The House Appropriations Committee has included the funds in the annual spending bill that funds the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The money will be used to assist with the planning and design of a workforce development center for job training and other services aimed at helping the growing number of working poor in Loudoun County. The money is earmarked solely for construction.

During the event, Wolf at one point quoted the Book of Luke, saying “To whom much is given, much is required.”

“It is a mandate, if you will,” he told the group. “Any of us could lose out job, lose our health insurance and get into a major automobile accident and face the same situation that these people are facing.”

GSA has envisioned the creation of a poverty center that would rival some of the most sophisticated programs of its kind—an entire facility devoted to the cause of alleviating poverty in Loudoun County, providing a variety of services for its clients and guests in partnership with other organizations. The group has already assembled other funds, in the form of grants, fundraisers and volunteer outreach in addition to its more traditional revenue—the GSA Thrift Store in Sterling—in order to complete those goals. Next year, the nonprofit, which usually has a budget of about $340,000 annually, plans to have $750,000 in its coffers. That number does not include the $250,000 that the nonprofit has just received.

“It is no secret that GSA has grown and is moving in different directions,” Executive Director John Brothers said.

The federal move comes a week after another election-year presentation by Wolf Sept. 10 at the Loudoun County Government Building, where he announced the appropriation of $100,000 to Loudoun Cares to assist with the planning and design of the central community service center.

Loudoun Cares has spent the past several years putting together a master plan for a center that would consolidate local groups that work with the poor in Loudoun County under the same roof. Another major part of the Loudoun Cares initiative is to create a phone referral center, where residents of the county would be able to get information about the services in the area available to them.

The need for a centralized location in Loudoun has also been a major issue for many nonprofits in the county, and the model has worked well in other areas. Winchester has a similar facility.

Both presentations are somewhat premature—the bill has just moved out of the Appropriations Committee and must now pass the Senate and House—however Wolf is confident that the bill will face no impediments. “I don’t think there’s going to be a controversy,” he said.

Wolf is a senior member of the committee, which approved the FY 2005 spending plan in July. The full house is expected to take up the measure this fall.