Festival of Trees "A Celtic Christmas" Gala with Celtic entertainment, dinner, auction, dancing, and the presentation of the Agnes Colgan "Celebration of Life" award to benefit the Transitional Housing BARN, Inc.; 6:30PM at Foxchase Manor in Manassas, Virginia; Tickets $85pp, $160 couple; Anyone who is interested in becoming a sponsor, making a donation, or attending the Festival, please contact Jennifer L. Wilkinson at 703-369-1325 ext. 11 or developmgr@barninc.org.

Senator Charles Colgan will attend the 8th Annual Festival of Trees Gala "A Celtic Christmas" on Saturday, November 18, 2006 to benefit the Transitional Housing BARN, Inc. The Senator's late wife, Agnes Colgan, played a central role in fostering BARN's growth and in recognition of her dedication and stewardship, the Agnes Colgan "Celebration of Life" award was established. The gala will include fine dining, both live and silent auctions of beautifully decorated trees as well as wide variety exciting items, dancing, and the presentation of the Agnes Colgan "Celebration of Life" award. The Gala will be held from 6:30PM – 12:00AM at Foxchase Manor in Virginia.

Transitional Housing BARN, Inc. is a non-profit organization that provides homeless women and children temporary housing, supportive services, and programs such as counseling, life skills, case management, financial management, child development, etc. The program ends homelessness for these families and provides them a path to self-sufficiency. As residents complete the program, BARN provides them up to six months of follow-up services and continues to track them for a year to ensure success.

When families are given this opportunity, the results are amazing! Since starting the program in 1997, BARN has remained at capacity and 96% of the families that have completed the program have sustained both permanent housing and financial independence.

The BARN program is partially supported by HUD, Commonwealth of Virginia, The ExxonMobil Foundation, Fannie Mae Foundation, Freddie Mac Foundation, Robert Trent Jones Foundation, The Zeiders Charity Support Foundation, UniCare Health Plan and other private donors. Even with these generous donors, BARN is not fully funded. BARN needs additional support to fund and expand its' program. For every family accepted, fourteen (14) families must be turned away. BARN wants to stop having to turn those families away. Our website is http://www.barninc.org