Local residents involved with Herndon-Reston Indivisible, a local progressive advocacy group that formed after President Donald Trump’s election, protested outside a company that operates shelters for migrant youth.
Roughly 15 residents gathered on Friday, August 2 outside the headquarters of Caliburn International Corp., a for-profit operator of migrant youth shelters and private prisons.
Activists said the protest was intended to “express their dismay over the adverse shelter conditions, Caliburn’s role and the administration’s overall immigration policy.”
Herndon-Reston Indivisible formed to resist the “Trump agenda while electing Democrats who support our values of transparency, inclusion, tolerance and fairness.”
Caliburn is the parent company of Homestead, a federal childrens’ detention center that operates as a for-profit in Florida. Media reports from mainstream news outlets have raised questions about the treatment of children in these temporary shelters.
According to NPR, the average daily cost for caring for a child in these facilities is about $775 per day — much more than the average cost of housing a child at standard shelters.
The Homestead shelter currently holds 2,450 unaccomplanied migrant children between the ages of 13 to 17.
The advocacy organization plans to continue protests at the headquarters of Caliburn every other week.
Abby Wendle, the producer of NPR’s “Invisibilia,” will spill her thoughts on art as a part of Greater Reston Art Center’s “Creative Response” events.
One Thursday of each month, GRACE invites an expert in their field to respond to the work on view in the gallery with an open discussion. Presenters may range from poets to dancers, from writers to musicians.
Wendle was a farm reporter for Harvest Public Media in rural Illinois and helped launch This Land Radio in Tulsa, Okla. Her work has appeared on NPR News, the BBC, CBC and ABC in Australia.
In her spare time, she enjoys creating experimental sound art, according to GRACE. In fact, she has an ongoing collaborative sonic experience called “~1652Hz (the howling dome)” in which people are invited to make noises they associate with a pain or grievance in their life.
Maryam Ovissi, the chief executive officer and founder of Beloved Yoga in Reston, will provide a “sonic introduction.”
The free monthly event is sponsored by Reston Community Center. The event starts at 7 p.m. tonight (Jan. 17) at 12001 Market Street, Suite 103.
Photo via Greater Reston Arts Center
Reston’s ongoing impassioned debate on a move by county officials to change zoning rules to allow for more development will come to The Kojo Nnamdi Show today.
Hundreds of Restonians packed a public meeting earlier in late October to oppose the change, which many said opens up the area to further development without ensuring adequate infrastructure is already in place for current residents. Roughly 900 residents packed the meeting room after the first meeting was postponed due to an overwhelming outcry and burgeoning attendance from the community.
The show, which is on WAMI 88.5, a NPR member-station in Washington, will air at noon today. The segment is titled, “Growing Pains: Reston, Virginia Debates New Limit on Population Density.” The show issued the following description, which paints Reston’s debate as a microcosm of national development issues:
Developers and new residents are eying Reston, Virginia, and Fairfax County officials want to change zoning rules to allow them to move in. But in a trend that is playing out across the region, many long-time residents say their community is becoming too urban too fast. Critics are opposing a proposed change to a zoning ordinance that would raise the current population cap of 13 persons per acre to 16. And so many residents showed up to a meeting to discuss the change that it had to be rescheduled. Kojo explores Reston, Virginia’s growing pains and the difficulty of maintaining a suburban feel in a highly desirable, rapidly-growing region.
Restonians can listen to the program when it is live on the radio at 88.5 FM or online at kojoshow.org. Listeners can also participate by calling  1-800-433-8850, emailing [email protected], or tweeting at @kojoshow.
Reston's officials want to raise its residents-per-acre limit. Many residents don't. What say you?https://t.co/tBD5L6YYr2.
— The Kojo Nnamdi Show (@kojoshow) November 15, 2017
