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Rep. Don Beyer will host the third event in his "Rising to Meet the Challenge" series Saturday morning, bringing a resource fair for federal workers, contractors and economically impacted individuals to Wakefield High School as Northern Virginia continues to grapple with the effects of sweeping federal job cuts.
The fair runs from 10 a.m. at Wakefield High School, 1325 S. Dinwiddie St., Arlington. It is co-hosted by the City of Alexandria, Arlington County, Fairfax County and the City of Falls Church.
Attendees will have access to organizations providing housing assistance, food banks, workforce development, small business resources and more.
Beyer launched the series last year in response to what he called the Trump administration's "reckless and harmful" reductions to the federal workforce. The first event was a resource fair pairing government assistance with legal, financial, and mental health services. The second was a job fair connecting displaced workers directly with hiring companies. Falls Church Mayor Letty Hardi and the nonprofit wellfed co-hosted a financial guidance event for federal workers and contractors in between.
"No one should have to navigate these challenges alone," Beyer said in a statement. "As a community, we are committed to showing up for one another."
The stakes are especially high in Virginia's 8th Congressional District, which encompasses Alexandria, Arlington County, Falls Church, and portions of Fairfax County. The district is home to the Pentagon, Fort Belvoir, and nearly 10,000 active duty service members, along with more than 50,000 veterans. The federal government and its contractors are among the region's largest employers, and Alexandria alone has approximately 13,000 federal employees — roughly 20% of its workforce, well above the Northern Virginia average.
The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria metro area is the only large metro in the nation currently experiencing a net job decline, according to federal labor data.
The event is free and open to the public. More information is available at beyer.house.gov.
