Eileen Russell Melia, a Registered Nurse (RN) and Certified Family Life Educator (CFLE), has lived in Arlington since 1971. She has helped women through her volunteerism and activism in many areas: school programs and policies; sewing and quilting; family and parenting skills; outdoor activities; hospice and bereavement assistance. She directed the Barcroft School Grades K-2 Extension Center, an innovative parent-staffed use of cooking and crafts to teach math and time skills. She piloted CPR training for students that led to system-wide implementation. She led school advisory work on sex education policy. As Vice-Chair and Chair of the Advisory Council on Instruction (ACI) and Co-Chair, Alternative Schools Committee, she helped the county address complex diversity issues. She taught in the Parenting Teens Program. When Vanguard Services proposed relocating its Demeter House substance-abuse rehabilitation program for mothers to the Barcroft neighborhood, she advocated for the move despite neighborhood objections. Upon county approval, she helped calm tensions as a program advisor and instructor. She taught sewing to women of modest means from diverse backgrounds at Harvey Hall Community Center. She chaperoned girls for the Arlington Outdoor Education Association's Outdoor Lab and the Patriots of Northern Virginia drum and bugle corps. As a volunteer hospice nurse, she assisted numerous individuals at home. As a bereavement companion, she helped many who lost a loved-one. In recent years, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) has challenged Eileen. Yet she established an Affirmation Quilt Ministry through which she designs and donates quilts to individuals and groups who have made meaningful contributions to society. Recipients have included Nobel Peace Prize winners, National Teachers of the Year, and service organizations such as the Arlington Street Peoples Assistance Network (ASPAN).

The Arlington Sun Gazette had an article about it on page two. (The Sun Gazette is the one that comes in the mail, not in the gutter.)

Previous Barcrofters honored as Persons of Vision include Karen Darner and Miriam Hughey-Guy. It is nice to see their contributions recognized.

This page was revised on: April 2, 2009.