Our Mission
Bringing community partners and local churches together to meet the physical, financial, and relational needs of our neighbors.
Our History
Love Nova is a non-profit birthed out of The Journey Church community. During the Covid-19, this church community came together to raise funds, serve, and meet the needs of our neighbors in crisis. We partnered with local government organizations and food banks to provide weekly groceries and monthly food distributions. Through this crisis, we discovered a growing passion for helping our neighbors that we wanted to continue. Creating Love Nova, allowed our volunteers to continue their work and expand. We have been able to be flexible and quickly address community needs as they arise. In 2022, Northern Virginia received an influx of Afghan refugees, and Love Nova was able to create a temporary program to assist with house moves and provide drivers license instruction. Each year, we aim to assess our area’s greatest needs and plan our programs for the year around partnering with our community to address those acute needs.
Our Philosophy & Values
With a spirit of generosity, Love Nova was founded to help those in our local community in need. Our service to the community is based on the following guiding principles:
To treat all people with value and without discrimination as images of God
To give hope and compassion to everyone we encounter
To be flexible and able to pivot to meet sudden needs as they arise
To partner with other churches and non-profits, encouraging and equipping them
To give volunteers of all ages a chance to use their gifts together and invite friends and family to serve alongside them
Our service to the community is based on the following guiding principles:
Our Board of Directors
Kathleen Ambroso
President & Director
Kathleen has been the President of Love Nova since its inception . She is also the Director of Outreach for our parent organization, The Journey. Kathleen is passionate about the needs of our local community and loves building relationships with other organizations. Kathleen previously was a social worker in DC and a foster parent. Kathleen and her husband, Mike, live in Alexandria with their children, James and Leah. They also have an adult adopted daughter, Colleen, who lives in Maryland.
Chad Simpkins
Vice President
Chad is the lead pastor of our parent organization, The Journey. He initiated The Journey’s first, big community service program that laid the foundation for what would eventually become Love Nova as we know it today. Chad has spent the last 20+ years leading in churches in NJ, NC, and VA. He and his wife Kara, live in West Springfield with their three kids, Savana, Avery, and Jake.
Robyn Ross
Secretary
Robyn oversees the day-to-day management of our office, providing administration and operations support. Her organizational skills are an asset when planning our large-scale community events. Robyn is also the Executive Director for the Journey Staff team. She and her husband live in Kingstowne with their sons, Levi and Hunter.
Joel Pazmino
Board Member
Joel is originally from Guayaquil, Ecuador and moved to the United States with his family in 2006. He has been working in church planting and cross cultural ministry for the past 14 years. Joel became involved with community outreach while working in DC. He currently lives in Kensington, MD with his wife, Meghan, and their children, Jack and Julia.
Casey Eggelston
Board Member
Casey is from Northern Virginia, and is passionate about discipling people and growing community. She has been instrumental in keeping Love Nova’s values at the forefront of every decision and working to empower volunteers. Casey and her husband, Jonathan, have two kids, Abigail and Benjamin.