CFSupport Meetings: Location, Guidelines, etc.
News and Notes
2021 - no monthly meetings. Possible special occasion meetings announced via CFSupport email.
Previous location:
Sully District Government Center & Police Station
Sully Community Room #1 - The James McDonnell Room (Except Jan and Apr)
Though
we ask often, sometimes people show up wearing scented products.
If you are the wearee - please be ok with it if we ask you to sit a
little farther away or try to wash off hand lotion. If you are the
sensitive type, if this is too
great a risk for you, consider taking care, staying home, and
participating instead in one of our orthostatic intolerance - nervous system symptoms or gratitude group conference calls. See Events.
Overview of Meetings
NOVA
Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome / ME,
Fibromyalgia Syndrome, and Orthostatic Intolerance
Support
Group
meets
NO LONGER:
3rd Saturday of every month
from
2:00
pm until 4:00 pm
(sometimes it went later!!)
Sully Governmental Center
Room 1 - The James McDonnell Room
4900 Stonecroft Drive
Chantilly, VA 20151
Go to Directions Page for Sully Center
(Out of date GPS maps may show building too far up Stonecroft.
Review our map & directions!)
Meetings were here from January 2009 until December 2018
(We've met previously at Inova Fairfax Hospital and
Mason Gov'tal Center in Annandale, VA.)
Members
often
linger longer or go out to eat together. We ask your assistance to
make meetings uplifting, civil, informative, and fragrance free! See meeting guidelines below.
Parking
is plentiful, very close and
free. There are no stairs or hills. It is the same building as
the Sully
District Police Station. Help with chairs and tables is appreciated
before and after
meetings. Chairs are to be stacked along the outside walls. Tables
folded and lifted. For upcoming individual meeting details, see
our Events and Speakers pages. For previous events see Events archives found on the Events page, Newsletters, and Prior
Speakers
pages.
The Sully Governmental Center is very, very close to the intersection
of Westfields Blvd and Stonecroft Blvd, just west of Route 28, between
Routes 50 and the Toll Road in the north, and Routes 66 and 29 to the
south. See also Directions-to-Sully Government Center
Page. Yes, though it is far out for some, this place is
in Northern VA, it is part of in Fairfax County!
Carpools
We
have an infrequently used rideshare list at our Yahoo Group. That went away. We sometimes post emails from individuals about
certain meetings. If you can offer a ride, need a ride, or just want to share the ride with another
member, please Email Us
Alternatively, one could report interest in meetings, connect to other attending members via our CFS Nova Facebook Page. Please be mindful that it is a public page and use private Facebook messages to finalize rendezvous details.
Metro Rail to Metro Bus, Metro Access - Reduced Cab Fare
We sometimes have volunteers to pick up riders from the bus stops or the Vienna Metro Orange Line Stop. Please
let us know in advance if you will need that, to see if that volunteer is attending that meeting, and if you will have a
cell phone to alert us to your arrival.
Also, some of our Members arrive via Metro Access - a reduced cab fare program for
people with disabilities who can't use public transportation. It has +'s and -'s.
With a Medicare card, you may qualify for half price metro fare cards,
and discounts on some bus routes. Senior/disabled fare cards are only
available at special stations.
There
used to be Metro bus stop at the building, but there doesn't seem to be
any weekend service, not any weekday service anymore either (3/2011). See WMATA or the Metro Area Transit Customer Information 7 days a week at 202/637-7000 (TTY
638-3780) to check if this has changed.
Meeting Guidelines
Please
keep in mind these meeting guidelines for our monthly support group
meetings:
- Participation
is voluntary. We encourage you to share your questions, information,
experiences, and compassion.
- Please
treat our other members - and our guests and speakers - with courtesy.
- Many
of our members experience symptoms of noise intolerance and cognitive
impairment. Please avoid
side conversations.
- When there is a specific topic being discussed, our
group moderator will try to keep us on track. Jot notes of what you'd
like to bring up so you don't forget.
- Many
of our members have orthostatic intolerance. We encourage you to get
up, stretch, put up your feet, or recline at any time. It is acceptable
to lie on the floor.
- Many
of our members experience symptoms of light sensitivity. Feel free to
wear a hat, visor, or sunglasses if the overhead lighting in our
meeting room is bothersome to you.
- Keep
hydrated! There is a water fountain down the hall from our meeting
room, but many members bring water bottles with them.
- Avoid
comparing your level of illness with others in a competitive way (such
as "you seem much better than I").
- In consideration
of members with allergies and chemical sensitivities, please help to
keep our meetings free of fragrance, perfume, and smoke. Before
attending a meeting, please avoid all colognes, perfumes, essential
oils, hair sprays, and aftershaves; use only fragrance-free shampoos,
soaps, deodorants, and cosmetic products; and wear clothing laundered
using fragrance-free products. Attendees are welcome to wear masks,
respirators or use oxygen at the meetings.
- No
soliciting.
Meetings Ups ands Downs
Support
group meetings
can be quite wonderful. We connect with people in similar situations, glean
advice from others, share tips and tricks, and offer written
materials. However, meetings involve mental and physical
activity:
listening, interacting, getting there and back, being around
stimulation of all sorts. Meetings can also be stressful since stressful topics come up and because attendees often have a lowered stress threshold.
Attendees often end up being very tired for
the next day or two. Some have reported relapses afterward. Sometimes
it is worth it and sometimes it is not; sometimes you won't know
until after you've been there.
Each meeting has its own personality, influenced by who happens to be
there on a given day and how they are feeling. Make
the best decision about attendance for you, whether it be to come to
all meetings, come to one, attend none, or visit us in person only
one meeting a year.
The
majority of meetings are uplifting, or at least informative and supportive in
varying ways. Occasionally, they or small portions of them can be awkward, even unpleasant.
We hope you'll visit us more than once. You don't have to let
us know when you'll be stopping by or if you'll be late or need to
leave early. All are welcome anytime, for whatever time that is
manageable. Review the Meeting
Guidelines.
Related
Support Groups
Some of our
leaders and members also lead other related support groups in the
Washington, DC metropolitan area, which meet at various times and
places throughout the month. For information about these groups, please
see our Other Groups
page. The two most closely affiliated with us with their home pages
with this website are Elly's
Gratitude Group and the NOVA
MVPS/D & OI Support Group.
Can you help out at Meetings? In other ways?
If
the group helps you and you are up to it, please help the group. At meetings, we need people who arrive a little early (1:45 pm) to
set up chairs and tables. After meetings, we need help stacking the
chairs and wheeling the tables away. It would be wonderful to have
someone greet attendees and help them with name tags, to be a guide to
where the bathrooms and vending areas are. It is nice to have a
volunteer who wants to coordinate dinner after the meeting for those
interested, in need of refreshment for the trip home.
Unrelated to regular
meetings, there are many opportunities to help the group. Choose only
something you are motivated to do and offer as much or as little as
feels possible to you. Examples include arranging a time and
restaurant to meet others between meetings, submitting helpful and
relevant newsletter/email items, making copies of handouts, sending in
speaker and practitioners list ideas, returning phone calls from people
inquiring about
the group or CFS/FM/OI, and sending in meeting notices to newspapers.
Contributions
to our petty cash fund are appreciated and allow us to do some copying,
send materials to those
in absolutely desperate need, and to keep up
our service. Donations to our informal group are NOT tax deductible
since we are NOT incorporated in any way, never mind as a non-profit
with 501(c)(3) status. See About Us
for address to mail us or stop by the basket at meetings.
Postage stamps are welcome as is ink jet and copier paper.
If
you see a need not being met and can volunteer to make it happen, your
rewards could be greater than you imagine. Helping others heals!
Some Nearby Restaurants & Attractions
Very nearby restaurants
Sully Station Shopping Center on Westfields Blvd
Chipotle,
Pho Aura,
Ledo Pizza,
Popeyes,
Subway,
Around Westone Plaza
Texas Roadhouse,
Eggspectations,
Foster's Grille,
Moe's,
Appleby's.
Very close Hotels
Hyatt Place Chantilly / Dulles Airport South
Westfields Marriott Washington Dulles
See also Sully Station Directions Page
Area attractions
G-Street Fabrics,
shopping and dining at Fair Lakes, the
National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center at Dulles Airport,
historic Sully Plantation,
Ellanor C. Lawrence Park,
Bull Run Regional Park and the
Dulles Expo Center.
How to get Meeting Reminders
- Yahoo email announcement only list CFSupport:
Sign up for
CFSupport
If you don't want to create a Yahoo ID, use the alternative method of signing up by sending a blank email to
cfsupport-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
- Facebook CFS Nova: Like CFS Nova on Facebook
Note:
Depending on your Facebook privacy settings, doing so will reveal you
are a follower to the public, not just friends or Facebook members. You
can just read the page instead if you have privacy concerns or don't
want our posts in your news feed.
Also note: Not all meeting announcements will appear on Facebook. CFSupport
(above) is the primary means of communication with members.
- Twitter @CFSNova: Follow CFSnova on Twitter
Note:
Depending on your Twitter privacy settings, following us may reveal you
are a follower to the public. You
can alternatively just read the @CFSNova Twitter feed page to check for meeting updates or cancellations.
Also note: Not all meeting announcements will appear on Twitter. CFSupport
(above) is the primary means of communication with members.
Disclaimer
The
Northern VA
CFS/ME, FMS, &OI Support Group and CFSupport are an informal support group and
website led by volunteers. Its representatives are people with the
experience of chronic illness, not medical, counseling, or legal
professionals. Please seek qualified physicians and other Practitioners for
diagnosis, treatment, and legal advice.
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