NEIGHBORHOOD and COMMUNITY SERVICES

Interfaith Coordination

Common Ground

A Newsletter for the Interfaith Community

February/March 2025

FCIA EVENT SAVE THE DATE!!

Tuesday March 18, 2025

7pm-8:30pm

Online event, please Register to receive meeting link.

Please send any requests for language interpretation services to Suzette Reynolds @ Suzette.reynolds@fairfaxcounty.gov by 3/14/25.

Equity

Equity Focus for February/March Unite, Uplift and Celebrate: A Black History Month Celebration Join your neighbors for an evening celebrating Black History Month. This year’s theme is “Building on a Legacy.” Enjoy local performances, interactive activities, enlightening discussion and light refreshments. Festivities kick off at 5 p.m.

Safety and Security

Interested in learning more about local law enforcement?

The Community Police Academy (formerly Citizens Police Academy) is designed to give participants a glimpse behind the badge and to provide information about training, policies, and the many units and divisions within the Fairfax County Police Department.

We are now accepting applications for the Spring 2025 session that will meet from March 13 to May 17, 2025.

Students will learn about:

• Police training (including weapons and driving)
• Crime Scene Investigation
• Use of Force
• Traffic Stops
• Internal Affairs
• Police helicopter and its capabilities
• SWAT
• And much more...

Classes

Classes are held on nine consecutive Thursday nights, from 6:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. The final class, which includes graduation activities, is held on a Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Classes rotate to various police department facilities around Fairfax County. Due to the popularity of the program, all participants are required to attend at eight out of ten classes in order to successfully graduate.

APPLY NOW - https://bit.ly/FCPDCPA2025

For more information, please e-mail us at CPA@fairfaxcounty.gov 

Fire and Rescue Can Now Transfuse Blood

Community Resources

Get Help with Heating Costs with Crisis Assistance Program

What Is It? A program designed to help residents who are struggling with heating their home.

What Can You Do? If you or anyone you know may need heat assistance this winter, follow the instructions to apply before March 17.

It's been a cold winter so far, which can strain heating systems and budgets. Crisis Assistance helps those who are in a “no heat” situation in their home, such as broken equipment or receiving a disconnection notice.

You could receive assistance for payment of a security deposit, purchase of heating fuel, repair or replacement of broken heating equipment, or supplemental heating equipment. Crisis Assistance applications are accepted until March 17, 2025.

To apply for Crisis Assistance, or other food and medical benefits, visit CommonHelp or call 855-635-4370

Faith Community and Affordable Housing-How Can You Get Involved?

The Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority is well on its way to creating 10,000 net new affordable homes by 2034. There are many ways for faith leaders across the county to get involved:

• Participate in upcoming community conversations. The Planning Commission will hold a meeting February 12 to discuss potential new multifamily and townhouse development in the Franconia district – both market-rate and affordable housing. Share your thoughts at the Planning Commission meeting. View information about other planned developments on Fairfax County’s Department of Housing and Community Development website.
• Share your comments on the Draft One-Year Action Plan, which describes proposed activities that would be prioritized for grant funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in fiscal year 2026. Public comments are being accepted through March 18, 2025 at 4:00 p.m.
• Do you serve community members that live in manufactured housing (Mobile Homes)? If so, Fairfax County needs their input! People who live in manufactured housing are invited to share their opinions on the future of their communities in an online survey. Note: this survey is completely confidential and for manufactured housing residents only. Learn more about the manufactured housing program and new roundtable.

Get more information:

Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority

Fairfax County Department of Community Development and Housing, and its Office to Prevent and End Homelessness

Email rha@fairfaxcounty.gov

Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority Scholarship

Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority is accepting Scholarship Applications: People who live in affordable housing supported by the FCRHA have the opportunity to apply for academic scholarships. Up to ten applicants will receive a $5,000 scholarship for postsecondary education including technical training. Learn more: https://www.fcrha.org/scholarship-program

Fairfax County is Considering a New Waste Collection System

Fairfax County is considering a new waste collection system through Unified Sanitation Districts (USD). Under USD, the county would manage waste hauling contracts directly with collectors, making the process easier for residents in single-family homes. All residential waste collection would be conducted by private collectors. The Board of Supervisors will vote on moving forward with the five-year displacement period following a public hearing in June 2025.  The focus of the hearing is on the inadequacies of our current waste management system, not the future replacement system which is not yet fully designed.  During the required five-year period under Virginia law, the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services will develop detailed plans for service implementation and provide multiple opportunities for public review and input. If you would like to learn more, visit the new USD webpage. For the latest waste management updates, subscribe to the Fairfax Recycles newsletter and follow us on Facebook 

Job Fair

Health and Wellness

Flu Levels in Fairfax Health District Now Elevated; Take Precautions

As of February 4, 2025, Fairfax Health District is experiencing very high levels of influenza (flu) illness. From January 26 to February 1, about one in seven (14%) people going to Fairfax emergency department and urgent care centers were diagnosed with flu. Children in Fairfax are especially at risk of flu with about one in four (25-27%) of their visits for flu.

This level of flu activity is higher than what Fairfax has seen in past years, both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Protection (CDC), flu activity in Virginia is very high and will likely continue to grow.  Get more information on the emergency warning signs of serious complications in children and in adults: Flu Levels in Fairfax Health District Now Elevated; Take Precautions | Health.

Children’s National Hospital and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield

Children’s National Hospital and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield are hosting a three – part webinar series on children’s mental health. Efforts now focus on sharing information that can be helpful to parents on caregivers on the topic of mental health. Each session will feature experts that will provide valuable background and information to parents and caregivers with strategies and resources to support their mental wellbeing.

• The first webinar will focus on social media and youth mental health, highlighting the risks of social media while sharing tools to encourage safe online presence and ways to support youth mental health.
• The second webinar will provide information and resources to parents and other caregivers on other questions around youth mental health.
• The third webinar will focus on the relationship between parental mental health and child wellbeing.

Please find the attached flyer with information on the first webinar Children’s Mental Health: Social Media and Youth Mental Health on Wednesday, February 12, 2025 and link to register for the series. ChildrensMentalHealthWebinarSeriesFeb2025.pdf

Parents, caregivers and community members can also visit childrensnational.org/mentalhealthwebinar for registration information. For questions, please contact communityevents@childrensnational.org

Community Services Board

The Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board  (CSB)  Wellness, Health Promotion and Prevention team includes information and a link to request customized training. Please see current offerings for Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), REVIVE!, Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR), ACE Interface, and Talk, They Hear You (TTHY).

Get Involved with the Fairfax Prevention Coalition 

Community Bulletin Board

The following public announcements are for interfaith meetings and activities sponsored by organizations within the community and are not specifically endorsed or sponsored by Fairfax County. These announcements are provided as a public service in the interest of expanding interfaith dialogue and goodwill. If you have an announcement you would like to share, please contact NCSinterfaith@fairfaxcounty.gov

If you are interested in submitting something for the newsletter, please review our guidelines:

• Submissions should be sent to NCSInterfaith@fairfaxcounty.gov
• Submissions should be timely and occurring in the upcoming month. For ongoing needs or services, we reserve the right to hold for future issues.
• All submissions should have no more than a 3-line description of the event and include a link for more information or to register.
• The event must be open to the entire community.
• Proselytizing events/activities will not be posted.
• Events must be apolitical. Legislative lobbying efforts will not be posted.
• Fundraisers or events soliciting financial contributions will not be posted.
• Events must be geared to promoting understanding, goodwill, community service or fulfilling a defined need in helping strengthen Fairfax County residents and communities.

If you have any questions, please email NCSInterfaith@fairfaxcounty.gov.