To the Editor:
Novus/Cafritz has been a supporter of Fairfax CASA for several years as a sponsor of our Run for the Children, which is held each May at the Fairfax County Courthouse. This past fall, we met with Novus and they offered to provide free office space in their new development when it is built! This is an amazing opportunity for Fairfax CASA, providing us with a tremendous savings and putting us in a visible area where there would be a lot of walking traffic to attract supporters and volunteers.
Fairfax CASA is a nonprofit that advocates for abused and neglected children under the Court’s protections. As a public charity, Fairfax CASA raises its own money and is not funded by the government. One of our largest expenses is our rent for office space in Fairfax, which has cost us approximately $80,000 each year. Novus has offered us a commitment for 15 years of free rent when the development is built.
This savings of more than $1M would allow Fairfax CASA to serve many more children in the years to come, strengthening our community. As a highly regarded company with a long history of commitment to philanthropy, we firmly believe that Novus/Cafritz will be a strong community partner once they are located in Fairfax. We will all benefit from their presence in Fairfax.
Beyond the personal interest that we have in the property being approved, we believe the proposed project is beautiful and that it would upgrade the area, which is currently disjointed and dilapidated. Creating a beautiful walking community will encourage the other landowners in that area to follow suit to create a lovely living community in Fairfax.
Fairfax needs this type of development. In addition, the young people graduating from George Mason and getting advanced degrees there could live in the apartments and spend dollars in Fairfax! I’m sure the business owners would approve of this.
Lisa Banks
Executive Director
Fairfax Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) www.fairfaxcasa.org