New Artwork at ARHA Sends a Powerful Message

College student Mark Hess originally started the triptych as a school project.

A new piece of art graces the interior of the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority in Old Town. It’s sure to make visitors think, and think again when walking by it – in the building where administrators busily oversee the city’s public housing. A pencil triptych shows a disheveled man, lying supine - and perhaps sleeping - in front of a doorway. A hand reaches out toward him, feeding a nearby cat. The artist is Mark Hess, a college student at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. Hess told Patch at the unveiling of the new ARHA artwork that he was inspired to create it when he saw a homeless person for the first time in Washington, DC, while visiting his aunt Jane Hess Collins of Alexandria. He explained that there were not …

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City Engages Youth for 'Day of Service'

The Jan. 19 event honors Inauguration Day.

Some of Alexandria’s younger residents will celebrate the presidential inauguration with a day of service. Several city offices along with Alexandria City Public Schools, the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority and Volunteer Alexandria have organized a Jan. 19 event designed to engage youth in creating a 30-page storybook, which will then be signed by the nation's first family. The day of service is an effort to teach Alexandria’s children the importance of giving back. The events will run from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Nannie J. Lee Recreation Center, Charles Barrett Recreation Center and the T.C. Williams satellite office at Landmark Mall. Activities include games, reading, dancing, discussing “service,” coloring and making a …

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Santa to Visit Charles Houston Rec Center

The Monday evening event includes opportunities for children to sit on Santa's knee and tell him what they'd like for Christmas.

All of Alexandria’s children are invited to have their photos taken with Santa on Monday. The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority and the Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities will host photos with Santa at the annual Santa’s Winter Wonderland event. Children will have the opportunity to sit on Santa’s knee and tell him what they want for Christmas and have their photo taken. While waiting, children and their parents can enjoy Christmas story readings by the Grinch, who will read “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” Santa’s helpers will read “The Night Before Christmas.” The free event takes place from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Charles Houston Recreation Center.   "The Night Before Christmas" will be read at 4 p.m. …

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Holiday Volunteering: Santa’s Winter Wonderland

More than 4,000 toys will be distributed to 1,300 youth at the annual event sponsored by the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority and the Alexandria Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities.

The holiday season is here and that means Alexandria communities seek volunteers for many and different causes. The Alexandria Patches are highlighting good causes seeking volunteers during this holiday season. If you’d like your initiative to be featured, please email Sharon.mcloone@patch.com. This week’s volunteer spotlight shines on: Who: Santa’s Winter Wonderland What: More than 150 volunteers are needed to help organize and distribute more than 4,000 toys to 1,300 Alexandria youth. When: Dec. 19 is the day of the event, but organizers are also needed to help set up beforehand. Where: Charles Houston Recreation Center, 901 Wythe St., Alexandria, VA 22314 Why: To help spread holiday cheer to the children of Alexandria. Contact: Jason …

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Photo Gallery: The New S.T.A.R.S. Playground

A collaborative effort between playground advocates KaBOOM!, the Washington Capitals, the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority and nonprofit So Kids Can creates a new playground in the Hopkins-Tancil area.

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Hyra to Serve as Board Chairman of Public Housing Authority

Alexandrian Derek Hyra, who works as a professor at Virginia Tech's Old Town campus, studies inner city economic development.

Alexandria resident Derek Hyra, who serves as a professor at Virginia Tech's Old Town Alexandria campus, has been elected chairman of the board of commissioners for the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority. “It is an honor and privilege to serve the City of Alexandria in this leadership role,” Hyra said in a statement posted by Virginia Tech. “This is an important public service opportunity that not only coincides remarkably well with my scholarly interests but it closely aligns with my personal values.” Hyra joined Virginia Tech in 2009. His research focuses on inner city economic development, with an emphasis on housing policy and race. In 2011, Hyra was appointed to serve on the new Small Business Administration’s Advisory …

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One Woman's Mission to Improve Alexandria One Person at a Time

Entrepreneur Shanelle Gayden volunteers her time to make Alexandria a better place for kids and public housing residents.

“She stoops to conquer” is one phrase that comes to mind upon meeting Shanelle Gayden. Just look at her go. Gayden, 30, is the planning assistant for the Strategic Plan of Alexandria for the Alexandria Redevelopment Housing Authority. And that means she helps people cope, specifically cope with change. She is currently working as a contractor for MD Strum Housing of Indiana to ARHA where her contract ends this month. She is a grassroots kind of girl – she makes the calls, the reaches out to the citizens associations and spreads the word about the agenda of the city’s agency overseeing its public housing. “I like to work with residents to lead by example,” she said. “Maybe they’ll say ‘I can do it if she can do it.’” She came by this …

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Alexandria NAACP President Sees Education, Health as Top Issues for City

Local chapter of national group seeks to become more involved in City Hall, school system.

The president of the Alexandria chapter of the NAACP sees an opportunity to “change the course” of the branch by reenergizing its members, bringing more young adults into the fold and staying engaged. John Chapman said his journey with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People began several years ago when he reached out to the branch seeking involvement “but nobody reached back.” He was not deterred.  “I saw it as an opportunity for change… I wanted to make sure that everyone was included,” he told Alexandria Patch editors in an interview at Buzz Bakery and Café. After his first unsuccessful run to become a part of the Alexandria NAACP, Chapman got involved with a young Democrats group and the Virginia Urban League. …

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Karen Gautney

3:25 pm on Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Dear "Alexandria resident": Anonymous accusations against unnamed people are not very effective.   more ›

Citizens Discuss Neighborhood Relations, Other Issues at Community Meeting

Residents from Hopkins-Tancil and other areas of Alexandria spoke with mayor, acting city manager and police chief

Citizens met last week to discuss their concerns with Alexandria’s mayor, City Manager's Office and the police about recreation and housing opportunities as well as neighborhood relations. Police Chief Earl Cook urged neighbors to work together to resolve their differences at the Thursday meeting held at the Nannie J. Lee Center. Right now “is one of the lowest crime rates in the city. Every place we’ve been successful, it was community members walking across the street and changing it,” Cook said, alluding to some of the recent friction between residents of government-subsidized housing at Hopkins-Tancil Court and market-rate Chatham Square. “We’ve got in a posture that you want us to fix it. The people who fix their communities are the …

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Public Housing Residents Coalesce Over Concerns Made by North Old Town Neighbors

Public housing residents hold community meeting at Charles Houston Recreation Center

Current and past residents of public housing in North Old Town held a meeting Thursday night to address concerns highlighted in a newspaper article conveying their community was contributing to a “growing sense of lawlessness” in the area. “We’re here to discuss what we can do as a community,” said activist and resident Lenny Harris, who guided the evening forum held at Charles Houston Recreation Center. “We have to learn to protect our community and protect ourselves. We have to stop letting people come into our community and tell us how to live our way of life. There’s nothing wrong with us standing on the corner talking about sports and nothing wrong with having a barbecue in our backyard.” The community meeting was attended by about …

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