Can you believe it? We are almost at the end of 2018! As another year passes, I look back at all of the amazing accomplishments OAR participants have been able to achieve thanks to your support. So far in 2018, you have assisted more than 1,800 men, women, and youth including 609 individuals returning back to the community from incarceration and 1,333 individuals completing community service. With your support many have been able to start working again, move into rooms and apartments, continue and finish their education and vocational training, reunite with family, and give back to the community through volunteering their time. Your generosity made all of that happen.

Even with all of these wins, we know that the year is not quite over yet and the need remains. OAR participants still need your help! So if you can please still support individuals like Bryan and Angela, who you can read more about below, and their families before the year comes to an end.

I also want to share with you what a success OAR's Project Christmas Angel event was this year! Thanks to our friends and supporters like you and many organizations and businesses in the community, 371 children who have a parent incarcerated locally have received gifts for the holidays this year. You can read below for more information and see pictures from the 2018 event.

From all of us at OAR, thank you for another great year filled with successes and your support of our mission! We hope you had a wonderful holiday and we wish you a happy new year!

Elizabeth Jones Valderrama, MA, CVA
Executive Director

A Participant Story: Meet "Bryan"*

After spending 32 years of his adult life incarcerated in the Coffeewood Correctional Facility in Culpeper, VA and the Arlington County Detention Facility, Bryan was recently released in July 2018. Bryan came to OAR right after he was released to meet with one of our Reentry Associates to figure out his next steps. In the following weeks after Bryan was released, OAR's Reentry Team worked with Bryan to find employment, provided him and his family with winter clothes, hats, and gloves to prepare for the cold season, and assisted Bryan with transportation so he could go home to his family and to and from job interviews. OAR's Reentry Team also connected Bryan to the Arlington Bridges Out of Poverty initiative, started in the community by the Department of Human Services and the Arlington Community Foundation along with many other participating nonprofits to reduce the social costs of poverty, strengthen the workforce, and promote change in the community at the individual, institutional, and policy levels. Through Bridges Out of Poverty's "200 Bridges" program, Bryan was able to receive additional support and services for him and his family. Through hard work and the support of OAR and his family, Bryan is now able to provide for his family by working as an overnight stock worker at BJ's Wholesale. Prior to his incarceration, Bryan was a Certified Public Accountant at a firm in DC and he loved the work he was doing while he was there. OAR's Reentry Team is continuing to support and work with Bryan so he can possibly get back into accounting and do what he loves most.

*Name changed to protect the privacy of the participant. The photo is a stock photo and not necessarily representative of the participant.

200 Volunteers Gathered to Wrap and Deliver Holiday Gifts for Children of Parents Incarcerated

OAR's Project Christmas Angel Wrapping Party event was held on December 12th at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Arlington. More than 200 volunteers, OAR team, and members of the OAR Board were in attendance to wrap and deliver holiday gifts for children of parents incarcerated locally. A huge thank you to all of the individuals who donated gifts during our Annual Toy Drive this year, to all of the organizations and businesses that hosted donation boxes on behalf of OAR to collect gifts, and to all of our volunteers who donated their time to help us with Project Christmas Angel! Thanks to your support, we were able to provide more than 1,100 gifts to nearly 400 children! Thank you for helping us bring these families joy during the holidays.

Below are some photos from the event. To view all photos from the event, click here to visit our Facebook Page. Thank you to everyone who helped make this possible!

We Still Need Your Support!

Over 5 million children under the age of 18 in the United States have had a parent incarcerated at some point in their lives. Although the year is coming to an end, it's not too late to join us in supporting these families! If you have already given your support, we thank you! If not, you still have the chance to make a positive impact in the lives of OAR participants like Angela (who you can read more about here) who is currently incarcerated and is spending her first holiday away from her two children. Your support allows us to send children like Angela's holiday gifts through our Project Christmas Angel Program and also allows our team to continue to work with individuals like Angela in the critical months before and after their release from incarceration to ensure that her reentry back into the community is a success. We set a goal earlier this month to raise $10,000 by December 31st so that we can continue to be the support system on your behalf for those coming home out of incarceration. We are still working on meeting this goal before the year-end. Would you consider making a special year-end donation to help us meet our goal?

If you have already made a contribution, thank you! If you haven't, please click here to make your donation now. Your gifts will allow hundreds of men and women like Angela to receive the support they need when they return home from incarceration. Thank you for your continued support for our mission!

Volunteer Spotlight

For this month's Volunteer Spotlight, we want to give a very special thank you to the more than 200 volunteers who helped us with Project Christmas Angel this year! Whether it was coming into our office to do administrative work, helping us deliver or pick up donation boxes from around the community, wrapping gifts, or delivering the presents, we want to say thank you to all of these individuals for their time and support in making Project Christmas Angel happen. A special thanks to the volunteers who helped out with the administrative work and helped us deliver and pick up donation boxes in the community:

Jamie Ansleigh
Stephanie & John Baldanzi
Ric Blacksten
Matthew Bondy
Janet Burt
Pam Chisholm
Mara D'Amico
Hamed Farmand
Janet Garber
Myriam Jurado
Liz Kauffman
Liz Kelin
Pallie Koehn
Jan Martin
Jeff Marusak
Megan McAndrews
Barbara Morland
Edd & Anita Nolen
Karin Price
Pamela Quanrud
Christine Searle
Carol Shriver
Roger Soles
Ramsay Teviotdale
Susan Young

Thank you to all who participated and made this magical event a success!

Interested in volunteering with OAR? Here are some upcoming volunteer opportunities!

Volunteer for OAR for the MLK Day of Service

Monday, January 21, 2019, 8:30am-12:00pm

Join OAR and Volunteer Arlington on Monday, January 21, 2019 for a day of service in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. at Washington-Lee High School (1301 N Stafford St, Arlington, VA 22201). There will be service and volunteer training opportunities for all ages. For more information and to register, please click here.

For all of the opportunities listed above, please contact Heather Pritchett at hpritchett@oaronline.org to sign up! Thank you!

Upcoming Events

MLK Day of Service

January 21, 2019

Washington-Lee High School, 1301 N. Stafford St, Arlington, VA 22201

OAR has partnered with Volunteer Arlington to coordinate a volunteer project in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Join us for a day of service at Washington-Lee High School on Monday, January 21, 2019! For more information and to register, please click here.

OAR's Second Chance Fundraising Breakfast

April 9, 2019

Save the date for OAR's 11th Annual Second Chance Fundraising Breakfast! Come join OAR for a free, hot breakfast and to experience an amazing program about OAR's mission and hear participant stories. Registration and additional details for the Breakfast will be up on our website and social media closer to the date of the event so stay tuned!

Learn more about OAR at a free tour!

Want to learn more about us? Want to volunteer? Join us for a free one-hour tour of our mission at the OAR office! Guests will hear about OAR's programs and services from the team members who are working in the programs, tour the OAR office, and hear participant success stories. We promise to end on time and to have snacks you can enjoy! Below is a list of upcoming dates and times. Please sign up here or contact Heather Pritchett at hpritchett@oaronline.org.

Upcoming Tour Dates:

Tuesday, January 8, 6:30pm

Thursday, January 24, 12:00pm

Wednesday, February 13, 8:00am

Tuesday, February 26, 12:00pm

Support OAR

Make a monetary donation to OAR by clicking here
Donate Target and/or Amazon gift cards in increments of $10 each for OAR participants
Shop on our Amazing Wish List: OAR's Amazon Wish List
Donate through United Way designation #8078
- additional fees by UW are applied
Donate through CFC designation #26226
- additional fees by CFC are applied
Attend a free 1-hour OAR Tour or an OAR Event and bring your friends: http://oaronline.org/oar-tours-upcoming-events/

Make Your Year-End Contribution Today!

@OARJustice