Koinonia volunteers framed out the new space.
Volunteers broke out their carpentry skills this holiday season, framing out a space near the Olivet Episcopal Church for the new home of the Koinonia Foundation. The new space is bigger so they can expand their operations, take on new programs and work with new populations in the Franconia area.
“We have needed a larger space for a long time,” said Judy Davis, Director of Koinonia.
The Koinonia Foundation is a nonprofit organization that operates a food pantry and provides financial aid to people in need, but they were limited in the small space behind Franconia United Methodist Church where they had been for the last 50 years. The new location at 6107 Franconia Road is in the historic Mount Olivet Chapel at the corner of Franconia Road and Beulah Street.
When the pandemic came a couple of years ago, Olivet combined religious services with a few other churches, expecting to return to normal after the pandemic, but this did not happen so the whole church space is open for Koinonia to use. Their current space behind the United Methodist church was 1100 square feet and the new location is 4200 square feet.
The bigger space will enable clients to use private interview rooms when needed and on the donation side, a spacious clothing closet. The food pantry will be expanded to offer additional fresh and refrigerated food products, Davis added, plus a new commercially sized kitchen will allow Koinonia to prepare healthier food options. The organization enlisted a bunch of volunteers to help build walls, lay carpet and put up shelving. The Rose Hill Civic Association has contributed money to Koinonia through the years and will consider making an extra donation this year.
One thing that is holding them up is the permitting process with Fairfax County, which Davis describes as “a little bit of a struggle.”
Over at the Franconia District office, Supervisor Rodney Lusk supports Koinonia’s mission. The new location is a few doors from Lusk’s current office. “With more space, Koinonia will not only be better equipped to store larger quantities of donations but also provide a higher level of service to members of this community,” Lusk said. Koinonia has reached out to Lusk’s office for help with the county permitting process but has not seen any progress in the procedure.
During the holiday season this year, the Koinonia Foundation worked with the Alexandria Children's Theater and their production of "Holiday Time Travelers," to raise money, food and toy donations in November. The Kingstowne Residential Owners Corporation worked with Koinonia for their "Winter Wonderland," fundraising event.
Another thing the holiday season brought on was an influx of volunteers. Some of their volunteers came from Inova Hospital and offices on Walker Lane.
Koinonia is always welcoming donations, go to http://www.koinoniacares.org/ for more information.
Historic Olivet Episcopal Church Witnesses Beulah’s Past
The current Olivet Chapel is the fourth Chapel built by the Episcopalians in Franconia. Two that were built on part of the Bush Hill estate in the 1850s were dismantled by Union troops during the Civil War for shelter and firewood and a third was built on what is now Bush Hill Drive near Westchester Street after the war but failed to survive financially. This church goes by a variety of names such as Mount Olivet, Olivet Chapel or Olivet Episcopal Church, depending on where it is listed.
The church was built on land purchased for $5 from William W. Boyce and his wife, Mary Ellen, just before Boyce died in 1890. The Boyces had lived at nearby Ashland, an area that dates back to 1820. Boyce was a member of the United States House of Representatives from South Carolina before the Civil War, then resigned to represent his home state in the Confederate Congress in 1861, although he had opposed secession.
After the war, the Boyces moved to Fairfax County where he practiced law and this location was picked for its proximity to the United States Supreme Court.
This church history was researched by Carl Sell Jr., a local historian who lives on Beulah Street.