A Message from the Executive Director It Takes a Community to Restore a Community Dear Friends, Happy 2021! This past year wasn’t easy, but it was inspiring. While we still have a lot of work to do, I am so humbled by what I’ve seen so far. This community has redefined resilience and what it […]
NEWS
Meet our Youth Education Program’s Everyday Heroes!
We are thrilled that our out-of-school-time program (known around the community as simply “Program”) has safely started in-person sessions. We had a chance to catch up with the site coordinators of our three learning centers to see what changes have been made and to get to know these everyday heroes a little better. CLI: […]
Say Something
Watch Chief Brown of the Alexandria Police Department read Say Something by Peter. H. Reynolds to our students!
Have Hope and Never Give Up: The Keys to Candi’s Resilience
After her husband left, Candi and her kids had to move in with her Mom and sleep on the floor. “That was so hard,” she says. “I had to eat my pride.” Fast forward 6 years: Candi entered CLI’s Transitional Housing Program, so she and her kids have a clean and safe apartment with comfortable […]
Discovering New Worlds: Kaylene Goes to Camp Read-Away
If you visit CLI’s Fifer Family Learning Center these days, you just might find 20 kids sitting in the shade, each one engrossed in a different book. Welcome to Camp Read-Away! For 20 minutes each day, the kids in our Summer Camp enter another world. As we near the end of the Camp’s 6th and […]
Wine Down Wednesday Yoga Series (Videos Included)
Join us as we help Open Doors to Self-Care during these hectic times. Yoga instructor and Licensed Massage Therapist, Karen Kuzminsky, will conduct a series of three virtual yoga and meditation sessions via Facebook Live and we invite the entire Community Lodgings family – volunteers, staff, residents, and supporters – to join us as we […]
July 2020 News
A Message from the Executive Director Dear Friends, I hope that this finds you well and that you have found fun ways to cope with the quarantine. During the past three months, COVID-19 has hit the Arlandria community (also known as Chirilagua) harder than any other area in Alexandria, and a large percentage of the […]
Keeping Food on the Table: Julio steps up to the plate
When Covid-19 struck, neighbors came together to help each other in Chirilagua—especially Julio. Julio has always involved himself in the community and in CLI by attending all CLI meetings, all parent-teacher conferences and working hard to keep the neighborhood safe. So when Covid-19 hit Chirilagua harder than any other area of Alexandria, Julio stepped up […]
The Importance of Education: A Mother-Daughter Journey
Like many of her neighbors, Oralia works hard to give her children a good life and a solid education in her adopted neighborhood of Chirilagua. Born in Belize, she later moved to Guatemala to live with her father and grandmother. “Over there,” says Oralia, “people are poor, need food, and I would see kids who […]
Wine Down Wednesday!
We’ve got a special treat for you! Wine Down Wednesday. Grab a glass and enjoy this live stream performance by our special guest, Manuel Medina Music, with a Facebook live virtual piano concert.