Centreville's Laura Harsh was just 8 when a brain tumor and subsequent surgery stunted her physically and emotionally.
The experience of raising and advocating for her opened the eyes of her mother, Trudy Harsh, to the needs of the mentally ill — especially in housing.

LAURA DIED in January 2006 at age 30, but brought her parents and friends great joy during her brief life. And in her honor, in 2003, her mother established the Brain Foundation.
It raises funds to provide suitable housing for people afflicted with persistent brain disease or injury, but able to live on their own, with minimal help. And through various loans, grants and donations, it's already opened one home in Fairfax and is about to open another.
"I'm calling them 'Laura's Houses,'" said Trudy Harsh, of the Chalet Woods community. "They're both in the City of Fairfax because, with the income and disabilities our tenants have, they need public transportation."
The Brain Foundation brought its first house in November 2006 with funding from the Virginia Housing Development Authority. It has four bedrooms and 3 1/2 bathrooms, and each of the four tenants pay rent ranging from $175-$300 a month.
But that's not enough to cover the mortgage payment, so the Brain Foundation pays the rest, along with the utilities. As a result, more funds are always needed, so a $10,000 donation in July from Centreville United Methodist Church was really a godsend.
"There's a $2,000 negative cash flow each month," said Harsh. "That's why this gift is so great."
She's a member of CUMC and took note when the church's mission group said it would support not just overseas missions, but members' local mission endeavors.
"In the spring, I spoke to the mission council about the need for housing for the mentally ill and how the Brain Foundation was trying to help," said Harsh. "Then I asked for $10,000 and, in July, they gave it to me. I think it's pretty wonderful."

LITTLE ROCKY RUN'S Nancy Roland who chairs the mission council, said the group decided to designate budget funds to new, mission ministries that people felt called to establish. It was especially interested in ministries that would serve "our marginalized neighbors — those living in poverty or having physical or mental challenges, the homeless, anybody in need," explained Roland.
Such ministries would seek justice for these people to help end their unfortunate situations. So CUMC chose three ministries to help — one local, the Brain Foundation; one national, Youth Build in Petersburg, Va., training high-school dropouts to build houses in their own neighborhood; and one international, in Accra, Ghana, providing supplies and resources for a boarding school there.
Harsh's group was selected, said Roland, because "finding resources and support systems for these folks is really hard. In the absence of government funding, we wanted to do what we could to help them become independent and have a positive living environment."
Indeed, according to the Fairfax/Falls Church Community Services Board, some 679 mentally ill people are on Fairfax County's waiting list for housing. So the Brain Foundation fills a vital need.
The group has a nine-member, working board, including Harsh and her son Drew of Fairfax. It's furnishing its houses with items donated by the community. And Pathway Homes, a nonprofit organization that deals with the mentally ill, chooses the tenants and provides services such as counseling and transportation.
Financial help has also come from other entities. "After Laura died, Wilbur Dove, my longtime friend and investment mentor, donated $50,000," said Harsh. "And then [Del.] Chuck Caputo [D-67th], who's on the Brain Foundation board, got me $25,000 from the state in last year's budget."
Another $30,000 came from Wings House. "It's a group that tried to do the same thing and has now joined the Brain Foundation board," said Harsh. "And we're all volunteers."
She said the money is used to purchase homes and pay the mortgages. "We have a contract for a second house, also in the City of Fairfax," she said. "And we like to be at least two years worth of mortgage payments ahead."

HARSH WOULD LOVE to also receive some grants from private industry to buy more houses because the need is so great. And, she said, "We hope other communities will set up the same thing for people who've been released from mental facilities and don't have any community housing."
She's also grateful for grant-writing help from Chalet Woods' Ted Moriak, who's been on her board for a year. "He put in for the [first] state grant, plus a $50,000 grant from the state, in unexpended funds, that started coming in July," said Harsh. "It's being used to help buy the second house, and we also plan to buy another home by the end of the year."
Moriak's known Harsh for 30 years and his wife worked with her on mental-health activities on the Community Services Board. A retired, federal-government budget analyst, he volunteers to help Harsh prepare loan applications to purchase the homes.
"The work she's doing provides affordable housing for the mentally ill," he said. "Otherwise, their only options are to be homeless or incarcerated — and that's unacceptable." Moriak said Pathways Homes also plays a big part in helping the tenants: "The social workers counsel the residents, make sure they're on their meds and see that they get jobs and receive some recreational activity."
The houses are for those not needing 24-7 supervision, said Moriak, and "there's a large population out there that falls in this category."

HARSH HOPES to open the second Laura's House sometime this month, but furniture is needed for the bedrooms, living room and dining room, as well as kitchen supplies and accessories. Anyone with furniture to donate may call her at 703-830-8852 and she'll arrange for pickup.
Monetary contributions are also needed so the group may continue doing its work. Tax-deductible donations may be sent to the Brain Foundation, P.O. Box 231227, Centreville, VA 20120. For more information about the organization, see www.brain-foundation.org.
"We hope to ask other churches to help with this monetarily, as we increase our housing stock," said Harsh. "And I'd like to have an organization adopt a Laura's House, become friends with the tenants and help maintain the building. It's very difficult to be mentally ill in this society, and we're trying to establish a community support system."