Arlington Neighborhood Village

Arlington Neighborhood Village (ANV) provides direct assistance to seniors aging in place as well as social support to foster connection and community engagement. 320+ volunteers deliver services including: rides to medical appointments, the grocery store, bank or post office; errands; friendly visits; tech help; and help around the house. In 2025, 321 ANV volunteers fulfilled 4,641 services and gave 13,848 hours of their time. Volunteers drove a total of 51,936 miles at their own expense. 95.5% of member requests were filled. Hundreds of educational and social events were conducted with 5,690 participants.ANV membership is open to Arlington adults aged 55 and up. ANV supports 500 members, ranging in age from 58 to 102 years old. 75% of ANV members are female, 44% are aged 80 and up, and 68% live alone. 17% of ANV members represent diverse backgrounds and 31% use a mobility device (cane, walker or wheelchair) or have some degree of hearing or sight loss. 100% of the older adults we serve live in Arlington County, as do the vast majority of our volunteer corps.46% of ANV membership, or 232 seniors, are lower-income. ANV aggressively moved to serve more lower income seniors during the past 6 years, taking two critical actions: (i) serving at-risk and in-need seniors referred by nonprofit and County partners at no cost; and (ii) reducing ANV's membership fee by 80-95% for residents with income less than $64,980 through ANV's Financial Aid Program. ANV is dependent on volunteers to achieve our mission. Despite its small paid staff, ANV has a large impact because of the donated volunteer labor that helps run and manage the organization, as well as provide direct services to seniors. All ANV volunteers are trained and vetted through criminal background checks, and when appropriate, driving record checks. In the words of our members and volunteers: "I could not have managed without the kind and well-qualified Arlington Neighborhood Village volunteers who assisted me in numerous waysgetting me to medical appointments, especially cancer treatment chemotherapy visits, radiation daily for 6 weeks, and assistance around my home.""ANV is a saving grace! Because of multiple health issues, I'm unable to grocery shop for myself. Being on a fixed income, I can't afford grocery delivery. All I need to do is contact the ANV office with the information they need, and they do the rest of the work. That makes coordinating with the volunteers effortless. ANV gives me a sense of peace during a troublesome time in my life. I can't thank them enough!""I first joined ANV after a good friend and travel buddy passed away. I found myself not talking with anyone for days at a time. I decided to join ANV, not only for the social events, but also, I might need a second pair of hands to help me around the house. Now I have new friends and lots of activities to fill the time. It is so rewarding to hear other members' stories and enjoy the events where I can connect with others. ANV has helped me to stay in my house and I am so grateful. This organization is a Godsend for so many of us.And from one of our volunteers: "Judy was pretty sick and frail, and she had to be lonely and probably scared. It was then that I realized ANV happens to be some of the answer for all of thatsick, frail, lonely, and scared. And in that moment, I was really proud to be a tiny, little part of such a wonderful, useful, helpful organization that supports so many of our neighbors here in Arlington."The COVID pandemic intensified the demand for help staying safe at home - especially from older adults on fixed incomes. During the most challenging early days of the pandemic and continuing to this day, ANV volunteers have stepped up and supported seniors throughout the County by delivering food from our local food bank, giving rides to medical appointments, delivering prescriptions and supplies, and helping navigate technology challenges as we all switched to the online world for social connection and engagement. ANV celebrates eleven years of operation in 2025. During those 11 years, ANV volunteers donated 84,008 hours, fulfilled 25,887 service requests and drove 300,000 miles at their own expense. ANV's organizational strength and flexibility was proven in our continuous operation through a deadly global pandemic and is evident as we continue to grow to meet the need for support for those aging in place in Arlington.