Shepherd’s Gate Grants
Shepherd’s Gate Grants are small annual grants that support local non-profit organizations that reflect our mission to serve those in need, do justice, uphold human dignity and promote peace. Proceeds from the International Festival finance the SGG scholarship program.
2026 Grant Recipients
A Best Choice
ABC Women’s Health & Ultrasound Center provides both free and low cost medical, educational, and support services to women and men facing an unplanned pregnancy or sexual health concern. The grant will help provide transportation for low-income women via Uber/Lyft to A Best Choice Mobile Ultrasound to receive a free pregnancy test, free ultrasound, and counseling.
Alice’s Kids
Founded in Mount Vernon in 2011, Alice’s Kids provides fast, discreet financial assistance to children living in poverty, helping them access educational,
social, and extracurricular opportunities that are often out of reach due to financial hardship. Alice’s Kids will expand support for vulnerable children in the Mount Vernon area.
Centreville Immigration Forum
The mission of Centreville Immigration Forum (CIF) is to implement sustainable programs that provide immigrants in need with the means to improve their lives and become more integrated into the community, improve communication and cooperation among all groups serving immigrants, and build community recognition of our strength in diversity. Our vision is a
community that accepts and provides opportunity for all immigrants. CIF’s programming promotes financial independence, racial equity, immigrant rights, wage justice, and economic mobility, – all while identifying and responding to immediate needs.
Commissioned by Christ
Bring Catholics closer to Christ through short-term mission trips that form them through personal and communal prayer, participation in the sacraments, building community with fellow Christians, and providing an opportunity to partake in works of mercy by helping those in material and spiritual need. The grant will help fund a mission trip and a Catholic School Roof Replacement in Panchimalco, El Salvador.
Culmore Clinic
Culmore Clinic’s mission is to advance health by bringing the community together to provide medical care and health education at no cost to uninsured neighbors in Fairfax County. Culmore Clinic provides wrap-around medical care, including primary care, diagnostics blood labs, counseling services, health education, and vision care, as well as specialty referrals for our low-income (under 300% Federal Poverty Level), uninsured adult patients. Our patient’s overall health and wellbeing are at the forefront of the patient/Clinic relationship and begins with primary care. We are committed to no-cost, barrier-free care.
Just Neighbors
Just Neighbors provides immigration legal services to low-income immigrants and refugees in Virginia, Maryland and Washington D.C., who are eligible for work authorization and other benefits under U.S. immigration law. Attorneys help immigrants file applications that allow families to live together (avoid deportation) as well as applications for green cards, work permits and citizenship. Just Neighbors also assist immigrants in situations of domestic violence and trafficking so that survivors can live free of their abusers.
Liberty’s Promise
Liberty’s Promise is dedicated to supporting immigrant youth in need, helping them feel welcomed in their new communities and encouraging them to become active, engaged American citizens. Since 2011, we have implemented our Civics and Citizenship program at West Potomac High School with the primary goal of providing newcomer youth with a safe and supportive environment where they can grow academically, socially, and professionally.
Pathway Homes
Pathway Homes serves nearly 2000 single adults who have experienced homelessness and have serious mental illness to obtain stable housing and services. Grant funding will be used to purchase housewares, cleaning and basic hygiene products, nonperishable food for “Welcome Kits” that are provided to newly housed individuals, many of whom had been living in woods and are fragile, as they enter supportive housing. Volunteer groups are engaged to assemble the kits.
Shelter House
Family Preservation and Strengthening Services (Family PASS) became a program of Shelter House in January of 2023. Family PASS assists low-income families to improve their economic situation through education, financial literacy instruction, and technical training that builds employable skills and allows parents to earn a livable wage to support their family. Safety-net and community resources are provided to promote stability upon entering the program.