Alfred Street Baptist Church clears rent debt for 318 Alexandria families

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]Families on the brink of eviction and homelessness getting a clean slate after a $1 million donation from a local church. Alfred Street Baptist Church making that donation to the city of Alexandria helping hundreds of families stay in their homes. Fox 5 Tisha Lewis live tonight with the latest. Tisha?

[00:00:17]Well, we're here at Alfred Street Baptist Church, a staple in the community and also in history. In fact, several presidents have attended the church's services right here. But today, it's the families in this community who will forever remember how this church helped them at a time when they needed it the most.

[00:00:36]On April 1st, 318 Alexandria families who received housing assistance and owed back rent began the month with a clean slate thanks to a million-dollar donation by Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria. We spoke with one of those families today. I feel like I'll be able to get back on my feet and get things started where I'm able to start focusing on correcting my credit. While the families wish to remain anonymous, their message is clear. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for the blessing that I received.

[00:01:12]Thank you for doing God's work. I appreciate each and every one of you and everything that you have done to make things better for myself and other people like me. I'm told in some cases families owed $30,000 in past due rent dating back to the COVID-19 pandemic.

[00:01:31]And then there are families who hit hard times, job loss, health challenges, inflation, and mental health crises. I mean, it's just amazing how the opportunity came about through a conversation with the mayor of Alexandria when I asked her, "What is the greatest need of the city?" And she shared with me that there were about 300 or almost 350 families who were about to be evicted from subsidized housing. And Tisha, it all just kind of came together.

[00:01:55]>> Alfred Street Baptist Church Pastor Dr. Howard John Wesley says 40,000 members and non-members raised the funds during the church's annual fast. And it's apparently not the first time the church has cut a million-dollar check to help those who would otherwise go without.

[00:02:11]>> Here, we cleared the debt of I think it was almost 20 graduating students from Howard University. We cleared their debts so that they could march across the stage and get their diplomas and move on to the next phase of their calling and their career.

[00:02:24]>> Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority's Gaynelle Diaz says in her 16 years working to help those secure housing, this is a first. It has alleviated the stress that they were feeling with the pending eviction, and it has allowed them to sort of now like refocus and literally as it says, um have a fresh start.

[00:02:48]A fresh start indeed. We are told from here the families who received the help will also receive financial literacy and also workforce training courses thanks to funds and donations from other area churches in the city.