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Loudoun Now for July 6, 2023

Page 1

n LOUDOUN

4 | n LEESBURG

VOL. 8, NO. 33

6 | n EDUCATION

8 | n PUBLIC SAFETY

13 | n LEGAL NOTICES

We’ve got you covered. In the mail weekly. Online always at LoudounNow.com

21

JULY 6, 2023

Protestors Push for Long-Delayed Rent Assistance BY RENSS GREENE

rgreene@loudounnow.com

More than a year after county supervisors voted to earmark $12 million in federal funding for housing assistance, community members are still waiting on the first dollar of rental help. Members of New Virginia Majority protested in the rain outside county government offices in Leesburg Friday to demand action on the long-stalled funds. Supervisors in April 2022 voted to set aside that money from the county’s last tranche of American Rescue Plan Act funding for preserving affordable housing and offering displacement services, without a specific plan. Organizers with New Virginia Majority worked with the county Department of Housing and Community Development over six months to craft a

rent buy-down program that would send money to landlords to replace part of rent payments. But those plans first sat unused, then disappeared when on Jan. 10 the Board of Supervisors voted for a different set of programs, including only $5.75 million for rental assistance. Another $1.5 million was targeted for legal assistance for people facing evictions, and $2 million to stay with the county itself to replace a computer system in the Department of Housing. The balance was to go to extending the terms of rent-controlled homes and helping residents of the mobile home park in Lucketts, which was up for sale, to relocate if necessary. In the meantime, Loudoun has seen a RENT ASSISTANCE continues on page 21

Renss Greene/Loudoun Now

Demonstrators organized by New Virginia Majority demand action on a long-stalled rental assistance program outside the county Department of Housing and Community Development Friday, June 30.

Mother Fights for School Support for Disabled Daughter BY ALEXIS GUSTIN

agustin@loudounnow.com

On June 29, Havilah Mitchell, a legally deaf, blind, and nonverbal kindergartener who had missed 28 consecutive days of school and 64 total school days during the year, returned to the classroom for summer school. It’s a welcome step for Havilah’s mom, Whitney Mitchell, who has been pressing for months for the school division to comply with the terms of

Alexis Gustin/Loudoun Now

Whitney Mitchell smiles at her daughter Havilah as she puts her in a device that helps her stand.

Havilah’s Individualized Education Plan, including providing a private duty nurse. “They won’t say they don’t want her, but they will say ‘Virginia Department of Education policy is this’ or ‘we aren’t able to do this, so she is unable to come to school,’” she said of the conversations she had with school leaders since Havilah was last permitted to attend school on April 28. Havilah has myriad health issues including extreme seizures multiple times a day that require a well-trained private

duty nurse accompany her at school. She also needs additional support personnel in the form of speech language pathologists, occupational therapy, and physical therapy among others. Mitchell said the lack of consistency has caused Havilah to regress. “She needs to go to school tomorrow, not in a few years,” she said. On July 2, Mitchell received a letter EDUCATION SUPPORT continues on page 29

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