This home has 20 apartments, permanent housing for single adults.
Giving back to the community is a family affair for three generations of Mondlochs who came out on a sunny Saturday, April 19, to plant plants, paint the kitchen and spruce up the Mondloch House and grounds.
Rick Mondloch, son of Mondloch House founder, Bob Mondloch, for whom the complex is named, said that helping others is ingrained. Growing up, his parents took him and his seven siblings to the former Lorton Prison to conduct Bible study. “We were brought up to give back to the community,” he said.
Shane Mondloch and Joe Bynum, adult grandsons of Bob, helped clean out and organize the shed. “Giving back’s a no brainer,” Shane said.
The Lockheed Boulevard complex has two buildings, one that provides shelter for eight chronically homeless single adults with mental health needs and the second with efficiency apartments for 20 single adults who have experienced homelessness. Apartment residents have leases and pay rent.
Bob Mondloch was also the first treasurer of New Hope Housing, an organization started in 1977 to end homelessness by providing homeless people services to succeed. New Hope Housing now manages shelter programs in Northern Virginia providing 160 beds year-round, an additional 80 to 100 beds in the winter and permanent housing for over 100 single adults.
Bob Mondloch, a soil conservationist, and his wife, Mary, moved to the Mount Vernon area from Minnesota for his job with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 1967. That same year, Mary tragically died of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 30, leaving Bob to raise six boys and two girls, the youngest three years old. He placed an ad in a local newspaper seeking help in his home and Joyce Redding, age 24, replied. Romance eventually blossomed and they married. Joyce, now 82, helped out on April 19.
A Family Team
Among the 16 family members cheerfully doing chores was another son of Bob and Mary, Greg Mondloch, a Clifton resident who has a company, Mondo Improvements. He and his nephew, Nick, painted the gazebo russet red. Why? Greg answered, “Because this is what we do as a family. We love helping out where we can,” adding, “It’s awesome when the next generation gets involved.”
Dan Monloch and his nephew, Evan Vahouny, put new white tiles in the shelter’s kitchen and painted the walls.
Lindsay Lesko, whose father, Roger, is another son of Bob and Mary, and several others planted black-eyed Susans, phlox, coreopsis, tomatoes and peppers in raised beds. The Merrifield Garden Center donated the plants, soil and timber for the beds. Fernando, the home’s onsite gardener, supervised nearby. Lesko shared a flyer she made which says, “Because taking care of the Earth means taking care of each other and even small actions, like reducing waste or growing a garden, help create a better more stable future for all of us.”
The Mondloch House
The two Mondloch buildings blend compatibly into the neighborhood, resembling many suburban homes in Northern Virginia, unlike some shelters which are dormitory-like, explained Roger Bowman, Program Director for New Hope Housing.
The apartment house has a breezy, wrap-around front porch, a common area, food pantry, computers and staff onsite. Each apartment has a bedroom, dinette, kitchen and bathroom. On the grounds are a gazebo, picnic area and raised garden beds.
Case managers help residents with many life skills, like hygiene, meal preparation, budgeting and getting and storing their social security number and birth certificate.
Bowman sees working there as “the most amazing job I could ever think of,” he said. “It is rewarding knowing you are helping people. They are so grateful just for food. It is wonderful. Getting food and a blanket bring joy.”
How do people end up there?
“Many have been abandoned,” he says, some kicked out of their home because of family conflicts or difficulty coping with certain expectations. He cites a woman with mental health challenges who was living in her car and could not hold a job. Mondloch’s team helped her get appropriate medications, a housing voucher and a part-time job.
The first Mondloch House opened in 1978, by Route One Corridor Housing, a local organization that eventually became New Hope Housing. It was the first homeless shelter in Fairfax County.
New Hope Housing’s Executive Director, Ashley McSwain, stopped by the event and said that people can help by donating money, food and time, including conducting workshops on topics like life skills and financial literacy.
To donate, visit https://www.newhopehousing.org/get-involved/donate/.
To get help for someone in crisis, call the Fairfax County Community Services Board at 703-559-3000.