Community Connection Night
On Wednesday, February 21, ECNV participated in Community Connection Night organized by Fairfax County Public Schools at Providence Elementary School, where more than 150 families attended. This event was full of resources for students and families that included information on after‑school programs, mental health and behavior support, and assistance with basic needs such as health insurance and food security.
Collage: Rosalia Fajardo is wearing a white and black sport outfit with a Latino Family; Rosalia with a group of firefighters who were picking up their COVID home test and ECNV goodies.
ECNV and Ed Futuro-Neighborhood Health Vaccine Clinic
On Saturday, February 17, 2024, ECNV delivered COVID-19 home test kits to Ed Futuro and Fairfax County partners for a Neighborhood Health COVID-19 vaccine clinic.
Collage: Rosalia Fajardo with Edu Futuro staff. Rosalia is wearing a black sports sweater and pants with a male in white t-shirt and two females wearing jeans and in Edu Futuro t-shirts; Rosalia Fajardo in dark blue jacket and black pants distributing covid home with Eduardo Mantilla director of Neighborhood clinic and in brown jacket and tan pants with a female in dark jacket and jeans.
ECNV Partners with Second Story
During the February month, ECNV partnered with Second Story, hosting several community events mainly focusing on food security and health resources. ECNV distributed COVID-19 home tests to the public.
Collage: A group of Latinos residents of OAKVIEW apts receiving COVID home tests; a Korean male holding a COVID home test; Rosalia Fajardo in dark blue jacket distributing COVID home tests.
Distributing COVID-19 Home Tests to Educators
ECNV wants to congratulate the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers and the Fairfax Education Association -- the FEU -- for their amazing 40,000-book giveaway at the Lorton Community Center on Saturday, February 10, 2024. We were invited to attend this amazing event to distribute COVID-19 home tests to the multicultural and diverse community of families who attended.
Collage: (Top), David Aguayo and Rosalia Fajardo posing with a family; a Muslim family attending the event; Two African American older females holding ECNV bags and wearing a black dress with dots and jacket and the other in a light brown jacket; (Bottom) a Chinese mother wearing a typical red Chinese new year outfit with her daughter; a Vietnamese mother with her daughters.
Strengthening Relations
On Friday, February 2, 2024, ECNV was invited to participate at a meeting for community leaders organized by the Embassy of Colombia. This meeting was intended to strengthen the relations with government agencies and non-profits to expand services for the Colombian diaspora residing in the Washington Metropolitan area.
Collage: A group of Colombian women and men posing for the official picture taken by the Embassy; an African Colombian, the General Consul of Colombia, in grey coat holding a ECNV bag, on right, Rosalia Fajardo.
Himalayan Vaccine Clinic
On Saturday, February 3, 2024, ECNV co-hosted a Himalayan Vaccine Clinic. We provided vaccines to seniors with disabilities and the general population and distributed COVID-19 home tests to attendees.
Collage: A group of Latinos residents of OAKVIEW apts receiving COVID home tests; a Korean male holding a COVID home test; Rosalia Fajardo in dark blue jacket distributing COVID home tests.
United for Wellness, Mental Health and Wellness Conference and Resource Fair
On Saturday, January 27, 2024, ECNV staff attended the United for Wellness, Mental Health and Wellness Conference and Resource Fair at Riverside High School. This event was hosted by Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) and was attended by more than 45 governmental agencies, and nonprofits. United for Wellness highlights LCPS was focused on all areas of student health and well being. Conference presenters included mental health professionals, fitness, and wellness coaches, and LCPS educators.
Collage: Margarita Baquero in dark green sweater, travel trainer specialist at ECNV explaining to caucasian female wearing dark sweater about the program; Margarita Baquero in dark green sweater, travel trainer specialist at ECNV explaining to Indian Female wearing pink t-shirt and black pants about the program; (Bottom) Rosalia Fajardo in Navy Blue blouse and Margarita Baquero in dark green sweater, sitting at the ECNV outreach table.
The White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics
On Friday, January 26, 2024, Rosalia Fajardo, Disability Justice Partnerships was invited to attend The White House Initiative on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence, and Economic Opportunity for Hispanics meeting. Commissioners and attendees met with senior Biden-Harris Administration officials to discuss ways their agencies are advancing economic opportunity for the Latino community including those with disabilities.
Collage: Rosalia Fajardo wearing a navy blue blouse and black pants, posing in front of a White House standing blue banner in a book study; a Hispanic male wearing a khaki suit holding a magazine, a Hispanic female wearing black pants and also pictured, Rosalia Fajardo; (Bottom): A group photo of the Commissioners, (center), Isabel Guzman, SBA Director.
ECNV Staff Attend Independent Living (IL) Advocacy Day at the VA State Capitol
On 01/24/24, ECNV staff and consumers boarded a charter bus to Richmond, VA to attend the IL Advocacy Day. We spoke to Legislators, Delegates, and Senators to discuss priorities for the disability community.
Image: A group photo of ECNV staff and advocates celebrating a successful IL Day 2024 together in a hallway!
Corazon De America Thanksgiving Food Distribution in Culmore
On Sunday, November 19, ECNV gave away bags and COVID-19 home tests to more than 300 members of the Culmore Community in Falls Church. Residents also received turkeys and other meals to help make a Thanksgiving meal, thanks to donations from CORAZON DE AMERICA, a non-profit collaborative whose mission is to improve the lives of the immigrant communities residing in Falls Church, VA.
Collage: ECNV Director of Multicultural Families, Rosalia Fajardo wearing a light blue sweater and black pants (center), a Hispanic male wearing black jacket and pants, (right) Director Corazon de America, Magaly Prudencio Executive in red shirt and blue jeans; a group photo of Corazon volunteers, pictured with Rosalia.
ECNV Continues to Serve the Diverse Faith Network
On Sunday, November 19, 2023, ECNV partnered with Durga Temple of Virginia to provide vaccines and free COVID-19 home tests to Hindu faith community, located in Lorton and serving Fairfax County.
Collage: Cherie Takemoto, Rosalia Fajardo, a Japanese male volunteer and Manju Sangruala from Durga temple in flower dress; a group of Hindu families celebrating Diwali and waiting for the vaccines; a young female volunteer wearing a grey traditional Hindi shirt and black pants.
ECNV Protecting Immigrant Communities
On Saturday, November 11, 2023, ECNV in partnership with Mount Olive Methodist Church in Arlington VA, hosted a vaccination clinic and distributed COVID-19 home tests to Hispanic immigrants and others residing in Arlington County. ECNV staff spoke with so many while they waited in line. They were grateful to the church for providing food to feed their families with dignity, even overcoming language barriers, and to ECNV for the vaccines. It was a very cold morning but helping those in need brought a lot of warmth.
Collage: Margarita Baquero ECNV staff member, sitting with a Walgreens pharmacist; A group of people waiting in line for food and vaccines, holding purple bags; Rosalia Fajardo wearing brown a a blue jacket, pictured with a hispanic male in a blue jacket and dark pants, using a wheelchair and waiting for the vaccine.
37th Annual Caregivers Conference- When Caregiving Calls: Building a Framework for Resilience
On Friday, November 10, 2023, Pansy Walker attended the 37th Annual Caregiver Conference at the Korean Central Presbyterian Church. This all-day event was sponsored by the Northern Virginia Dementia Care Consortium. This year’s event focused on the resilience and spirit of caregivers. The conference is designed for family caregivers, volunteers working with older adults, and professionals in aging and related services. The sessions assist attendees with a better understanding of providing care and support to someone with dementia, learning new ways to engage individuals with dementia, connect with other caregivers and collect resources from exhibitors who offer supportive services.
FCPS Career and Transition Services Presents the Moving on to Life in the Community Resource Fair
On Thursday, November 9, 2023, Maura Schmidt, Program Facilitator/ILS, and Pansy Walker, Outreach Coordinator, had the pleasure of representing ECNV at the FCPS Career and Transition Resource Fair at Annandale High School. Over 150 families registered for the event and many vendors represented their agencies with an abundance of information and resources.
ECNV Advancing Racial Equity Cohort
On Wednesday, November 8, 2023, The ECNV Advancing Racial Equity Cohort presented their plan for creating an equitable organization that allows staff members at all levels to feel empowered within the organization. They will present their plan with staff and management input on key objectives to build empowerment, collaboration and trust within ECNV.
Image: The ECNV team, Paul Whitney, Nagham Sendak, Vicente Saavedra, and Cherie Takemoto (in center) with Jasmine Khanani (left) and Dr. Stacy Scott (right) from the cohort facilitators from Wayfinding Partners. This study group was a project of ACT for Alexandria.
Seniors Getting Vaccinated!
On Monday, November 6, 2023 ECNV in partnership with Louduon Caregivers hosted a vaccine clinic at Madison House Apartments, Leesburg, VA in Loudoun County.
Collage: A female senior woman sitting for a vaccine (right) a Walgreens pharmacist; a Walgreens pharmacist a white female in her medical gown, a woman using a wheelchair; a group of seniors and volunteers waiting to be vaccinated.
Himalayan COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic
On Saturday, November 4, 2023, ECNV provided vaccines to the Himalayan community residing in Northern Virginia. This event is deeply connected to our organization's mission to serve the diverse and multicultural community and was an experience full of spiritual wealth and peace that accurately reflected that the universal language is a smile and our unwavering organization's commitment to serve seniors with disabilities, their caregivers, and their communities.
Collage: Rosalia Fajardo, Director of Multicultural Families at ECNV with the Director of the Himalayan Free Clinic, Manju Sangruala in blue shirt and black pants; a Walgreens Pharmacist giving a vaccination; (bottom), a group of Nepalese /Himalayan seniors wearing their traditional costumes , Rosalia is wearing a black vest over a blue blouse.
ECNV’s TGIF Social Group
On Friday, November 3, 2023, staff members led the TGIF social group at Dos Amigos. 15 ECNV consumers participated.
TGIF social group, group photo.
Wings for All!
On Saturday, October 28, 2023, ECNV Travel Trainer Hunter Cardwell, and Outreach Coordinator Pansy Walker, attended the Wings for All event sponsored by Arc of Northern VA. This event , which took place at the Reagan National Airport, gives families and aviation professionals the confidence to take to the skies with ease by providing an airport rehearsal as well as a presentation on the aircraft and in-flight safety protocols.
Collage: “Wings for All” check-in sign; Pansy Walker and Hunter Cardwell at ECNV’s outreach table at the Wings for All event.
Carlin Senior Housing Vaccine Clinic
On Tuesday, November 28, 2023, Program and Training Coordinator Andrew Shaw and ECNV Communications and Publications Specialist Elaine Shaw hosted a vaccine clinic at Carlin Senior Living in Arlington. Elaine, a pharmacist from Walgreens was on hand to provide COVID-19 and flu vaccinations to over twenty residents. On site staff Josephine Koroma helped coordinate the flow of residents receiving vaccines. Elaine Shaw also picked up other resource material for independent living in Arlington. This was a successful event and most residents they interacted with were grateful to be vaccinated and happy to participate in our demographic survey which helps provide for our funding.
Collage: The Two Elaine’s, Elaine, the pharmacist from Walgreens and ECNV’s Publications Specialist Elaine Shaw; Program and Training Coordinator Andrew Shaw assisting a consumer fill up a vaccine survey; Andrew giving a purple goodie bag to a consumer, in the background, Elaine Shaw and Josephine Koroma.