(Posted 2022 September)
VPS is committed to the work we do to support families involved with the Department of Family Services’ Children, Youth and Families Division. Krissa Slone has served as the Director of VPS since its inception over nine years ago. She has been an impactful steward, meeting the needs of families through building partnerships with volunteers and donors. In November 2022, Krissa will set sail for her retirement. As she embarks, we want to applaud how her leadership has imprinted on CYF.
Krissa began her career at the Department of Family Services in 1999 working for the Nurturing Parenting Programs (now Parenting Education Programs), where she quickly seized an opportunity to engage individuals, businesses, and churches in donating meals for the program’s weekly classes. This allowed busy families to relax and fellowship together with their instructors before the classes began. When Krissa stepped up as the Director of Volunteer & Partner Services, she brought to the role her knack for building partnerships and her strategic initiative to increase volunteerism in CYF.
Krissa’s accomplishments include developing partnerships with individual, community, faith-based and corporate donors to support the emerging needs of families. She has a knack for making just the right connections. Krissa built the Adopt-A-Family program that this past year provided 600 families gifts for the holidays. The past April, she took one Girl Scout Troop’s interest in preventing child abuse and neglect, which heightened during the pandemic, and mobilized them to “plant” 100+ pinwheel gardens throughout the community to spread awareness.
The Volunteer & Partner Services unit has grown during her tenure to include programming that provides prevention services such as Body Safety education, BeFriend-A-Child Mentoring, Study Buddy Tutoring, Administrative Assistant support, and managing general donations that support families involved with CYF.
We appreciate Krissa’s ability to take the charitable interest that individuals, community groups, and companies have in supporting families and mold these opportunities into win-win situations with long-lasting impact. We will miss Krissa’s warm inviting manner, her incredible work ethic, her positive outlook on life, and the way she’s quick to make everyone feel a part of the DFS family. We wish Krissa the very best as she travels to her new home in Clearwater, Florida.
We are also grateful that the person stepping into this position will have the opportunity to learn from Krissa ahead of her departure to ensure a smooth transition for the program. Take a moment to post a parting note for Krissa on her Kudoboard or feel free to send her a note before she leaves.
This article posting is part of The Volunteer Post Newsletter for current and potential volunteers, sponsors and donors interested in supporting children and families in crisis. Learn more about Fairfax County Department of Family Services' Volunteer & Partner Services Program (VPS).