A cash-strapped Fairfax County nonprofit will not need to immediately close its doors after its landlord, despite being owed three months of back rent, agreed to allow the group time to work out its financial problems, officials said.
Chantilly-based Western Fairfax Christian Ministries, which works to keep hundreds of low-income families out of homelessness through financial aid, counseling and other services, had warned Fairfax County supervisors last week that it would need to close its doors by May 5 without an infusion of funds.
The group had asked the county for $120,000 to cover its $10,000-a-month rent after fundraising efforts went dry. In 2003, the group’s rent increased tenfold after it moved from its smaller Centreville office to the new headquarters on Metrotech Drive.
The agreement with Beatty Management Company will apparently forestall closure. The firm last week said “they were going to give us time to sort out what’s going on,” Ministries Executive Director Dorothy Fonow said. Representatives of Beatty could not be reached for comment Monday.
Fonow last week said the landlord was threatening to take the group to court over unpaid rent.
Thelong-term fate of Western Fairfax Christian Ministries, however, remains uncertain, as county officials weigh a budget request that they say was poorly timed at the end of the standard budget process. Supervisors have also raised questions as to whether the group will be able to sustain itself in years to come.
A county staff report on the group’s fiscal situation was expected Monday but was delayed for reasons that were unclear.
Sully District Supervisor Michael Frey, whose district encompasses the group’s office, said it was “not the first nonprofit to be in business difficulties” and spoke hopefully about it remaining open.
“I think that we can work something out. I think there are some changes they are going to have to make. They need to sort out everything they’re doing,” Frey said.
