Source: Nuevas Raíces

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