A Reston-based nonprofit will host a unique block party — billed as the first of its kind in Northern Virginia — at Lake Anne Plaza this weekend to promote inclusion between people with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities.
The “All Abilities Block Party” will run from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 11. It will feature a bubble artist, caricaturist, DJ, roaming juggler, glitter tattoos, tent with art on display, a visit from Ms. Wheelchair Virginia, and free food with an RSVP in advance.
There will also be a resource fair with information about services and volunteer opportunities.
Organizers at the nonprofit, Gabriel Homes, spent about nine months planning a “festival-type environment” that would “celebrate all abilities and inclusion,” said Lynn Davis, the group’s executive director.
The nonprofit, which provides housing with either 24-hour or drop-in care for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, wanted to create an environment conducive to easy mingling and conversation.
“I think a lot of people get intimidated or feel uncomfortable or unconfident to speak to someone with a disability because they think they’re going to say something wrong,” Davis said, “which they really won’t, you know, if they’re a person coming with good intent.”
Gabriel Homes was founded in 1982 after local parents whose children were aging out of the public school system approached the late Father Gerry Creedon — then-director of Arlington diocesan Catholic Charities and a prominent local advocate for housing — for help. The program later separated from Catholic Charities and became its own nonprofit.
The organization grew “house by house” over the years, Davis said, and currently operates one home in Herndon and five in Reston. Residents are all employed and or work in vocational programs.
“Our mission is really based in independence and self-advocacy,” she said.
With those values in mind, the second part of the event, the resource fair, provides information from partners who offer services such as therapeutic horseback riding or day programs for adults.
But mainly, Davis just wants people to be able to walk away with a burger, and “a new resource or a thought, or at the end of the day.”
“We came to Reston in the ’80s purposefully because it is such an accepting, open, giving community,” she said. “So, we just want to really celebrate that by having this big block party.”
