Arlington disability advisory commission hears nonprofit briefs on housing transitions and vision services

Our Stomping Ground and Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind told the Arlington Disability Advisory Commission on Tuesday that local nonprofit programs are filling gaps in housing navigation, transition supports for students with developmental disabilities and services for people who are blind or visually impaired.

"Our Stomping Ground helps people with developmental disabilities across Northern Virginia understand how affordable housing works," Margot Greenley, executive director of Our Stomping Ground, said in a presentation to the commission. She said OSG partners with seven affordable housing sites (three in Arlington), supports about 70 residents directly and provides roughly 120 hours of free public programming annually to about 700 participants in the region.

Greenley described a three‑year transition program the nonprofit runs with Arlington Public Schools for students age 15–22 that pairs students with one‑on‑one mentors, offers apartment tours and connects young adults to employment and community activities so they do not lose supports after graduation. "We would love to make this a much more robust program so that students can decide to really have an one‑on‑one mentor through that final stretch," she said.

Commissioners asked about OSG's funding mix and crisis response. Greenley said funding is "about a third" individual donors, a third private and family foundations, and a third from county and state sources, including Virginia Housing. She described staff and community builders who do one‑on‑one check‑ins and sometimes accompany residents to leasing offices to avert evictions when health crises disrupt rent payments.

Jocelyn Hunter, senior director of communications at Columbia Lighthouse for the Blind, summarized CLB's Washington‑area services, including orientation and mobility instruction, a low‑vision clinic, assistive‑technology training, volunteer reader and visitor programs, and group classes called Foundations of Adjustment to Blindness. Hunter highlighted CLB youth programming this summer, including a Tech Saturday on May 30 and a sports outing on June 25, and asked Arlington Public Schools to refer teachers of the visually impaired and orientation and mobility instructors to the programs.

"We extend sincere appreciation to Arlington County, to the commission, to its residents, for your confidence and recognition in the work that we do to serve Arlington County residents who are blind or visually impaired," Hunter said and offered herself as a point of contact for county referrals.

Commissioners said they would connect CLB and OSG with Arlington Public Schools and other local stakeholders. Brian Atkins, outgoing chair of the APS Special Education Advisory Committee, said he would connect CLB with the incoming APS chair and explore extended‑day and summer programming partnerships. The commission also invited OSG to provide feedback on the county's grants process as part of the commission's review of its grant‑cycle procedures.

The commission took no formal action on the presentations; members recorded follow‑up tasks including outreach to APS staff, circulating OSG feedback for the grants review and publicizing CLB youth events.

The commission's next meeting will include working sessions on the communications plan and site‑visit planning, and staff said the long‑range planning commission's draft guiding principles — which now include accessibility and universal‑design language — will be circulated for comment.