The Human Services Alliance of Greater Prince William, with the partnership of the Prince William County Government, the City of Manassas, and the City of Manassas Park, has created The Prince William County Area Disaster Fund: a relief effort to alleviate the effects of the coronavirus on Prince William County. 

The project is funded through donations from residents and organizations. The ability to donate to the fund was only made available last week, and it has since raised over $10,000, with more donations pouring in by the day. 

“We are so encouraged by just everyone’s willingness to share. We’ve had people say ‘I’m donating my entire stimulus check,’” said Chelsi Conaway, the executive director of The Human Services Alliance of Greater Prince William.

The money donated will be allocated to community groups in need of funding to aid issues resulting from the new coronavirus. Traditional community groups, such as nonprofit organizations or food banks, are not the only ones who are eligible for funds, Homeowners Associations and fraternal organizations who are aiding in the relief effort are eligible too. 

“The Alliance will administer the money received to interested community groups that can show collaboration, efficiency and impact in their plans to serve Prince William County residents in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic,” says a statement on the The Human Services Alliance of Greater Prince William’s website. 

The amount of money a community group will receive, of which will be a grant, will depend on the amount of money they need for their efforts and the number of donations the fund receives. In order to get the money, community groups will need to fill out an application, which has not yet been made available, that will gather information about the organization and determine if their intended project aligns with the goals of the fund.

The applications will be open for a four-week period and then closed for a few days to allow the grand review committee, which will also be made up of community groups, to look over them.  

A limit to how many community groups will receive the money has not yet been determined, as it is all based on the number of donations the fund will receive. 

If you are interested in donating to the fund, you can do so by visiting their website, texting the word ‘IMPACT’ to 36413, or by mailing a check made payable to “The Alliance” with “Prince William Area Disaster Fund” in the memo line. The checks should be mailed to The Human Services Alliance of Greater Prince William, 9073 Center St, Manassas, Va., 20110.

“We really are all in this together, and when we unite and channel our energy and our funds and our resources in one direction it can have a greater impact,” said Conaway. 

It was a conversation between the leaders of Prince William County’s biggest governing bodies.

On April 21. Prince William County School Board Chairman At-large Babur Lateef said he was ‘confident’ schools would reopen on time in the fall. He made the comments during a conversation with Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chair At-large Ann Wheeler, which was broadcast on Facebook.

“I am hopeful we will be out of the crisis enough to I think start school on time, so I’m confident we can do that, not entirely 100%, but I am confident,” said  Lateef.  

If schools are not able to open on time due to the new coronavirus, Lateef said that the school board will create a set of protocols and procedures that will allow students and families to have the resources they need to conduct learning from home. 

“We will be better prepared than we were this time around, so I think you can count on us to, regardless of computers or not computers, to be much better prepared for if this happens again,” said Chairman Lateef.

The Prince William County School Board recently spent $6.4 million to order 15,500 laptops to distribute to some 27,000 county high school students, a part of a larger plan to give every student in the school division a digital device. Lateef said that the school board has made an investment to buy even more computers and that their IT department has looked at how students can use their own home devices to do online learning in this emerging situation. 

“As we try to find the resources to get ready for the fall, we would love to have a computer in the hands of every senior,” said Chairman Lateef. 

The school division purchased the HP ProBooks laptops from Daly Computer in Clarksburg, Md., according to information obtained by Potomac Local News in a Freedom of Information Act order. Each machine will have an 11-inch touch screen, a 64-bit processor, and 4 gigabytes of RAM.

The School Board held a straw poll and decided to purchase the computers, Lateef told Potomac Local News. The School Board, however, did not take a vote on the purchase.

School officials said the division used an existing contract with Daly Computers, awarded in 2015, originally slated for the purchase of “new desktops, laptops, servers, peripherals, and other accessories” as the contract to purchase the HP ProBook computers.

Also discussed during the call, current high school seniors — all of whom have been stripped of the regular high school milestones such as prom and graduation, may be able to attend a commencement ceremony after all. The School Board is open to the idea of virtual or rescheduled ceremonies and they are very interested in finding something for the seniors, said Lateef. 

“This is really heartbreaking, I graduated high school thirty years ago, those were memorable times, so I want to find a way to honor our students,” said he added. 

The amount of residential trash produced in Northern Virginia has surged with most people out of work and all Virginia students attending school from home.

According to John Poague, the owner of Patriot Disposal, trash amounts have risen by 30-40% due to people cleaning out their houses, food waste, and increased shipping. 

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The United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400 is demanding that food workers be designated as first responders, and a strict limit be placed on the number of customers allowed in grocery stores.

The move comes as 14 grocery store workers and three food processing plant employees were diagnosed with the new coronavirus. And there are more cases waiting to be confirmed; union authorities tell Potomac Local News. 

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With school, work, and public facility closures, as well as the 131 cases of coronavirus in Prince William County alone, as of today, the world is feeling like a rather frightening place.

To alleviate some of that fear, the Prince William County Health District has created a coronavirus call center, where people can ask general questions about the virus or discuss what to do if they experience symptoms of the disease. 

The call center was set up in early March. Just two short weeks ago, they were footing six to seven calls a day. But now, they are receiving sixty to seventy, about a 900% increase.

The calls are answered by Medical Reserve Corps members, clinicians, and nursing students. The calls can be taken both in English and Spanish. 

“When people call, they are calling with a concern. At the center, we listen to their concerns and alleviate their COVID-19 fears with respect and dignity,” said Amanda Davis, the Emergency Preparedness and Response Coordinator for the Prince William County Health District. 

Once the call comes in, operators direct callers to four separate lines.

• The first is for those who do not have questions about coronavirus and want to contact the Prince William County Health District. 
• The second is for those who have general questions about coronavirus. 
• The third is for those who believe they have symptoms of coronavirus or physicians who have questions regarding a patient who may have it.
• The fourth is for medical provider offices who have general questions about coronavirus.

If someone contacts the center and thinks they have coronavirus they will be directed to a clinician who will triage them (ask about their symptoms, etc), and from there they will be told to monitor it if it gets worse and talk to their primary care physician. 

“We always want people to go to their primary care first before contacting the call center,” said Davis. 

To contact the call center, call 703-872-7759. Other general coronavirus information can be found on the Prince William County Health District website.

In addition to the 131 reported cases of coronavirus in Prince William County, locally, there are 13 cases in Manassas and two cases in Manassas Park.

Statewide, there are 2,012 cases (306 more than yesterday), 312 people hospitalized (66 more than yesterday), and 46 deaths (five more than yesterday).

Nationwide, there are 213,144 cases as of April 2 (27,043 more than the previous day) and 4,513 deaths (910 more than the previous day).

Since 2005, House of Mercy has been servicing the NoVA community through their food pantry and thrift store, but recently, their efforts have shifted to something new: making masks for local healthcare workers. 

The idea came in part from executive director Jessica Root’s mother, who is a nurse in New York. She suggested Root do something to prepare Virginia healthcare professionals for COVID-19. 

To do so, House of Mercy has created a ‘virtual assembly line’ to mobilize their volunteer’s mask production; it works in two parts. First, fabrics are being dropped off at the homes of volunteers who are skilled in sewing or cutting fabric. Then, the finished masks are picked up and donated to local hospitals and firehouses. Their goal is to make and donate 5,000 masks. 

“We are excited to lead this effort of keeping our volunteers engaged and bringing the community together in this time of need,” said Root.

Initially, House of Mercy was utilizing materials from their currently closed thrift store to make the masks, but have since run out. They are seeking both monetary and fabric donations, as well as partnerships with businesses like Joann Fabrics. However, if you have nothing to donate and are skilled in sewing or cutting fabric, you can become involved in the mask-making process. 

“Anyone can get involved,” said Root. 

To become involved in the process, or to learn about how to make a donation, email [email protected].

Prince William County has donated $30,000 to area food pantries in the wake of the spreading coronavirus. 

The donation is in an effort to ensure the most vulnerable families in the community have access to food. Several food banks have seen a decline in donations in the wake of the pandemic. 

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Prince William County has become a more diverse place over the years, and now, so is its court system.

Six new judges, all of whom are people of color, have been appointed to various courts in Northern Virginia following an effort by Virginia Delegate Jennifer Carroll Foy (D-2nd, Stafford, Woodbridge) to diversify the ethnicities of the judges appointed to serve the courts. Dubbed ‘Diversifying the Bench,’ the effort aims to “build a strong pipeline of underrepresented people applying to judge appointmentship,” according to the lawmaker.

Among the newly appointed judges is Carlos Laboy, who will serve on the Prince William County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. Once Laboy’s term begins on June 1, he will be the first Latino judge appointed in Prince William County.

Laboy grew up in a military family, traveling throughout most of his childhood, and settling in Prince William County in 2001. He taught biology and chemistry at Gar-Field High School for a year and then went on to graduate from The George Washington University School of Law. Laboy currently serves as a substitute district court judge in Prince William County.

“I plan to do the very best I can for [Pirnce William County]. I want the citizens to know they don’t have to be afraid to come to court,” said Laboy.

Other newly appointed judges include Sonya Sacks, Marcel Jones, Jackie Lucas, and Lorrie Sinclair Taylor.

Sinclair Taylor, who will serve on the Loudoun County bench starting in April, will be the first African-American judge appointed in Loudoun County. She grew up in New York and came to Virginia in 1989 on a track scholarship from George Mason University.

She then went on to pursue a law degree from the College of William and Mary, where she graduated from in 1996 and received the Thurgood Marshall Award for Distinguished Public Service. Until recently, Sinclair Taylor had a law firm, along with two other attorneys, called Biberaj Snow & Sinclair, PC, which closed on Dec. 31, 2019.

“As a child of immigrants, I understand the value of hard work, commitment, and dedication, and I utilize those values daily,” wrote Sinclair Taylor on her Avvo social media profile.

The path to greater racial diversity on the bench began with a 2016 study by the Virginia Coalition for Racial Diversity in the Justice System. The study looked at the demographics of the Northern Virginia area and compared it to the demographics on the bench, subsequently finding that the diversity of the area was not reflected in the courts, according to Jackie Lucas, another judge who is being appointed to the Prince William County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

“Diversity on the bench will help improve public trust, the appearance of fairness, and it creates access to justice. You…need people on the bench who have an awareness that the law sometimes works differently for minority groups,” said Foy.