November 3, 2016

Dear Sir or Madam,

This summer, Matthew Blum spent a good deal of his time volunteering at Homestretch. The mission of Homestretch is to empower homeless families with children living in Virginia to attain permanent housing and self-sufficiency by giving them the skills, knowledge and hope they need to become productive participants in the community.

This summer, Matthew worked tirelessly to help advance this work. To provide some detail, he supported programs such as our summer picnic, where we outfit the children in the program with everything they need for the new school year. He provided excellent staff support and helped make it a stellar event for the families. On several occasions he painted the interior of the building where we work with homeless clients, making an old deteriorating space clean, fresh, and bright. Matthew is hard working, kind, honest, humble, and a team player. A decision to add him to yours is a good one!

Since our inception in 1990, we have assisted over 1,000 families to achieve stability and self-sufficiency. The aim is to surround the homeless families with such vigorous supports that they can address the multiple barriers in their path and make as dramatic progress as possible while they are in Homestretch. Our program is designed to work with each family, individually, to help the family develop a measurable and achievable service plan which addresses the root causes of homelessness.

60% of the families we serve are homeless due to domestic violence, while others are homeless due to medical crises, human trafficking, loss of loved ones or some other economic downturn. Homestretch graduates break the cycle, which means their lives, and their children’s lives, are uplifted. Homestretch serves homeless families with children. In fact, the average age of someone in Homestretch is only nine years old. Through volunteering his time and skills, Matthew became a part of empowering families to truly rebuild their lives. He gave of himself to help the abused, the injured, those fleeing from war torn countries, domestic violence, or other atrocities. As one who manages many, I hope you get the delight of working with this wonderful young professional! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email me at blarson-jackson@homestretchva.org.

Best Regards,

Brianna Larson-JacksonDevelopment Specialist & Volunteer CoordinatorHomestretch303 S. Maple AvenueFalls Church, VA 22046http://homestretchva.org/