Residents of Annandale’s ‘opportunity neighborhoods’ work on action plans

ON-Annandale community organizer Nayely Lopez surveys residents of Fairmont Gardens. [FACETS]

The biggest concerns among residents of Annandale’s Opportunity Neighborhoods are security and safety; children’s issues; and apartment issues.

That’s the chief finding of a survey conducted by volunteers with FACETS, the nonprofit organization coordinating the ON-Annandale initiative.

ON-Annandale is part of the Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services’ Opportunity Neighborhoods program, which is aimed at focusing resources on areas with high rates of child poverty.

ON-Annandale is targeted to two neighborhoods: the area centered around Fairmont Gardens on Little River Turnpike and the apartment complexes along Americana Drive and Heritage Drive. Both areas have child poverty rates over 35 percent.

FACETS recruited residents to volunteer for three working groups charged with developing an action plan for the priorities identified by residents, says Terry Shuping Angelotti, strategy director of ON Annandale. Most meetings are in Spanish with an English translator.

An Annandale Community Council will be launched this month to oversee the working groups. The council will have 11 residents of the target neighborhoods who will be asked to commit to serving for one year, Angelotti said.

Related story: “Opportunity Neighborhoods” formed in Annandale and Bailey’s Crossroads

The safety and security working group is developing a three-year plan. To learn more about police relations, they attended the Meet the Chief event with Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis in July.

“Security means different things to different people,” Angelotti says. Some residents are most concerned about crime and how the police are relating to residents. Others are worried about the lack of outdoor lighting or the safety of children playing in parking lots.

The working group on apartment issues is concerned about parking, snow removal, and because they met just after the condo collapse in Florida, the physical integrity of buildings.

People are worried about having to walk at night if the parking lot is full. Many are also worried about paying rent if they lose their job and what they will do when the eviction moratorium ends.

The working group on children’s activities surveyed parents on the type of activities they want. The top priority is swimming lessons, followed by soccer and drawing and painting.

It’s late in the summer for swimming lessons, so that will be on the agenda for next summer, Angelotti says, but the group hopes to have a soccer skills class this month. They believe it’s important for kids to have a creative outlet, so they hope to find a partner who can provide art lessons this fall.

The survey was conducted during food distribution events at Fairmont Gardens and the Heritage Mission Center on Heritage Drive. Here are some of the other key findings:

• When asked what they like most about Annandale, the most commonly mentioned characteristic was location. That was expressed in terms of being easy to walk to stores and services and close to the beltway and other major transportation arteries.
• Safety/security was cited as the biggest concern among respondents, but also mentioned as the second-best thing they like about Annandale. There were big differences when broken down by neighborhood: 47 percent of Fairmont Gardens residents, 14 percent of Wedgewood residents, and 11 percent of residents of the Vistas of Annandale view Annandale as unsafe.
• The survey asked parents of school-age children about their biggest challenge in helping their children succeed in school. The most-often cited response (mentioned by 24 percent) is parents’ own lack of English proficiency.
• When asked about their concerns for the next six months, the top issues were getting sick, vaccine concerns, paying rent, finding a job, losing a job, feeding their family, immigration issues, and apartment issues.
• When asked what additional services they would like to have in Annandale, the top priorities are medical services, activities for children and youth, and increased neighborhood safety.
• Nineteen percent of survey respondents who live in Annandale lived there for more than 15 years, and 22 percent lived in Annandale for 10 to 15 years.
• Spanish is the preferred language for 57 percent of the respondents. English is preferred by 17 percent. Other languages mentioned by at least two respondents: Arabic, Tagalog, Vietnamese, Krio, Urdu, Chinese, and Thai.