By Tim Cherry
Staff writer
Thursday, July 5, 2012

Fort Belvoir Families received financial tips and safety information along with other assistance during the Villages at Belvoir Community Information Fair June 28 at Specker Field House.

Event organizers orchestrated the event to provide community members an opportunity to speak with Villages at Belvoir representatives and representatives of other organizations on post, such as the Directorate of Plans, Training Mobilization, and Security and the Fire Marshal’s Office.

The representatives discussed do-it-yourself home-care, cutting back on electric bills and summer safety tips, among other topics.

Event organizers filled Specker Field House with 17 display tables, arts and crafts displays, a moon bounce and offered popcorn along with other light refreshments. Children enjoyed the leisure activities while parents collected information from the various representatives.

“It’s great to make that face-to-face contact and speak with people directly,” said Tarrina Browne, Defense Language Institute student.

Browne is more comfortable with contacting her community manager with housing issues after meeting the manager for the first time during the fair.

“It’s very helpful,” Browne said of the fair, “particularly for new residents, because all the agencies are in one location.”

Much of the information residents received concerned rarely discussed topics such as the Villages at Belvoir self-help program. The program allows residents to checkout power washers, lawn mowers, light bulbs and other home care items from their neighborhood center between 8:30 a.m., and 5:30 p.m.

These products save residents the expenses associated with purchasing their own equipment.

The maintenance office also told residents how to dispose of household hazardous waste, such as aerosol spray cans and batteries, at the maintenance building on 16th Street.

Casey Custer, Villages at Belvoir, office manager, discussed a Residential Communities Initiative that rewards residents who conserve energy. The initiative, Resident Responsibly Program, pays residents who spend less on energy than their utility baseline. Those who exceed the baseline must pay for the excess cost.

“It puts the responsibility back on the residents to conserve,” Custer said.

Residents can visit www.minolusa.com to access their accounts and get energy saving tips.

According to Raushanha Purdie, Villages at Belvoir, marketing manager, they routinely host community fairs for residents to speak with maintenance workers, community managers, utility experts and additional Villages at Belvoir representatives.

Community neighborhood centers served as the event locations prior to the event in Specker.

Purdie believes moving the fair to the field house gave residents access to more information because more organizations could participate.

One such organization was DPTMS who’s representative, Mario Sumter, emergency management specialist, spoke with residents about hurricane and thunder storm safety.

Sumter encouraged residents to prepare emergency kits filled with necessities, such as 72 hours worth of non-perishable food, water and medicine, for each person in a household.

Sandra Basile, Fire Marshal, provided fire safety tips such as keeping walkways free of clutter, and designating an escape route and meeting place, in case of an emergency. Basile also told residents to call (703) 781-1800 in case of emergency. Dialing 911 first wastes precious seconds as the call connects Belvoir residents to Fairfax County Emergency services, who then directs the call back to Belvoir.

Terry Washington, Villages at Belvoir, community manager, said having reps from DPTMS, the Fire Marshal Office and other offices is very important to success of the fair.

“That’s the neat part because you have them all in the same room,” Washington said. “No phone is ringing; they have our full and undivided attention.”

Visit www.acsim.army.mil/readyarmy/Hurricane_Fact_Sheet.pdf for more information on hurricane safety.