Friends of Guest House

 Friends of Guest House is a nonprofit organization based in Alexandria, VA that supports women returning to the community after incarceration. Founded in 1974, it is the only prison-to-community reentry program in Northern Virginia (and the largest in the state) designed specifically for women. To date, we have served over 5,400 women and their families.

Our mission is to provide formerly incarcerated women the structure, supervision, support, and assistance they need to move beyond who they were to become who they want to be. Our vision is simple but powerful: a world where a woman's past does not define her future. 

Behind every second chance is a community that showed up first.

When a woman walks through our doors at Guest House, she isn't just looking for a place to stay. She's looking for a second chance — and everything that makes one possible: a safe bed, a recovery plan, a case manager, job training, and the steady presence of a community that hasn't given up on her.

That's what Friends of Guest House has provided for over 50 years. To date, we've served more than 5,400 women nd the results speak for themselves: 85% do not return to incarceration, 91% secure employment, and 87% abstain from substance use and develop a sobriety plan. Against a national recidivism rate of roughly 40%, those numbers aren't just statistics. Their lives rebuilt.

In 2026, we're growing where it matters most.

This year, Friends of Guest House is focused on three areas of expanded impact:

• Reaching women earlier — through expanded outreach inside correctional facilities, so women are connected to Guest House before they ever reach our door
• Deepening our Residential Program — enriching the services available to women during their 6-month stay, from recovery support to workforce development
• Strengthening Aftercare — ensuring that the support women receive doesn't end when they leave our doors, with a lifeline that follows them into the community

More than 90% of the women we serve report a history of substance use disorder. 100% arrive unemployed. Without intentional support during reentry, the risks of relapse, homelessness, and reincarceration are very high. Your gift makes the difference between a woman who makes it and one who doesn't.

Your donation also keeps the lights on — literally.

Our Payne Street residence houses up to 20 women at a time. Right now, we need to replace a refrigerator, stove, and washing machine to keep that home running as it should. These aren't extras; they're the infrastructure of daily life for women in the earliest, most vulnerable days of their reentry. A hot meal. Clean clothes for a job interview. The small dignities that make the difference. Guest House donors have always understood that a second chance is built out of both big visions and working appliances, and we're grateful for that.

$0.91 of every dollar you give goes directly to programming — the housing, meals, case management, transportation, and support that make reentry work.

This Spring2ACTion, your gift (at any level) helps ensure that more women are met at every stage of their journey: inside the facility, at our front door, and long after they've moved on.

Second chances take support. Thank you for being that support.