May 23 - Join APACC for a conversation with DOEE about supporting community efforts to improve our streams and rivers
Do you want to learn more about getting a rain garden or rain barrel installed on your property? Are you interested in grants that support projects to improve water quality? Do you want to learn more about the Chesapeake Bay watershed and what DC is doing to improve it?
The Anacostia Park and Community Collaborative is co-hosting a meeting this Thursday, May 23, from 6:00-8:00PM with Washington Parks and People (an APACC member) on these topics. The Department of Energy and Environment will be there to learn from you how their programs can best serve your community while cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay through its “Watershed Improvement Plan.”
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Learn more about the Policy Innovation Lab on April 29 at THEARC
The McCourt Policy Innovation Lab is a graduate student initiative of the McCourt School of Public Policy at Georgetown University, and the group is a member organization of APACC. The PIL is hosting a year-end presentation on Monday, April 29th from 4-5: 30 pm at the ARC Community Meeting Room (1901 Mississippi Ave SE Suite #101) on. The event is an opportunity for the Policy Lab to share their work and learn from the community as they continue their efforts to support racially equitable, socially just, and community-centric policies in D.C.'s Wards 7 & 8.
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Small grants available for work in nine neighborhoods of Ward 8
Neighbor-to-Neighbor is a small grants program that was launched in 2019 to provide funding for community-based groups and organizations that are located in and/or serve in the following Ward 8 communities: Anacostia, Buena Vista, Fort Stanton, Garfield Heights, Hillsdale, Knox Hill, Stanton Oaks, The Vistas, and Woodland. The program’s design, implementation, and decision-making is driven by DC residents who either live or work in communities in Ward 8. Learn more here, and apply here by May 31, 2019.
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Just 20 minutes of contact with nature will lower stress
A new study released this month says that taking “at least 20 minutes out of your day to stroll or sit in a place that makes you feel in contact with nature will significantly lower your stress hormone levels.”
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May 11 - Explore the Potential of Placemaking on a Community Walk to Kingman Island
You are invited by the District Department of Energy and Environment on Saturday, May 11th from 10 am – 12pm for a Community Walk to Kingman Island to share your ideas for enhancing the journey from your backyard to the island. During the walk participants will explore pilot projects that can transform Ethel Kennedy/ Benning Road Bridge and the entrance to Kingman Island into vibrant social public spaces by adding temporary seating, plants, and art work to make the space more inviting and enjoyable.
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Lights of Freedom (NEW DATE) - April 16
APACC member Washington Parks and People is hosting Lights of Freedom, an event where community residents and descendants will join with the National Park Service and DC Parks and Recreation to light over 2,000 candle luminaries in honor of thousands of African Americans who were buried in what is now Adams Morgan's Walter Pierce park after they gained their freedom during the Civil War. This event was rescheduled to April 16 at 7:00pm due to rain.
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See you at the Anacostia River Festival (rescheduled for rain!)
The Anacostia River Festival has been rescheduled to this coming Saturday, April 20th, from 1:00-5:00pm due to forecasted rain last weekend. The Anacostia Park and Community Collaborative will be there with an activity to help you brainstorm fun ways to take advantage of the amazing park resources in Wards 7 and 8!
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Three upcoming volunteer days with Ward 8 Woods
Ward 8 Woods is a group of local residents who are cleaning up the wooded areas of Ward 8 incuding Shepherd Parkway and Ft. Stanton Park. You can join Ward 8 Woods to help remove trash from our local parks on these upcoming Saturdays!
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DC Water’s Expanded Assistance Program is Taking Applications
DC Water is encouraging residents and non-profits to take advantage of the new assistance programs that went into effect this year and which offer significant new opportunities for savings. The new expanded Customer Assistance Programs can help with water bills, including the increased costs of paying for the federally mandated cleanup of the Anacostia and Potomac River, along with Rock Creek.
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"Reimagining the Civic Commons" - 9 Ways to Build Better Cities Through Public Places
The Anacostia Park and Community Collaborative is interested in the role that Anacostia Park and other open spaces in Ward 7 and Ward 8 of the District can play in improving our communities. We believe that the Anacostia River and its waterfront parks, as well as our other neighborhood parks, can provide immense benefits to residents if improved in the right way.
We aren’t the only people thinking like this. Four big foundations recently put $40 million into a project called Reimagining the Civic Commons that leverages “the power of the civic commons to produce increased and more equitably shared prosperity” in four U.S. cities. After working in several cities since 2016, this project has published some lessons-learned that apply very much to us here in the District.
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DC Mayor to present the District's first cultural plan
On Thursday, April 6 at 6:00pm at the Anacostia Playhouse, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser will present the city’s first cultural plan.
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DOEE is Hiring for Seasonal Green Jobs
The Department of Energy and Environment is hiring for several positions this summer to work with youth on community environmental projects. Applications are now open to become a staff member of the agency’s “Green Zone Environmental Program” , a great opportunity to work with District youth and gain valuable leadership experience.
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DC has the most gentrifying neighborhoods of the entire United States
According to a Washington Post article about a study recently completed by the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, “D.C. has the highest ‘intensity’ of gentrification of any U.S. city.”
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Mayor Bowser Presents Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Proposal
Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser presented her Fiscal Year 2020 (FY2020) Budget and Financial Plan to the Council of the District of Columbia as part of the District’s annual budget process. We have included highlights from her $15.5 billion budget proposal, which you can also read on her website.
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Workshop on Environmental Gentrification: The Case of Anacostia
The overlap of environmental restoration and equitable development is at the core of APACC’s shared work. If you are interested in learning more about these issues from new perspectives, several Jewish organizations are planning a workshop entitled “Environmental Gentrification: The Case of Anacostia” on April 2 from 6:30-8:30pm.
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The District is one of the top 10 U.S. cities for wildlife
The National Wildlife Foundation has honored DC as one of the Top 10 Cities for Wildlife! The Anacostia River corridor plays an important role in providing habitat for many different plants and animals in DC.
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