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CRECIENDO JUNTOS – GROWING TOGETHER
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Southwood Working Group
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Source: Nuevas Raíces
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The
100-acre Southwood Mobile Home Park is located off of 5th Street
Extended, about a mile from the 120 Exit of Interstate 64. It
was opened in the mid 1970s and contains some 360 trailers.
The actual number of residents is unknown; many estimate 1,500. All of its residents are low income; over half are
Spanish speaking Mexicans, Salvadorans and Hondurans.
On March 1, 2007, Habitat for Humanity purchased Southwood. According
to Habitat, under its ownership it could take five to six years
to begin any development at the trailer park, and Habitat plans
to develop a combination of houses, townhouses, condominiums,
and apartments to accommodate current residents and to increase
the density of Southwood to make development economically viable
and successful. To purchase Habitat housing, adults must be U.S.
permanent legal residents or citizens; all adults, regardless
of residency or citizenship status, can rent Habitat housing.
In the past, Habitat’s priority has been giving current
residents priority in the new housing Habitat develops.
Information about Southwood is compiled and organized on this web page by Linda Hemby,
formerly
Coordinator of the Creciendo Juntos’ Southwood Working Group. To submit data, a report, or other resource, contact Linda Hemby at lhemby@albemarle.org
For information about Southwood, contact Anne Ternes, Habitat’s Southwood’s manager, at 434/979-0856 (telephone), 434-202-8760 (fax) or at anne@southwoodcville.com Habitat’s Southwood webpage is located at: http://cvillehabitat.org/southwood.shtml The Habitat official in charge of Southwood is Ryan Jacoby, who can be reached at: (434) 293-9066.
Contents
Media
Reports
Other
References
Community
Initiatives
Southwood Updates (County and Working Groups)
MEDIA
REPORTS
Dedicating the Southwood Community Center
The Boys and Girls Club partnered with Habitat for Humanity to give residents of the Southwood Mobile Home Park a recreation center.
Charlottesville News Plex and Daily Progress, October 19, 2008
Training offered for Latinos wishing to promote health
About the CJ Health Promoter training offered to Southwood’s Latino population.
Daily Progress Staff, September 18, 2008
Southwood Cleanup Day
Albemarle County Board of Supervisors, May 7, 2008
NBC29 & Daily Progress, May 3, 2008
Southwood Cleanup Day
Nuevas Raíces, May 5, 2008
In transition: What's next for Southwood residents?
The Hook, April 10, 2008
Boys & Girls Club Reaching out to Area Teens
The Hook, April 10, 2008
Million Dollar Donation to Aid Habitat for Humanity
Daily Progress, March 15, 2008
[Southwood] Boys & Girls Club Reaching out to Area Teens
NBC 29, February 21, 2008
UVA
Class Reads to Latino Children
UVA Today and Nuevas Raíces, January 18, 2008
Boys And Girls Club Celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month
WCAV TV, October 14, 2007
Drought watch? Mysteries abound at top-20 water users
The Hook, September 6, 2007
Virginia Community Capital Announces a Line of Credit for Habitat
A VCC press release, April 2007
What You Should Know If You Are Latino And Live In Southwood
A Nuevas Raíces article, February 26, 2007
Habitat
Affiliate Buys Old Trailer Parks: Charlottesville Group is First
in U.S. To Try Redevelopment Plan
A Richmond Times-Dispatch Article, February 5,
2007
Raise
the Roof
The Declaration, February 1, 2007
UVA
Students visit Southwood to advise Latinos about their
legal right to an interpreter
A Nuevas Raíces article, January 22, 2007
Habitat to close deal: Group buying trailer park
A Daily Progress Article, January 21, 2007
Biscuit
Run, Habitat team up
For-profit gives to nonprofit to meet affordable housing requirements
C-Ville Weekly, January 2007
With
Southwood, Habitat continues expansion:
Habitat for Humanity leaps to 16 houses per year
C-Ville Weekly, July 11, 2006
Habitat
picks design firms for new neighborhood
Daily Progress, June 13, 2006
Habitat to Acquire 2nd Trailer Park
A Daily Progress Article, May 3, 2006
Habitat
for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville Announces
Purchase of Mobile Home Park
An NBC29 Report, May 2, 2006
Habitat
Will Purchase Mobile Home Park
A WCAV report, May 2, 2006
C'ville Sees Surge in Mobile Communities
A UVA Cavalier Article, October 29, 2001
OTHER REFERENCES
Bus service to Southwood
Since March 2007, CTS has been offering bus service from downtown Charlottesville to Southwood. The service is 6am – 6 pm, Monday thru Saturday. Community activists are advocating for Albemarle County support of the Charlottesville initiative. There are also demands for extended service since many Southwood residents work in the area’s large service industry in the evenings. For a bus schedule and map, visit: http://www.charlottesville.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=6657
Latino Health Survey. Between October 2007 and February 2008, a qualitative assessment was conducted through both semi-structured door-to-door interviews with eighty Southwood Latino residents and four focus groups with twenty-five Latinos recruited at the Bubbles Laundromat on Carlton Road. Additionally, six service providers, five Latinas and one Spaniard married to a Mexican, were also surveyed. The survey aimed to learn what the local Latino community considers as its most important health problems to assist the CJ Health Promoter Working Group design appropriate interventions to respond to them. To view the report of findings, published on March 1, 2008, visit http://www.cj-network.org/cjinitiatives/HealthSurvey.doc
A Message To Southwood Residents
A bilingual flyer circulated
to Southwood residents by Habitat in late February 2007. Following
the flyer, Habitat invited residents and agencies involved in
Southwood to enjoy coffee and donuts on March 5 – 7, 2007
(between 7 and 10 am) in the trailer park’s parking lot.
Images
of Southwood Trailer Park and its Residents
These twelve photos were
taken by Billy Hunt for Habitat for Humanity. View them at:
http://www.billyhunt.com/southwood.html
Habitat announces it will purchase Southwood
A Habitat Press Release
(May 2006)
http://avenue.org/habitat/sunrise/Announcement.pdf
New connecting road through Southwood being considered
On December 19, 2006, the Albemarle County Planning
Commission mentioned during a Board of Supervisors meeting that
a connecting road is being planned that would be constructed
through the Southwood neighborhood to connect Biscuit Run to
Old Lynchburg Road. Source: http://cvilletomorrow.typepad.com/charlottesville_tomorrow_/biscuit_run_development/index.html
Click here
for a related Daily Progress article
School
Enrollment
Children residing in Southwood
attend the following schools: Cale (Elementary), Burley and
Walton (Middle Schools; students were split in 2006 between
two schools), and Monticello (High School). The following chart
reflects the growth of Latino students in these schools. The
percentage figure represents the percentage of Latinos currently
at the school.
| |
1999-2000 |
2005-2006 |
2006-2007 |
| Cale |
31 |
92 |
100
(19%) |
| Burley |
9
|
10 |
50
(9.71%) |
| Walton |
20 |
52 |
22
(4.94%) |
| Monticello |
24 |
49 |
60
(5.36%) |
The chart was compiled from a County Excel document. Click
here to view statistics on Latino students for
all Albemarle County schools. For more information on Latino
students in Albemarle County contact: Gloria Maria Rockhold,
Latino Career and Community Relations Coordinator, Office of
Community Engagement (434) 296-5803
Map of Southwood
A simple street drawing showing locations of Southwood trailers.
Taking
out Southwood’s Trash: A Social and Legal History of Mobile
Homes and the Implications for Albemarle County
A paper prepared by a UVA student, May 2006.
Homelessness in Southwood
The minutes of an October 2005 meeting of the 2012 Task Force
on Homelessness reads: “Mr. Rue distributed copies of
the 2005 Homeless Census. Mr. White and others wished to remind
us of the invisible nature of homelessness, especially in rural
areas. He gave the example of the Southwood trailer park, where
as many as 15-18 people sometimes live in the same mobile home,
and yet these people are not considered homeless despite deplorable
conditions.” Location: http://www.tjpdc.org/pdf/housing/2012_Task_Force/minutes_2005_10_24.doc
Southwood
Pollutes?
Southwood owns and operates a sewage treatment facility that
has been repeatedly cited for violating the instantaneous fecal
coliform standard and for polluting Moore’s Creek. Online
references on this problem includes:
A February
2005 Thomas Jefferson Planning District Commission Report
http://www.deq.state.va.us/tmdl/implans/mooresip.pdf
A 2004
report of the Virginia State Water Control Board (Page 76)
http://legis.state.va.us/codecomm/Register/vol20/ISS21%5CV20I21.PDF
A 2004
State Water Control Board Action against Southwood for a pattern
of pollution between October 2001 and September 2003. http://www.deq.state.va.us/enforcement/finalorders/southwood.pdf
COMMUNITY
INITIATIVES
Until the present, there have been few sustainable initiatives
in Southwood, among them, the Girls and Boys Club and Rainbow
House. A few community groups have organized one time or sporadic
health awareness campaigns and Albemarle County Public Schools
sponsored a pilot ESL project in 2006, all aimed at the Latino
population. The purpose of this section is to identify all agencies
that either have projects in Southwood or would like to.
Neighborhood Watch Group
In September 2008, Albemarle County Police Department started a Neighborhood Watch Group in the trailer park. Lt. James Bond is responsible for this much needed initiative. Creciendo Juntos strongly recommends service providers to encourage their Southwood Clients, both Latinos and non-Latinos, to participate in the Neighborhood Watch meetings and to contact Lt. Bond with their ideas and concerns: BondJ@albemarle.org
English Classes
Albemarle County Schools is offering English classes for adults beginning September 2009. Classes, for beginners and advanced learners, will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6:30 – 8:30 pm, in the Habitat building (store). They cost $25 a semestre. Classes will run the course of the school year. For more information, contact Paula Mehring at (434) 295-7936. Click here for a flyer in Spanish.
Literacy & English Playgroups In Southwood
Children, Youth and Families Services (CYFS) started a literacy program in Southwood in January 2008. The program on Mondays, from 1-2 pm, uses two UVA student volunteers. One of them, recruited by Gloria Rockhold, Albemarle Schools, speaks Spanish. Gloria is also recruiting Latino participants for this initiative supported by a CYFS employee and the other volunteer. For a Spanish and English flyer, click here. On Thursdays from 11:30 am -1 pm, CYFS has a playgroup staffed with two bilingual volunteers and a CYFS parent educator that speaks Spanish. This group started at the end of February 2008 and uses CYFS’s ParentingMobile (http://www.nbc29.com/global/story.asp?s=7765942) For a Spanish and English flyer, click here. The playgroups are targeting ages 0-6 year olds and their parent with an emphasis on learning English through play, songs, books….and encouraging positive parent/child interaction through a fun and creative learning environment. Snacks are provided at each group. CYFS hopes these two groups will continue weekly all year round. At this time CYFS is not planning to expand beyond Southwood because of limited staffing. For more information contact Hilary Nagel at hnagel@cyfs.org or 296-4118 ex 238.
For a June 2008 article on this program, click here.
Rural
Health Outreach Program Mobile Clinic
In January 2007, the RHOP Mobile Clinic will have been visiting
Southwood for two years. The visits were initially on the last
Thursday of each month, between 4 and 8 pm. In July 2007, the
visits became every other month so the Mobile Clinic could visit
the Church of the Incarnation on alternating months. Information
about the visits to Southwood and appointments should be directed
to nurse Jan Wolfe at 434/263-4858 or 434/409-1636. She can
also be reached at jan@rhop-brmc.org
The RHOP is located at 4038 Thomas Nelson Highway, Arrington,
VA 22922.
Getting
bus service to Southwood
The grassroots initiative IMPACT (Interfaith Movement Promoting
Action by Congregations Together) organized a committee that
has been working on transportation and low income housing issues.
Largely due to its efforts, bus service began running between
downtown Charlottesville and Southwood on March 26, 2007. Community
activists are calling for additional advocacy efforts since
Albemarle County has not committed to his project. For more
information contact Angela Vanderhoof, (434) 220-2450 or (937)
477-2839 or angela@thedartcenter.org
IMPACT’s office is located at 100 Alderman Road, Charlottesville,
VA 22903.
Shelter for Help in Emergencies (SHE)
This non-profit, providing support to victims of domestic abuse, has Southwood Clients served by Marie Murray who can be contacted at 434/963-4676 Ext 4 or mmurray@shelterforhelpinemergency.org
CHIP
The Comprehensive Health Investment Project (CHIP)
is a joint MACAA and Department of Health program serving children
from birth to age seven and their families. Families are linked
to a primary physician and assisted with preventive health care,
positive parent-child interaction, and appropriate discipline.
Several CHIP staff work with Latinos in Southwood. Among them,
Amy Chenoweth, RN, MA, who can be reached at 434-972-6264 or
at Amy.Chenoweth@vdh.virginia.gov
CJ
Southwood Health Promoter Working Group
In May 2007, several health professionals, all members of Creciendo
Juntos, decided to come together to explore developing a health
promoter project in the Southwood trailer park. They are networking
with organizations in Richmond and Harrisonburg who have experience
in the “promotor” model, planning a household health
survey in Southwood for fall 2007, and are organizing other
initiatives. For more information, see the working group’s
web page at http://www.cj-network.org/cjwgm/health.html
The Bright Stars Program
This preschool program for four year-old children is
sponsored by a partnership among Albemarle Department of Social
Services, the School Division and various community agencies
and organizations. The program’s goal is to provide early
learning experiences and comprehensive social supports for students
and families that address risk factors that can lead to early
academic failure. Social workers from Social Services implement
seven classes of 16 students each in six schools including Cale
where Southwood children attend. For more information contact
Kim Rambow, Social Services, 293-7455.
Family Support Program
The
mission of the Albemarle Social Service’s Family Support
Program is to provide prevention and intervention services that
support children's growth and development, strengthen families,
and promote school success through home, school and community
collaboration. Dick Goodin is the Family Support Worker at Cale
Elementary where Southwood students attend and most of his work
is in that community. Dick can be contacted at 293-7455.
Southwood
Boys and Girls Club
Affiliated with the Charlottesville/Albemarle Boys and Girls
Club.
In December 2007, Tim Sinatra of the Boys & Girls Club, spoke to the County about the club’s planned expansion at Southwood. The related fundraising effort is proceeding nicely and is receiving a good response from the community. The B&GC’s planning and engineering team is progressing through the Special Use Permit process and hopes to be in a position to wrap-up all requirements to allow construction to start in the summer of 2008. An August 2007 press release about the expansion effort is located at http://www.cacfonline.org/cacf/tabid/395/itemid/62/modid/890/Boys-and-Girls-Club-Seeks-to-Improve-Southwood-Fac.aspxThe Charlottesville B&GC has a webpage on its Southwood unit located at http://www.bgclubcville.org/main_sublinks.asp?id=39&sid=38
The
Rainbow House
A Jefferson Park Baptist Church ministry located in Southwood.
Community groups are encouraged to use the community center
for their Southwood activities.
Overview:
The Southwood Task Force (2003 – 2005)
July 2006
SOUTHWOOD UPDATES (COUNTY AND WORKING GROUPS)
Habitat Southwood Progress Report for Albemarle County
August 2008
CJ
Southwood Working Group
July 23, 2007 Update
CJ
Southwood Working Group
Meeting Minutes / Forthcoming
June 5, 2007
Habitat
Southwood Working Group
Meeting Minutes
May 15, 2007
CJ Southwood Working Group
Meeting Minutes
May 8, 2007
CJ Southwood Working Group
Meeting Minutes
April 10, 2007
CJ
Southwood Working Group
Plenary Presentation
March 30, 2007
CJ Southwood Working Group
Habitat – Southwood Meeting
March 9, 2007
CJ Southwood Working Group
February 2007 Update
CJ
Southwood Working Group
July 2006 Update
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