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Women's History Month Spotlight - Mary Paden
Meet Mary Paden! A powerhouse in the Mount Vernon District and the County. Mary is a Detroit, MI, native but has lived in the District since the mid 90s.
Mary can be found helping everywhere in the County as she is on the Affordable Housing Advisory Council (AHAC) as a representative of the Fairfax NAACP, of which she is the Housing Committee Chair. She is also passionate about her work with the South County Task Force, Mount Vernon Unitarian Church and Mount Vernon District Democratic Committee. Mary says "Growing up in Detroit, I saw how urban renewal and gentrification can destroy neighborhoods and suck the life out of a place." AHAC allows her the opportunity to keep abreast of affordable housing programs in the County and highlight her views on community development.
As Chair of the South County Task Force, Mary has been proud to carry on the legacy of her predecessor, founder Ann Andrews. The Task Force works as advocates for lower-income residents in the Richmond Highway community. In the past several years, the Task Force has advocated for a slower step- down of Covid relief, construction of a new emergency shelter and affordable housing at Beacon Hill, conversion of mobile home parks to tenant or nonprofit ownership and working to make Richmond Highway a main street rather than a highway, among many other things. Mary and the rest of the Task Force team have also sponsored listening sessions in the community and taken on resident concerns.
When asked what inspires her, Mary said, "I like community: I like having a sense of community. I find that sense of community in our mobile home parks and in other lower- income neighborhoods. They inspire me." Mary has been a driving force in pushing affordable housing forward, leaving no one behind.
In her free time she is an avid sailor, but hasn't been able to get out on the water recently due to knee issues. She loves to swim, make wine, visit with friends and sit on her porch with her cat watching nature. Thank you, Mary, for everything you do for affordable housing in Fairfax County and for inspiring all of us!
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