BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF FAUQUIER COUNTY

COURT AND OFFICE BUILDING

40 CULPEPER STREET

WARRENTON, VIRGINIA 20186

(540) 347-8648

FAX (540) 341-1975

e-mail - bos@co.fauquier.va.us

March 19, 2002

The Honorable Mel Martinez, Secretary

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

451 7^th Street, SW

Washington, DC 20410

Dear Mr. Secretary

I would like to convey my strong support for the application of Birmingham Green Adult Care Residence for funds from the Section 202 and 811 programs. The money requested would go to replace the existing 60-bed residence in Prince William County, Virginia.

Birmingham Green currently serves very low-income, predominantly elderly, mentally disabled persons from several jurisdictions in Northern Virginia, including Fauquier. The building is over 75 years old and has never been fully renovated. Its basic systems are woefully obsolete, residents’ rooms contain two or more people, and the physical additions to the home over the years have rendered it seriously inefficient. Access through the building and into a variety of its spaces is also a challenge for a number of residents who suffer physical frailties.  Birmingham Green, supported by the Prince William County Department of Public Works, has concluded that the building cannot reasonably be renovated to bring it to current standards. Renovation according to the department is not economically feasible.

Replacing the existing building with a new one that could double the number of people served at Birmingham Green would address the growing need for community-based care in Northern Virginia for many elderly people and persons with disabilities who need the kind of environment that the new project could provide. Without the proposed replacement, many needy individuals will have to be placed in facilities far away from their home communities and their friends and relatives, or else go without adequate services, which would place these persons at serious risk.

As a regional facility, the proposed replacement project would play an important role in the efforts of Northern Virginia communities to help ensure a healthier, safer, more comfortable and dignified environment for people with no other suitable living arrangements available to them.

Thank you for your serious consideration of this application.

Sincerely,

Raymond E. Graham, Chairman

Fauquier County Board of Supervisors