Virginia Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe and family spent part of Thanksgiving Day serving breakfast at Reston’s Embry Rucker Community Shelter.

“Governor-elect Terry McAuliffe, wife Dorothy and children were there to learn firsthand about the daily challenges of people who are homeless– and the work of the many extraordinary nonprofits and Fairfax County Office to Prevent and End Homelessness in finding solutions,” said Kerrie Wilson, CEO of Cornerstones, the local nonprofit that operates the shelter.

“These are hard times for many in our community, but every day we see people willing to come together and offer a hand,” she said. “Volunteering is not something new for the McAuliffe family, but it was a generous gift that reflects the importance of these issues and gave hope to those under our roof.”

McAuliffe will be sworn in in January.

Wilson also said she commends outgoing Gov. Bob McDonnell for his work helping the homeless. McDonnell was the first sitting Governor in Virginia to establish a committee on affordable housing and homelessness, she notes.

“While not all of these recommendations were funded, much of the policy/strategy level work has been implemented through some of the priority setting and state level contracting for homeless services, a Virginia Housing Trust Fund was established and some initial seed funding from the mortgage settlement provided a start (it needs real funding),” Wilson said.  “I hope that among the many areas that Governor-elect McAuliffe and his family will embrace – as they discussed on the campaign trail – hunger/food insecurity, mental health, homeless/workforce housing – can build on these efforts.”

Photos courtesy of Cornerstones.