We are proud to be active in Arlington and Northern Virginia through community organizing and our redevelopment. Below are some ways CPC has been involved in the community.
CPC In the News!
CPC In the News!
We are proud to be active in Arlington and Northern Virginia through community organizing and our redevelopment. Below are some ways CPC has been involved in the community.
Redevelopment
We are excited about our path to redevelopment.
The Washington Blade covered our project in March of 2024.
Leaders and members of the Clarendon Presbyterian Church, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary on April 13, have said they decided to continue to fulfill their mission of religious faith by using the land on which their church is located in the Clarendon section of Arlington, Va., to develop a new, larger church building to include LGBTQ affordable housing for seniors along with an independently run childcare center that currently operates in the church.
“In line with the church’s deep history of supporting affordable housing, LGBTQ communities, and seniors, in 2021, the church relaunched a visioning process of how we might invest our most valuable physical resources, our church property, for the good of the community,” church leaders said in a Feb. 9, 2024, statement describing the project....
“I would say the LGBTQ elements of the proposal are likely more of a plus than a minus,” Fisette told the Blade. “I expect 99 percent of any resistance-anxiety relates to density and the real-feared impacts of that density,” he said.
Tewell told the Blade the church’s support for the LGBTQ community dates back to the 1980s, when church members voted in support of a then-controversial proposal to allow the D.C.-based Whitman-Walker Clinic, which had a Northern Virginia outreach, to use space in the church for a support group for people with HIV/AIDS and for HIV caregivers.
“And that started changing the church to becoming a church that was very welcoming to LGBTQ people,” she said, adding that the church subsequently opened its door for LGBTQ community events, some of which were organized by gay church member James Fisher. Among those using the church now is IMPACTO LGBT, a Spanish-speaking LGBT church that holds its worship services at Clarendon Presbyterian Church.
“This is how we are living out our faith in the world,” Tewell said. “We worked out what does God’s embodied love look like for the world? And how do we embody God’s grace, justice, and love? And we really feel that it is through housing for seniors that is welcoming to LGBTQ+ people,” she added. “And to transform our church space so it’s better equipped to welcome the community.”
The Christian Science Monitor featured our project in August 2024.
“We’ll take our courage from God, though, because our redevelopment is an act of our faith.” Rev. Tewell
https://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/2024/0806/church-real-estate-income-survive
ARL Now covered our project in October 2023.
Standing up for Youth
"On February 7, 2024 over 260 VOICE leaders, students, parents, and allies came together at Kenmore Middle School to call on County leaders to invest $2M in funding for high-quality after-school programming in Arlington's FY 2025 budget!
As Rev. Alice Tewell shared, investing in structured activities and mentorship for at-risk students is key to preventing harmful behaviors. The powerful stories from Marina Cura and Luz Rodriguez remind us why this work is so vital."
Check out the press coverage:
NBC4 in our sanctuary: https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/northern-virginia/arlington-moms-want-better-afterschool-programs-in-fight-against-fentanyl/3541977/Fox 5: https://www.fox5dc.com/video/1407906
DCist: https://dcist.com/story/24/02/08/arlington-advocates-want-2-million-dollars-fight-student-overdoses/
Let's keep the momentum going! #YouthPower #VOICE #Behavioral Health #PreventSubstanceAbuse #AfterSchoolPrograms #Arlington