[Archived] Alexandria Mayor William Euille and City Council Members Join Professional Football Legend in Ceremony Honoring Graduates Of Construction Training Program

City Press Release


	For Immediate Release	For More Information, Contact
	October 5, 2005 PIO# 299-05/rdo	Steven J. Mason, Public Information Officer, or Raynard Owens, Communications Officer, at 703.838.4300 Raynard Owens, Communications Officer, at 703.838.4300

Alexandria Mayor William Euille and City Council Members
Join Professional Football Legend in Ceremony Honoring Graduates
Of Construction Training Program

Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille and members of the City Council will join local professional football legend Darrell Green at a closing ceremony honoring 10 Alexandria residents for their successful completion of training classes in the construction trades. The ceremony will take place at 5:30 pm on Wednesday, Oct. 5, at the Cora Kelly Recreation Center, 25 W. Reed Ave. William D. Dearman, CEO of the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA), will present opening remarks and introduce Darrell Green, former seven-time All-Pro defensive cornerback for the Washington Redskins and owner of Trusted Solutions Group, the company that won the competitive-bidding training contract for the program.

The six-week training program, which was paid for jointly by the ARHA and the City of Alexandria, was conceived in the hope that graduates of the program would be hired by developers working with the ARHA on future projects in the City. Participants are former residents of the Samuel Madden Homes community in Alexandria, a public housing project that was demolished to make way for new development. Trainees, who learned all aspects of the construction trades including carpentry, plumbing, electrical, and drywall installation, were provided by JobLink, the City of Alexandria’s “One-Stop Career Center” and a division of the City’s Department of Human Services (DHS).

ARHA owns and operates 1,150 public and publicly-assisted housing units in the City of Alexandria and is responsible for their administration and maintenance (with the exception of one 90-unit property for which ARHA’s role is limited to ownership of the land). To provide affordable housing, ARHA also issues multi-family housing bonds to owners and developers for property acquisition, rehabilitation, or new construction.

Mayor Euille, who will present the graduation certificates, will be joined at the ceremony by Vice Mayor Redella S. “Del” Pepper, Councilman Ludwig P. Gaines, Councilman Rob Krupicka, and Councilwoman Joyce Woodson as well as DHS Director Debra Collins. Following Mayor Euille’s presentation of certificates, class spokesperson Lamont Terry who will speak on behalf of the graduating class, followed by closing remarks from Mayor Euille.

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