On a quiet, tree-lined street in the upscale Clarendon area there's one home, nearly indistinguishable from the others, that serves as a refuge for people who've faced more hardship than their current neighbors. The Freddie Mac Foundation Family Home provides a comfortable alternative for entire families that have suffered through homelessness and domestic violence. Family homelessness is the fastest growing type of homelessness in Northern Virginia.

"There aren't many family shelters. That's why you don't see many homeless families, they're sort of the invisible homeless," says Scott Perkins, Development Director of Doorways for Women and Families, "…it could be that they're moving from the couch of one relative to the moldy basement of another friend to sleeping in their car or a family of five cramped into a single hotel room. "

The Freddie Mac Family Home stands comparably tall and deep to some of the single-family homes on its block, but instead of one family, this house holds up to 21. Unlike most shelters, it offers housing for men and women and their children in order to keep families together. And it really does feel like a home. The people who live here have access to stainless steel appliances, granite countertops, comfortable furniture and ample play space for children.

The quality of the furnishings is actually impeccable – nicer than many upper middle class homes in the area, which wasn't originally part of Doorways' original plan. Perkins says that this was due to a "snowball" effect among the volunteers who helped build the house: once the architectural plans were released, an area interior designer jumped on the project to donate her time. When her sub-contractors got a tour, they too donated time and materials. But anyone, regardless of their skill set, can contribute to help the families currently living in the house.

"We've coupled twitter and facebook posts around things that we need in terms of donations with an online Amazon registry. And people have responded very well… we get a twitter post saying 'childrens' shoes size 7, he loves Spiderman' and suddenly somebody sees that and they get it," said Perkins. There's a giant storage area in the basement built to house such donations.

Guest families' situations can range in severity from a working family that simply can't afford the astronomically high cost of living in Arlington and need transitional housing, to women and children escaping financial dependence from abusive husbands and fathers. Though Doorways boasts of high rates of success in terms of ending homelessness and family crises, they're quick to note that they had to turn down over 1,352 people requesting assistance from their various programs.