitan Region with basic essentials required to get the education they deserve. In partnership with ten school districts in Maryland, Northern Virginia, and DC, this program provides children with the keys to success by providing free eye exams and glasses, new clothes, school supplies, personal care items, food, transportation, school fees, and other necessities.
The achievement of the mission of NCCF is best served by the active participation of members of the community. To this end, NCCF accepts and encourages the involvement of volunteers within all appropriate programs and activities. Volunteers are viewed by NCCF as a valuable resource and therefore, NCCF agrees to provide volunteers with meaningful assignments, fair and equal treatment, training, supervision, and feedback.
In return, volunteers shall agree to actively perform their duties to the best of their abilities and to remain loyal to the values, mission, and procedures of NCCF. NCCF is committed to diversity and inclusiveness. Our employees, volunteers, governance, clients, and donors should be representative of the diversity of the community NCCF serves.
Youth volunteers are welcome! As youth volunteers are under the age of 18, their parent/guardian must sign the Confidentiality, Liability, and Photo Release Form before they can volunteer. The volunteer work assigned to a minor should be performed in a non-hazardous environment and should comply with all appropriate requirements of child labor laws. Volunteers under the age of 16 must be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.
Help NCCF Operations: A team of “Behind the Scenes” volunteers fulfill administrative and operational tasks at our range of locations throughout the Washington Metropolitan Region. Volunteers in these roles tend to be detail-oriented, organized, methodical, planners, and like working in a structured environment. These roles may be appealing to volunteers who are interested in a set schedule with regular duties and have indirect interaction with clients. Volunteers in these roles will be primarily located on one of our locations, although some duties could be completed from home.
Support NCCF’s immediate needs and special projects: Our Hands-On Volunteers are called upon for NCCF’s immediate and urgent needs, whenever and wherever they are needed. Your role could be to organize our donations in our warehouses or donation center, plant flowers and weed in our locations, or participate in our events or holiday drives. These volunteers are adaptive, flexible, and action-oriented. We may call on these volunteers to work irregular hours on short notice and/or do physical labor (ability to lift 20 pounds). These opportunities also extend to individuals with specialized skills in areas, such as computer programming, photography, videography, and social media, among others, for NCCF special projects.
Achieve NCCF’s mission and vision by serving our clients directly: Client facing volunteers help our organization support children, youth, and families to thrive and improve their quality of life. Potential opportunities could include providing tutoring support to school-aged children, reading books aloud to children in one of our shelters, or teaching an exercise, art, or music class to our shelter residents, among others. You will be working with diverse populations and therefore, cultural sensitivity is a must and foreign language skills are valued.
Support NCCF to meet our client resource needs: As a non-profit, NCCF relies on contributions from a fantastic and generous group of corporate and individual donors. Donation drives and giveaways are crucial to supporting our client’s needs. Opportunities to support us in this space could include conducting a holiday toy or food drive at your office or school, sponsoring a Tasty Tuesday, or fundraising to sponsor a NCCF event, family, or child.
To become a volunteer, sign up for our next volunteer orientation!
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C084DAFAE28AAFE3-volunteer#/
| (301) 365-4480 ext. 113 | |
| dlevin@nccf-cares.org | |
| Dahlia Levin | |
| Director of Development | |
| http://www.nccf-cares.org |
