Improving Wellbeing in Alexandria City
ID
VCE-1177-3NP
Sharing Knowledge
The 2025 Alexandria Children and Youth Master Plan emphasized the need for more affordable, long-term, positive youth development programs in the city, and found that only 1 in 5 youth felt valued by adults in the community. The plan noted that merely 8% of surveyed youth had the ideal number of developmental assets a researched set of supports shown to improve positive outcomes for young people.
Alexandria 4-H has partnered with the Jerome “Buddie” Ford Nature Center to provide research-backed solutions to our youth and families by establishing a free, sustainable, year-round club with caring adult volunteers. These volunteers help youth members develop leadership, citizenship, and life skills, while also involving them in nature.
Members proudly represented Alexandria at local and regional events, winning multiple ribbons in their first year. The club is slated to become the first Alexandria 4-H Club recognized by the USDA and the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Community Voices
“Virginia Cooperative Extension provided cooking demonstrations to guests of the Lazarus Food Pantry. The recipes provided were delicious, and the instructions were easy to follow, which helped our guests use the enormous quantity of greens and squash that were donated this year.”
Anne Shackleton
Christ Church Alexandria
270
Alexandrians completed our community survey in collaboration with the city
Partners for Solutions
“I worked with Alexandria’s natural resources and community gardens managers to create the first ever city proclamation naming October as Urban Agriculture and Environmental Sustainability Month in Alexandria. The proclamation honors 550 volunteers from three programs who give over 50,000 hours of service a year to our area.”
Kirsten Conrad
Agent
To find out how you can support your local Extension office,
visit www.cals.vt.edu/make-a-gift.
Lee Center
1108 Jefferson Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
703-746-5546
Virginia Cooperative Extension materials are available for public use, reprint, or citation without further permission, provided the use includes credit to the author and to Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech, and Virginia State University.
Virginia Cooperative Extension is a partnership of Virginia Tech, Virginia State University, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and local governments. Its programs and employment are open to all, regardless of age, color, disability, sex (including pregnancy), gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, ethnicity or national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, or military status, or any other basis protected by law.
Publication Date
June 10, 2024
