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Fellowship Square provides affordable housing and services for older adults. |
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Winter Wonderland—
Get Your Tickets!
Board Member on the Move!
Resident Life
Christy's Corner
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Thank You Community Partners!
Volunteer Spotlight
Lake Anne Walk-Through
Embrace Your Inner Artist!
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Join us on Friday, December 3, 2021 from 6:30-9:00 pm at
delectable cocktails and tantalizing desserts, a silent auction,
live entertainment and the camaraderie of your friends!
Your support will help us provide housing and services
to older adults with limited resources.
For sponsorship opportunities or to donate to our silent auction,
please contact Judy Singer, Senior Director:
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BOARD MEMBER ON THE MOVE! |
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Now at Hunters Woods,
Robert Thompson Continues to Serve
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Robert Thompson is not your typical board member. Growing up as the youngest of 3 siblings in an older family, Mr. Thompson describes developing great respect and admiration for seniors starting early in his life, mostly due to values instilled in him from his family – especially his grandparents. Later in life, as his mother grew older, she eventually wanted to be around other seniors and decided to leave the family home to live at the Lake Anne Fellowship House in Reston, VA.
Mr. Thompson got to know a lot of the Lake Anne residents through his mother while she lived there, and this made for a natural transition into his position as a board member. He characterizes his relationship with some residents at Lake Anne as being “close to family.” He was glad when residents would see him around Lake Anne and call out to him by name. Because of these close relationships, the residents were quick to let him know about any concerns with regard to life at the House, and he was able to help advocate for them as a board member.
Mr. Thompson also remembers talking on the phone with residents, and sometimes buying them their favorite foods. One winter, he “piled” residents into his car to get groceries because there were very limited transportation options available. Over time, food security for residents became and continues to be a top priority for Mr. Thompson.
During his extensive time with Fellowship Square, Mr. Thompson is proud to have witnessed the increased role management has been playing in building relationships between residents and staff. He has seen great growth and positive change with the organization as a whole, especially within the last few years. Although his mother is no longer a resident at Lake Anne Fellowship House, his dedication to the organization persists and he will now continue his service as a board member for the Hunters Woods Fellowship House. We welcome Bob to his new role!
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"Keep Calm and Fight On." |
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During the month of October, residents celebrated Breast Cancer Awareness Month with a varity of programs and activities.
* Per CDC guidelines, everyone in our buildings is wearing masks indoors
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Hunters Woods Fellowship House
Dr. Taylor (at right) from American Healthcare Professionals discusses the importance of Breast Cancer screenings.
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Residents J. Fulin and Q. Guihua |
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Largo Landing Fellowship House
Largo Landing residents enjoyed a game of Pink BINGO.
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Lake Anne Fellowship House
Residents participate in a Breast Cancer Walk.
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At Fellowship Square, we brought attention to the Bone and Joint Health Action Week this month. We know that keeping one’s joints healthy and functioning properly becomes more and more important as a person ages. Doing the right types of exercise, with the right frequency and intensity, joint health can be better managed to preserve individual quality of life and independence.
In 2018, the US Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) published an updated version of its Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. The overarching recommendations for older adults encouraged aerobic exercises, muscle strengthening and balance training. We pride ourselves at Fellowship Square on providing daily activities that include one or more of these recommendations.
Having a robust calendar filled with activities that are good for residents – including activities that they want to do – can be challenging. We serve more than 800 residents, and each has their own interests and abilities. We rely on community partners, volunteers, and the residents themselves to help lead these activities and focus on things that will keep them healthy and active.
We know that many of you help support us through volunteering your time, your expertise or through a financial contribution. If you haven’t volunteered for many months – or made an annual contribution to Fellowship Square – I encourage you to get involved today! Our organization thrives only when people like you get involved!
In gratitude,
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Community Partners Make a Huge Difference for our Residents |
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We are grateful to Heritage Fellowship Church for providing lunches one day each week for the residents at Hunters Woods Fellowship House who have been temporarily displaced due to renovations.
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We are most appreciative of our community partners and all the ways they are contributing to our residents’ well-being. If you or your organization would like to help our residents stay comfortable and well-fed while they are away from their apartments, please contact Diane Beatley at
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After one year of volunteering at Fellowship Square and dedicating many hours each month to support our residents, Kitisia Grandin-Parker considers Fellowship Square a second home. Kitisia enjoys volunteering as often as she can with our Fellowship Fresh food delivery programs, as she holds a great passion for nurturing and helping others.
Kitisia began her work volunteering 6 years ago while living in Chicago, where she volunteered in organizations such as the Cancer Society in America and the Rally Against Gun Violence. In addition to her dedication with Fellowship Square, Kitisia spends hours volunteering at Sunrise Assistend Living and at her local RECenter, spending most of her week engaging with her community.
As an extremely motivated volunteer, Kitisia loves working within our Fellowship Square community because she feels her volunteer work is appreciated and benefits the lives of our residents. Fellowship Square is grateful for her dedication and support.
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Lake Anne House "Hard Hat Tour" |
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Board members, donors and other special guests recently got a an ‘up-close-and-personal’ glimpse of the new Lake Anne House during a “Hard Hat Tour” of the new building. Drywall has been installed making for a completely different experience from the walk-through with Fairfax County representatives just a month ago!
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TECHNOLOGY HELPING SENIORS |
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Embrace Your Inner Artist! |
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As the world remains on hold through these challenging years with COVID-19, it is growing ever-more critical to stay active and healthy in any form possible. One such way to stay active is dance! More specifically, Dance/Movement Therapy, which is defined by the American Dance Therapy Association as “the psychotherapeutic use of movement to promote emotional, social, cognitive, and physical integration of the individual, for the purpose of improving health and well-being”…In short, this fun and stimulating exercise is not only good for the body, but for your mind and spirit as well!
While it can be difficult to stay motivated in your exercise routine throughout this time of limited travel and activity, Dance/Movement Therapy is an easily accessible and easily taught practice. In practicing mindfulness to encourage natural and genuine artistic movement, Dance/Movement Therapy encourages the body to stay active, all the while keeping aware of one’s physical well-being and emotional and spiritual pull.
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Dance, as an artistic movement, is deeply rooted in somatic practices of connecting the mind, body, and spirit through creative movement. Dance/Movement Therapy has a power to uplift the spirit, boost creativity, and bring joy to dancers, all the while getting the blood flowing and joints moving. |
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“Mourning, frustrations, joy and laughter can be ritualized in group movement, allowing for emotional release and group bonding.”
-American Dance Therapy Association
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In addition to somatic activity, Dance/Movement Therapy is inherently social. While social activities may seem questionable throughout this autumn COVID season, it is surprisingly easy to reach out to friends and neighbors to bring this social dance to life! Ready to get moving? Dances for a Variable Population holds free virtual movement classes every day! (Registration is required.)
To learn more about Dance/Movement Therapy, visit:
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ADTA Talks - Understanding Dance/Movement Therapy Videos
Photo source: “Dancing to the End of Life: Therapy Transforms Eldercare”, Holistic Primary Care, 2017 Nov. 13.
Written by: Emily Leitch, Community Engagement Intern
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Reminder: If you have a Thrivent account, please designate Fellowship Square for donations
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Stay in touch with Fellowship Square on Facebook!
We post articles, updates on activities and events, our monthly newsletter, and pertinent information regarding our properties.
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