Leesburg Town Council Joins Calls for Mediation on The Arc of Loudoun’s Lease

August 14, 2024 — Leesburg, VA — The Leesburg Town Council has joined The Arc of Loudoun’s call for its landlords to agree to independent mediation, as elected leaders, current and former staff and clients, and the community rally behind the nonprofit while its landlords’ demands threaten to push it off its campus in Leesburg.

The Leesburg Town Council passed its resolution unanimously Tuesday, Aug. 13. The Arc of Loudoun’s requests to its landlords, the Margaret Paxton Memorial for Convalescent Children or “Paxton Trust,” to meet or to agree to mediation have been rejected. The Paxton trustees had once again declined The Arc’s offer for independent third-party mediation on Aug. 6. Through their attorney, the Trustees replied that they will not meet, including with an independent mediator, unless The Arc first agrees to their terms or goes without a lease—the current lease expires at the end of August.

The Leesburg Town Council’s resolution notes The Arc of Loudoun’s importance to the community and the Town of Leesburg, and calls for negotiations “with the goal of ensuring long-term stability and freedom to grow for this important nonprofit.” The Arc of Loudoun CEO Lisa Max expressed hope that the council resolution, together with the community outcry, would convince the three Trustees to meet in good faith.

“Our goal all along has been to get the Paxton trustees back to the table to negotiate a good faith, reasonable lease,” The Arc of Loudoun’s CEO Lisa Max said. “More than a year ago, we asked them to agree to mediation. The answer then was no. We hoped that the outpouring of support had shown them how important The Arc of Loudoun is to this community, so we offered to agree to independent, third-party mediation. We hoped that would show what we’ve been saying all along: We want to find a way to work together.”

The Arc of Loudoun, a 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit, serves more than 5,000 people with disabilities a year from Jefferson County, WV to Washington, DC. Its programs range from providing K-12 education for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities across the region through contracts with their school districts, to a therapeutic fitness and wellness center for people with neurological conditions and injuries, to events like iCan Bike and Loudoun’s annual Disability Resource Fair. It is also the largest private employer in Leesburg’s Historic District, with more than 100 employees.

But The Arc of Loudoun and the people who rely on its services face an uncertain future due to demands made by its landlord, the Margaret Paxton Memorial for Convalescent Children or Paxton Trust. It was once one of The Arc of Loudoun’s most important supporters, with an agreement in place since 2008 that The Arc of Loudoun maintains the campus and buildings and carries out the Paxton Trust’s mission to serve needy children, in exchange for zero-dollar rent. The current lease ends on Aug. 31, and the three Paxton trustees and their advisors are now demanding new lease terms that nonprofit and community leaders have warned, if agreed to, would curtail those services or even threaten to close The Arc.

After The Arc of Loudoun published an open letter repeating those concerns and asking the Paxton trustees to come back to the table, letters of support flooded in, with both personal stories from the community and calls for good-faith negotiations from local and state elected officials.

“The impact of the Arc extends beyond physical rehabilitation; it has provided our family with hope during the darkest of times,” Stephanie Machado wrote to the Paxton trustees, sharing the story of her stepfather Jorge. “Their dedication and commitment to helping individuals like Jorge rebuild their lives is invaluable. As you consider your decisions and negotiations, I urge you to recognize the profound difference the Arc of Loudoun makes in the lives of countless patients and families.”

“Aurora [School] is one of the best special need schools in the tri-state area,” Jessica Miniuk, the parent of a student at The Arc of Loudoun’s Aurora School, wrote. “She will literally have nowhere to go if you take this away from her. This will be devastating for our entire family, we depend on their support!”

Local and state elected officials have penned letters to the Paxton trustees urging them to support The Arc of Loudoun.

“I have followed this issue over the last several years, as The Arc is both a major employer in our town and an important part of the fabric of our community,” Leesburg Mayor Kelly Burk wrote. “I have been troubled by the deteriorating state of that relationship and the uncertainty it has created for this important charitable nonprofit. The long-term stability and growth of The Arc is vital for both the Town of Leesburg and for the thousands of people this important nonprofit serves every year.”

“My story is much like the stories created by The Arc of Loudoun,” Ashburn Del. David A. Reid (D-28) wrote. “It creates opportunities that might not otherwise have existed, and along the way is making a positive change in people’s lives and our shared community. For many of those people, there is simply no alternative to those vital, life-changing services. It’s one of the things that makes my family and I so proud to call Loudoun our home—people come from across the region to receive the care, education and support they can only get in our community. If that is lost, thousands of people from West Virginia to Washington, DC, and every place in between, might never have the chance to achieve their full potential.”

“The Trustees’ actions to this point have already diverted funding from serving people with disabilities and indeed caused people with disabilities to lose services by forcing important programs at The Arc of Loudoun to close,” Leesburg Del. Fernando “Marty” Martinez wrote. “Your approach to The Arc’s lease threatens to do yet worse harm. Instead, The Arc of Loudoun needs a stable home and partners with whom its leaders can work. Ensuring The Arc’s long-term stability and ability to grow by selling or donating the campus to The Arc of Loudoun or by negotiating a stable, long-term lease is the only conscionable path. Too many people depend on it.”

Following the public outcry, The Arc of Loudoun’s leadership offered a short-term, three-year extension of the lease on its current terms to allow time for independent mediation without harming the nonprofit’s services, which the Paxton trustees declined that offer on Aug. 6.

With the trustees unwilling to discuss the lease, The Arc of Loudoun continues to search for a new campus, and has renewed its call to the community for support, and continues to offer a short-term extension of the lease under its current terms to allow for independent mediation.

Read The Arc of Loudoun’s open letter and messages of support from the community at thearcofloudoun.org/letter.

About The Arc of Loudoun

The Arc of Loudoun, founded in 1967, is a 501(c)(3) with a rich history of supporting individuals with disabilities and their families throughout the Washington, DC Region. An affiliate of The Arc of the United States, The Arc of Loudoun is home to multiple direct-service programs that serve the most vulnerable and underserved in our community — children and adults with disabilities, their families and caretakers, and the professionals who work to help them achieve their greatest potential. The Arc of Loudoun’s primary programs, Ability Fitness Center, ALLY Advocacy Center, Aurora Behavior Clinic, Aurora School, and Open Door Learning Center Preschool, continue to thrive in Leesburg, VA, providing a lifetime of opportunities for people with disabilities.