Britepaths (formerly Our Daily Bread – Fairfax)

(Aug. 8, 2016) Catherine Read welcomes Lisa Whetzel, Executive Director of Britepaths, to discuss the organization’s re-branding. On July 21st, the non-profit known as Our Daily Bread, Inc. – Fairfax for 32 years, announced the organization’s new name. The discussion around rebranding has taken place over the course of the last five years as it became obvious that the name was no longer an adequate descriptor for the many services and programs offered by the organization.

Thirty-two years ago, a group of faith communities came together to provide food to low income residents of Fairfax, VA, who struggled with food insecurity. For many years, providing food was the core mission of Our Daily Bread (ODB). When Lisa Whetzel joined ODB in 2005 as a volunteer, she started a financial literacy program. The goal of this program was to help families with basic budgeting and to teach them better financial skills.

As Lisa stepped into the role of Executive Director and Marcelle Miles was hired to oversee the Financial Literacy Program, it became increasingly more important as a core service with outreach now taking place through numerous other non-profits in the Northern Virginia area. Christina Garris who oversaw the food program was tasked with launching Project Bridge and identifying candidates who would benefit from one-on-one mentoring tailored to their specific challenges.

In the final segment of the show, Development Manager Jennifer Rose goes over other programs that have evolved or been added over the years: The Back to School program that provides backpacks and school supplies to area children; The Holiday program that serves Fairfax County families whose children receive free lunches to provide them with Thanksgiving and Christmas meals and gifts; The Food for Thought program that sends food home on the weekends to school children who qualify for food assistance; and the Naomi Project which mentors at-risk mothers through their pregnancies and the first months of parenthood.

Given the growth and expansion of services over the past three decades, it made sense to change the name of the organization and rebrand with something that is more inclusive of the many unique “paths” that clients take in order to reach a place of stability and self sufficiency.

More information on programs, services and upcoming events can be found at http://Britepaths.org