On Thursday, October 10, Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) hosted their annual benefit, “Celebrate Home!” and honored the BM Smith family for their long-standing quiet leadership within the county and particularly in South Arlington through their company, through community service, and through philanthropy.
The BM Smith family is one of the oldest families in Arlington, dating back to before it even was Arlington. For more than 100 years BM Smith & Associates and the Smith family has shown integrity, compassion and a deep commitment to the community. Benjamin Matthew Smith founded the family company in 1908 on Columbia Pike building many of the Pike’s landmarks and donating the land for Trinity Church, sites for three large, non-profit retirement centers, including Goodwin House and the Hermitage, and contributing the land for the Alexandria Campus of Northern Virginia Community College.
The Washington Forrest Foundation — also founded by Benjamin Smith — provides nearly $1 million each year to more than 50 organizations that provide safety net services, improve education, and promote community development in South Arlington, including APAH and CPRO.