The Fairfax County Park Authority manages over 15,000 acres of neighborhood, community, district and county parks, including historic parks, golf courses, nature centers, a cross-country ski trail, and indoor ice rink, fitness trails, miniature train rides, a natural preserve and a model farm.
At Hidden Oaks Nature Center (941-1065), the county maintains a comprehensive nature retreat within the 52-acre Annandale Community Park. Facilities include the nature center with natural and cultural history exhibits, library and an auditorium. A nature trail loops through the woodlands. Naturalists at the site ofter scheduled nature programs and will make special arrangements for groups. Also located in the Park is the Fred M. Packard Center which houses many arts and civic groups, including the Arts Council of Fairfax County (642-0862), and Artisans United, Inc. (642-0862), which operates a cooperative gallery for the display and sale of art and craft items.
Wakefield Park and Recreation Center (321-7080) located at 8100 Braddock Road, Annandale, offers everything from tennis courts to shuffleboard, including an indoor olympic swimming pool, racquetball/handball courts, arts and crafts and game room, showers and saunas, and a 100' by 92' gymnasium/multipurpose room, exercise/weight room, and dance room, as well as nature trails, playground and picnic room, and game fields for football, softball, soccer, and baseball.
Mason District Park (941-1730), 6621 Columbia Pike, Annandale, offers outdoor sports, the Newton W. Edwards Amphitheatre with scheduled outdoor concerts and programs, picnicking and a fitness trail.
Green Spring Farm Park, near Braddock Road and Route 236, is a renovated 1760 farm house offering trails, picnic areas, a duck pond, gardens and a Horticulture Center, (642-5173). The Center provides practical horticultural information through lectures, workshops, tours, demonstration and display gardens, a bimonthly newsletter and exhibit.
For information about parks governed by the Fairfax County Park Authority, call 246-5700.
A wide variety of special events is offered annually by the Fairfax County Park Authority and the Department of Recreation and Community Services. These include high adventure trips, interpretive programs, arts, crafts and music festivals, classes and workshops. The Department of Recreation and Community Services also administers the use of school gyms, game fields, community centers and playgrounds. For information, call 324-5533.
HAVEN of Northern Virginia, Inc., located at 4606 Ravensworth Road, Annandale (behind Hope Lutheran Church), was founded in 1976. The HAVEN volunteer staff works with the seriously ill, the dying, the bereaved, their families and friends. The staff is made up of trained volunteers from all walks of life who are committed to offering a gift of self and a sense of caring to those in need. They offer comfort and support to widows and widowers, parents who have lost a child, children, teenagers, relatives and friends who may need help in coping with the many facets of grief. Volunteers help people where they are -- at home, in hospitals, or in nursing homes. They help people address their feelings of fear, loneliness, apprehension, depression, anger and disappointment.
The volunteer staff undergoes extensive, in-depth training. The thirty hours of training, required for all volunteers, is followed by an apprenticeship period. Education programs are scheduled monthly, and a comprehensive library adds to the HAVEN volunteer's awareness and knowledge.
If you need help, or if you would like to volunteer, call 941-7000. Phone lines are open 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m, Monday through Friday, and messages may be left with the answering service after office hours.
ACCA is a group of 25 churches from Annandale and Northern Virginia who work together to provide emergency help to those in need. Services provided by ACCA volunteers include: helping families or individuals facing emergency needs for food, payment of overdue utility bills or rents, medicine, etc.; providing transportation to medical or therapy appointments for neighbors who are house bound; and collecting furniture from donors and delivering it to families in need. ACCA also runs a day care center at 7200 Columbia Pike, Annandale, serving children of low to moderate income families with working parents.
Outreach programs supported by ACCA include Meals on Wheels, Hotline, Bailey's Crossroads Community Shelter, and Shelter House.
Volunteer opportunities exist in all areas of ACCA's work; telephoning, donating, shelving or delivering food from the pantry, driving people to appointments, donating good furniture, picking up or delivering furniture, working with children at the day care center, making or washing sheets for cots, and delivering meals. For information. call 256-1378.
A wide variety of special programs and services for County senior citizens is coordinated by the Fairfax County Area Agency on Aging (324-5411) and the Recreation Department's Senior Citizen Section (324-5544). The Area Agency on Aging also publishes a directory of services available for the elderly; a "Golden Gazette" newsletter; and a consumer guide to nursing homes, homes for adults, apartments and life-care communities in Northern Virginia.
Drop-in centers for senior citizens over age 55 provide recreation, education, discussion groups, counseling and, at some centers, a noon meal (with reservations). The two centers serving the Annandale area are the Wakefield Senior Center in the Wakefield Recreation Center, 8100 Braddock Road, just off the Capital Beltway (321-3000), and the Lincolnia Senior Center, 4710 N. Chambliss St., Lincolnia, (914-0223).
Day Care is provided on an availability basis to residents age 60 or over. Administered by the Health Department, the Annandale Elderly Day Care Center offers planned programs, hot meals, health services and a variety of supportive and therapeutic services. The Center is located at 7200 Columbia Pike, in the old Annandale Elementary School building. Call 750-3316.
Many recreational activities, including senior citizen clubs and monthly shopping trips are offered by the Fairfax County Recreation Department. For information call 324-5544. In addition, reduced fees are available for senior citizens for many recreation and park activities and adult education courses in the County.
Real estate, personal property and County vehicle license tax relief is available to qualifying senior citizens. Call the Fairfax Department of Assessments, (222-8234). Legal services are available to all income eligible senior citizens in Fairfax County through the Legal Aid Services of No. Va., Inc., (246-4500). Senior Employment Resources, located at 4201 John Marr Drive in Annandale, offers assistance to those over 50 years of age seeking both part-time and full-time employment. Call 750-1936.
The Annandale Chamber of Commerce recognizes its responsibility to the aging residents of the community and encourages its members to extend discounts for merchandise and services to the elderly, and to offer employment to senior citizens based upon proven merit and ability.
The Fairfax Hospital, located just off the Capital Beltway on Gallows Road near Annandale, began serving the community in 1961. The acute care general hospital offers in-patient, out-patient, and diagnostic services, as well as surgical, medical and pediatric patient care, acute psychiatric care, obstetric care, and around-the-clock emergency treatment. It is operated by INOVA Northern Virginia Health Services. Call 698-1110, (TDD) 698-3199.
Fairfax County Health Services, a local unit of the State Health Department, has services designed to prevent the spread of disease, identify health problems and proper medical care, promote health education, and protect the environment. In addition to the administration building located in Fairfax, there are five district health offices to serve county residents. Call 246-2411.
Mental health and mental retardation services are provided by the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board, which operates three community mental health centers in Fairfax County. Serving residents of Annandale, the Woodburn Center for Community Mental Health is located at 3340 Woodburn Road, Annandale, phone 573-0523 from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and 573-5679 for emergency service 24 hours a day. Services available include short and long-term counseling and therapy for adults and children, groups, families and couples; psychiatric, psychological and social evaluations; medication clinics; walk-in clinics; gerontology services; intensive day treatment programs; community education programs including a speakers bureau; consultation and education services to other human service providers; and volunteer opportunities. The Community Services Board also operates residential treatment centers for troubled adolescent boys and girls. Residents are referred for placement by the Department of Human Development. Call 324-7500.
A number of other mental health services are provided through contracts with local, private and public agencies. Programs available include: The Social Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation, (698-1655), to assist adults recovering from mental illness; the Northern Virginia Mental Health Institute, 3302 Gallows Road, Annandale, (207-7100), which offers in-patient treatment; Alternative House, (356-6360), which offers assistance for runaway and potential run-away youths; Crisislink Hotline, (527-4077), which offers a 24-hour emergency telephone listing and referral service for area residents; Merrifield Industries, operated by Fairfax Opportunities Unlimited, (321-8898), which offers vocational opportunites for mentally ill clients; and Pathway Homes, Inc., (876-0390), which provides living arrangements for adults with long-term mental health problems.
The Community Services Board provides a number of services for persons with mental retardation and their families, including information and referral, supported work skill development, sheltered and competitive employment opportunities, residential and respite placements, and case management services. Call 359-7040. The Northern Virginia Training Center, (323-4000), is a state-operated facility which provides institutional services, and the Association for Retarded Citizens/No. Va., (532-3214), provides client and parent advocacy programs.
Special services for children up to two years of age suspected of having a developmental delay are provided by the County Health Department's Daytime Development Center, (246-7121). The County's Public Schools system serves children ages two through 21 years, (246-7899). Special recreation programs for both children and adults are offered by the County's Department of Recreation and Community Services. Call 324-5532.
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