This Volunteer Month, AHC is celebrating the nearly 350 individuals and groups who generously contribute their time and talents annually through our education and social services programs. Volunteers work directly with youth through our multi-tiered education program; provide invaluable helping hands during community activities; and, as AHC residents, regularly help their neighbors.
As part of Volunteer Month, MonteVerde Apartments celebrated a committed group of residents who jumped into action to help support residents during the pandemic and beyond. They delivered meals to residents’ doors, helped with monthly food distributions, checked on frail and elderly neighbors, assisted with vaccine clinics, and basically pitched in whenever anything was needed. Many were already long-time volunteers at the property and boosted their efforts as needs grew during the pandemic.
AHC Inc.’s Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Paul Bernard has been unanimously selected as the organization’s new President/Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He will join AHC in his new role on April 4.
Throughout 2021, AHC continued to work hard to effectively engage with residents and create and preserve more affordable places for people to call home. Here’s a snapshot of what our partners, supporters, and volunteers helped us accomplish in 2021.
Generous community members made the holidays brighter for AHC residents of all ages with visits from Santa, Christmas trees, toys, and gift bags.
AHC is focusing on building strong community and diversity in three critical areas: Within AHC apartment communities, across our own organization, and throughout our relationships with local government and community partners.
Affordable housing developer AHC Inc. is pleased to welcome Roxana Hernandez as its new Community Engagement Assistant Director. Hernandez will coordinate community engagement across AHC, ensuring resident and community perspectives will inform strategic decision-making throughout the entire organization — from communications to real estate development and property management.
AHC Inc., a regional non-profit affordable housing developer based in Arlington, VA, elected six new Board members during its Annual Meeting on October 19, 2021. “This year, we are intentionally broadening the Board perspective by bringing together diverse voices and lived experiences, including two AHC community residents from Silver Spring and Arlington, and community leaders from Montgomery County, the District of Columbia, Alexandria and Fairfax,” said Susan Cunningham, Interim President and CEO.
When the pandemic prevented in-person learning opportunities, AHC’s Resident Services staff pivoted to online programming to keep students connected. As the year evolved, volunteers played a valuable role in providing different kinds of literacy-building opportunities for students. One such initiative was a weekly book club created by Anna Niepold, a senior at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bethesda, MD. The book club met weekly over Zoom, serving kindergarten through second graders in AHC’s Afterschool Program.
Since the beginning of the outbreak, some 250 volunteers regularly donated their time and energy to work hand-in-hand with AHC’s staff and ensure that affordable housing residents continued to receive vital services. In addition, numerous community organizations and more than 100 volunteers helped AHC expand its food distribution program from six to 26 sites. Volunteers also continued to tutor and mentor K-12 students virtually, providing a critical lifeline to students struggling to keep up with the curriculum during the pandemic.
