Fairfax County Park Authority
Community Connections
Community Connections – Fairfax County Park Authority
In Fairfax County, as in many other places in Virginia, the great American
melting pot is at work. Demographics are shifting, with new immigrants from Latin
America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East adding new diversity to communities. In
1950, whites and African-Americans constituted 99.8 percent of the population with only
a few “others.” A half-century later, Fairfax is a community of "others." Fairfax
County’s minorities now account for more than 40% of the population. There are more
than 100 languages spoken by families with children enrolled in public schools, and
demographers project that minorities will become the majority by the year 2020.
As the face of Fairfax County continues to change, these groups will increasingly
turn to their local parks as sources of community identity. While park use is somewhat
below average for racial/ethnic minority groups, increasing growth has occurred among
Hispanic, Asian and African American households. Recreation patterns are different from
traditional individual and family forms. Large family celebrations and non-traditional
sports are a few of the ways parks will become central to diverse communities. Recent
community-wide surveys conducted by the Park Authority found that 80% of persons
rated parks as very or extremely important to the quality of life in Fairfax County. To
meet this expectation, the Park Authority will be challenged to adapt its facilities and
programs to address the needs of diverse user groups.
Community Connections is the Fairfax County Park Authority’s answer to
understanding and managing that change. As much philosophy as program, Community
Connections is a comprehensive outreach and education effort aimed at listening to,
engaging and building trust with increasingly diverse park users. Community
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Community Connections
Connections seeks to build bridges between Park Authority staff and new customers. By
creating awareness of recreational resources currently available, increasing access to
services by eliminating cultural and communications barriers and developing new
programs and facilities, Community Connections is helping the Park Authority better
serve international Fairfax County of the 21st century.
History
In Fairfax County, increased field use by non-permitted park users had raised
tension across the county between these new users groups, park neighbors and
established sports leagues. In addition, the increasingly diverse community was using
parks in new and different ways, often exceeding the capacity and design of parks. To
address the problem, the Board of Supervisors directed staff from several agencies to
investigate practices and policies that could be changed or implemented to protect county
fields. Along with enhanced monitoring on weekends and enforcement, the Board sought
an outreach program to non-permitted organized groups to increase their understanding
of field policies and prompt their participation as authorized users.
The Park Authority found a way to increase park supervision at trouble spots from
five to seven days each week by redirecting existing resources. And seeing the field use
problem as only one of many issues created by an increasingly diverse population, the
Park Authority instead chose to use the appropriation to establish a more far-reaching
strategy to “connect” with these new users.
In its first year, the “Community Connections” program developed five strategic
areas for initiatives. These included:
1. Increase awareness of existing services
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2. Identify and meet community needs
3. Lower barriers to participation
4. Develop partnerships
5. Staff awareness and training
1. Increase Awareness of Existing Services
The groundwork began in 2006 with the Park Authority establishing itself as a
credible partner in the countywide network of human services providers, those already
working with the international community. Agency staff was instrumental in establishing
a Region II Community Engagement group, a collaboration among 19 county agency
professionals and nonprofits to address community issues. As a result, Park Authority
representatives participate in the Gang Prevention Task Force, the Fairfax County Gang
Prevention Resource Team, Strengthening Neighborhoods Building Communities and
Governor Kaine’s Virginia Latino Advisory Board. Also, two full-time bilingual
employees were hired in mid-2006 for the Community Connections program, their focus
being to improve communications with and address the needs of the Hispanic and Korean
communities, the county’s two largest minority segments.
Through this new visibility, the Park Authority began a series of grass roots and
high-profile efforts to increase awareness of its programs and facilities among
underserved diverse populations. These included:

Media coverage in ethnic markets – Community Connections worked with
Korean newspapers to run a series of articles on Park Authority facilities and
programs (at no cost), providing a much needed introduction of the Park
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Authority to the Korean community. Articles ranged from a profile of the new
Cub Run RECenter to addressing the sensitive issue of Asian patrons picking
certain herbs from nature center and park grounds. The first multi-week
promotional campaign was instituted on the popular El Zol (Hispanic Radio) to
increase awareness of summer programs of particular interest to the Latino
community, including Latino music concerts and summer programs for children.
For the first time, the Park Authority began receiving ethnic media coverage for
events, such as the one-millionth visitor to the Water Mine aquatic facility,
covered by Telemundo (Hispanic TV) featuring a Spanish-speaking
representative from the Park Authority.

KORUS festival – Community Connections co-sponsored the first KORUS
festival (Korean-US) in October 2006, organized by the Korean-American
Association of the Metropolitan Washington Area. The festival sought to
present all aspects of Korea's vibrant and unique culture to the public and
coincides with Chuseok, the Korean traditional day of thanksgiving celebrating
the harvest. The festival provided the opportunity to reach more than 20,000
mostly Korean attendees to build awareness of the Park Authority without a
significant impact on park facilities. Partners included the Korean Information
Service of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea, District of Columbia Mayor’s
Office on Asian and Pacific-Islander Affairs, and The Korea Times newspaper.

Job Fairs – Community Connections played a key role in enabling a partner
organization, Hispanic Committee of Virginia, to conduct a large job fair at the
South County Government Center in March 2007 to promote diversity in the
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workforce. Hundreds of Hispanic residents were able to receive information on
seasonal and full-time positions with the Park Authority.

Sully Neighborhood College – Partnering with the Department of Systems
Management for Human Services, Community Connections conducted this twoday event in December-January 2006-07 to introduce 35 Korean residents to
local county government and prepare graduates to become community leaders.

Cul-de-Sac Outreach Fairs – Together with the Department of Community and
Recreation Services (CRS), Community Connections is again providing
information at 5 targeted low-income neighborhood “street fairs” including
Regan Oaks, Chantilly Mews, Yorkville, and Robinson Square.

Parent Nights – Community Connections staff presented dozens of parent
information nights in the Annandale, Springfield, Alexandria and Herndon
communities. Hosted by the school language liaisons, these evenings provide
face-to-face multi-lingual information to parents on children’s programs and
community events.
2. Identify and Meet Community Needs
To better understand the needs of its diverse population, Community Connections
is gathering information on recreation preferences and seeking input on park design from
the county’s international community. With this information, staff work collaboratively
with various Park Authority program areas and divisions to seek to meet the identified
needs.
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
Recreational Surveys – Beginning in the spring of 2006, staff began conducting
several hundred recreational preference surveys in Spanish and Korean through
church groups, English-as-a-second-language classes and public events. Learning
from this first effort, a first-of-its kind collaboration for large formal telephone
survey of the recreational needs and practices of ethnic families in one of the
county’s most diverse areas is being conducted by Community Connections and
the Annandale Parent Resource Center. Using school language liaisons, the
recreational surveys target five language groups: Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese,
Arabic and Urdu. Planning and survey development for this unique cooperative
effort between the Park Authority and Fairfax County Public Schools began in
September of 2006, with the survey being administered in the spring of 2007.
Results from the survey will be shared among partner organizations and should
provide insight into how to better serve the diverse community.

Ossian Hall Cultural Festivals – For this park that is a popular gathering spot for
the diverse residents of this community, a series of cultural street festivals were
planned for summer 2007. “Explore the World in Your Community” features 11
cultural events, including Bolivian, Salvadoran, Mexican, Korean, Russian,
Vietnamese and Peruvian performers. Community Connections has partnered
with community leaders and organizations representing each of these cultural
groups in the design and implementation of the series, providing more ownership
by the international community.

Heritage Festivals – In September of 2006, Community Connections hosted a
series of concerts extending the Park Authority’s popular summer concert series
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into Hispanic Heritage Month. Performers and locations were selected based on
demographic makeup of specific communities.

Culmore “Make a Splash” – In Fall 2006, Community Connections held a focus
group with parents from the very diverse Culmore community. The community,
still grieving the loss of two children who drowned in an area lake, asked if
something could be done to teach their children how to survive in the water.
From this, the Park Authority developed a partnership in late 2006 with Bailey’s
Elementary School for the Arts and Sciences Parent Teacher Association, Center
to prove learn-to swim lessons and drowning prevention instruction to
elementary-aged children. To date, 31 children have completed the program,
with children without swimming gear receiving new swimsuits and goggles
through Nadar Por Vida.

Yorkville – In the past year, working cooperatively with the county’s Department
of Community and Recreation Services, Virginia Cooperative Extension and
Boys & Girls Club, Community Connections orchestrated programs for at-risk
children in the Yorkville community, a neighborhood with a high-percentage of
diverse residents. Based on parent concerns over potential gang recruitment of
young teens, Community Connections offered a soccer instruction program for
local Somali teens. By completing after-school tutoring and community service,
students earn points toward Park Authority field trips and camps.

Camps - Building the next generation of park users, Community Connections
created two innovative week-long camps for at-risk youth to encourage
participation in parks and park programs. In the spring of 2006, a partnership
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was created with the Hispanic Committee of Virginia to provide 30
predominately Hispanic children involved in tutoring programs with a week of
Urban Adventure Camp, a high-adventure program of white water rafting, rock
climbing, and exposure to Park Authority programs and facilities. Raven Quest,
an environmental stewardship camp, was created to provide teens at risk of gang
involvement with a unique week learning about stewardship and the
environment. With the support of local police and numerous business sponsors,
more than 25 teens participated in service projects, environmental learning and
outdoor recreation.
3. Lower Barriers to Participation
Recognizing that many factors, including poor communication, cost, and
transportation can hamper participation in recreation, Community Connections
sought to identify and minimize impediments to participation by the international
community. These efforts have included:

Signage inventory – An inventory of bilingual signs at all parks was begun in late
2006 to identify specific needs, correct errors in translation and create an intranetbased collection of commonly need signs in multiple languages, available to park
staff to download for temporary use.

Communication – In 2006, a survey of public documents that need to be translated
was conducted with the aim of providing increased access to information about
the Park Authority. Through Community Connections’ bilingual staff, the agency
now has the in-house capability for simultaneous interpretation at public
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meetings, the first step toward the lofty goal that every customer would be able to
receive information about any Park Authority program in their native language.

Scholarships – In 2006, the Park Authority’s popular summer Rec-PAC program,
at the request of front line human service professionals and school counselors,
began producing its registration flyer bilingually in English and Spanish. RecPAC provides more than 7,000 free weeks of camp each summer to eligible
children from low-income families. Plans are underway to provide registration
information in additional languages in the future.
4. Develop Partnerships
Through a process of community engagement, the Park Authority seeks to
develop increased community awareness and participation in its programs and facilities.
During the initial phase of Community Connections in 2006, staff focused on building
relationships with community leaders, cultural liaisons, agency colleagues, and the
business community. It became increasingly clear that to effectively reach the
international community, Community Connections would need to join forces with others
already serving the diverse communities. This collaborative approach has been a
hallmark of efforts to increase participation by cultural groups and as a strategy to
address community issues that arise in parks. Some examples include:

Nadar Por Vida – In the late fall of 2006, Community Connections forged a
partnership with Nadar Por Vida (Swimming for Life), Fairfax County Public
Schools, Curl Burke Swim Club and Speedo Inc. to provide competitive
swimming opportunities for Hispanic youth from at-risk backgrounds who might
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not otherwise participate in swim teams. Based at the Park Authority’s
Providence RECenter, the program currently serves more than 50 students from
nearby Poe, Holmes and Glasgow Middle Schools with volunteer teachers and
counselors from the schools, police and Curl Burke Swim Club. In this unique
community-focused program, participants and family members gather on the pool
deck for instruction and a variety of prevention-focused resources are available to
families throughout the season. Costs for pool rental and staff for the 6-week pilot
were provided by Community Connections, with Nadar Por Vida and Speedo, Inc.
providing equipment and team uniforms. Beginning in the fall of 2007, a full year
of pool rental fees and lifeguards will be covered by a $12,500 grant from Cox
Connects Community Fund of the Northern Virginia Community Foundation through
Nadar Por Vida.

Roundtree Park food vending – In response to community concerns about illegal
food vending and parking issues at Roundtree Park, a favorite weekend gathering
spot for Hispanic soccer players and their friends and families, in 2006
Community Connections staff organized a team from the Fairfax County Health
Department, Fairfax County Police, the Department of Cable and Consumer
Protection and developed a timetable of initiatives to address neighborhood
concerns to eliminate sales in the park. Instead of simply increasing enforcement,
together the coalition worked to develop a relationship with the vendors, creating
a packet of bilingual materials to educate the vendors on laws and regulations.
Through the Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, vendors were provided
with information on establishing small businesses, and as a result several vendors
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have joined together to purchase and permit a food vending vehicle. A recent
Washington Post article cited neighbors noticing positive changes as a result of
efforts at the park.

Youth Golf Partnership – Beginning in fall 2006, Community Connections and
the Park Authority’s Golf Branch began planning a youth golf development
program for at-risk teens from Poe Middle School. A coalition including the
Northern Virginia Urban League, Fairfax County Public Schools and Everybody
Golf School was built and instruction was centered at the Park Authority’s
Pinecrest Golf Course in the heavily Asian and Hispanic area of Annandale. The
program develops basic golf skills while also focusing on fitness, character
development and sportsmanship. Participants are paired with volunteer senior
golfers for instruction. Through funding from a USGA For the Good of the Game
grant, upon completion of the program, each participant receives a Junior Golf
Program membership and free future rounds of golf to encourage lifelong
participation. The program was fully implemented in the spring of 2007 with
beginner and intermediate programs scheduled for seasons.

Herndon Cleanup – Community Connections helped to bring together diverse
community organizations to complete a cleanup of a long-standing community
eyesore and safety concern at Hutchinson Elementary School where for years
trash has been accumulating along the woods line of the neighboring park. The
project involved more than 25 volunteer laborers from the Herndon Official
Workers Center, who along with others cleaned a section longer than six football
fields, filling almost 300 bags with trash. With an upswing in resident complaints
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at various park locations throughout the county related to immigrant workers, the
cleanup project provided a great opportunity for workers to become part of a
solution and contribute to the stewardship mission of the Park Authority.
National Public Radio was on site interviewing many of the volunteers throughout
the day. The cleanup brought together numerous county and community partners
including the Park Authority, Systems Management for Human Services, Project
Hope and Harmony/Herndon Official Workers Center, the Self Governance Board
of workers, and school, police and political officials. The local business
community joined forces for the project, with the owner of the hotel bordering the
park and school donating a free breakfast for the workers.
5. Staff Awareness and Training
Along with increasing community awareness and understanding of the Park
Authority’s programs and facilities, Community Connections seeks to promote
organizational change within the Park Authority structure and staff to prepare the agency
to better serve its diverse customers. Recruiting a more diverse staff and educating
existing staff is a part of the process of creating a more welcoming environment for
customers from diverse backgrounds. Beginning in 2006, some of these initiatives have
included:

Site visits - Community Connections staff visited more than 25 park sites and
staff groups since early 2006 for discussions and focus groups with employees
about cultural outreach, to assess support needs and provide specific assistance
with cross-cultural issues in the field. Offering guidance and assistance for site-
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based community outreach, Community Connections seeks to enable staff
throughout the Park Authority to envision and develop programs to reach their
diverse customer base. In the past year, staff helped communicate with Asian
gardeners, facilitate Korean-language swimming lessons for seniors, and increase
outreach for the highly successful Hidden Oaks Nature Center International
Children’s Day. In the future, Community Connections will be offering
incubator grants to provide seed money for innovative front-line ideas to meet
the needs of the diverse community.

Language stipends for Rec-PAC staff – The Park Authority operates Rec-PAC, a
summer youth activity program with sliding scale fees based on income, at school
sites across the county. Community Connections staff identified 23 schools with
diverse populations and lower English proficiency, and Rec-PAC counselors with
bi-lingual skill were recruited for those sites to enhance communication with kids
and their parents.
Summary
In its first year, Community Connections has focused on one of nine magisterial
districts in Fairfax County. Mason District was chosen because of its ethnic diversity,
political support, and opportunity for cross-agency collaboration. In subsequent years,
Community Connections will expand its outreach into all nine districts, with initial work
in three additional areas already underway. By developing a strategic approach to
building a parks and recreation organization’s capacity to serve its diverse constituency,
Community Connections may serve as a model for other jurisdictions experiencing
similar demographic shifts.
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Community Connections represents recognition of the business and societal
benefits of inclusion. While funding of staff positions and specific program initiatives is
important, far more critical is the cultural shift in the organization and the attitudinal shift
of Park Authority staff. That is what’s enabling the Park Authority to build trust,
understanding and bridges that welcome non-traditional users to the county’s parks. The
Community Connections program and its strategic initiatives guarantee that serving
diverse communities is not a problem; instead, through Community Connections, the
problem is being transformed into an opportunity.
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