May is National Foster Care Month - FAN Needs Your Support

As the founding vice-chair and current secretary of the board for Fihankra Akoma Ntoaso (FAN), I find myself in the delicate situation of asking for your financial support for our grassroots 501(c)3 on our community blog. I keep reminding myself that I've asked my readers to support a number of community organizations and events that I have no official ties to, all in the name of community and civic investment, and this is really no different aside from my personal commitment to FAN. This is not my day job, it truly is a volunteer labor of love. Please, read the information below, and, if possible, contribute to FAN and help us stay on track in fulfilling our mission to provide safety, security, love, and understanding for DC's foster adolescents....

Can you imagine being separated from your family, moving from place to place, not knowing if you'll be in the same school, same neighborhood, or same house from one day to the next?

Nearly 3,000 children in foster care from Washington, DC live with this uncertainty every day, staying in care for 3 years on average and living in 3 different homes during that time. The crisis-driven child welfare system is so focused on what's wrong with teens in foster care, that they fail to see what's "right" with this group of young people.

FAN works with some of the city's most vulnerable youth: teens in foster care, in a daily after school and summer positive youth development program that engages youth in academic support, extracurricular instruction, community service, group mentoring, and cultural enrichment. Youth are provided with opportunities to belong, to develop their talents and skills, to develop meaningful relationships with peers and adults, and to experience success. FAN serves as a source of stability, consistency, and support that enhances the well-being and positive development of youth. Please visit our website at www.fan-dc.org to learn more about our organization and to join our mailing list.

May is National Foster Care Month. Make a difference in the lives of teens in foster care with your tax deductible donation of $10, $25, $50, $100, or more. To be a part of FAN's success, please mail a check today or donate online on our website through Network for Good.

I cannot thank you enough for your generosity!

Fihankra Akoma Ntoaso / FAN
1227 Good Hope Road SE, Room 106
Washington, DC 20020
202.889.5000 x114
202.889.5035 (fax)
www.fan-dc.org

Edgewood's Beacon House Falcons Headed to Pop Warner Super Bowl this Saturday

Edgewood Terrace's Beacon House Falcons have advanced to the Pop Warner Super Bowl and will play the Tustin Black Cobras for the Pee Wee Championship this Saturday at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex. Check out the brackets - the Falcons haven't given up a point yet!

Our thanks to Fannie Mae and NBC4 for sponsoring the trip the team couldn't have otherwise afforded:

Thanks to donations from News4 and a grant from Fannie Mae, the Falcons will be able to go to Orlando.

Fannie Mae awarded a $100,000 grant to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington to send the Falcons to compete in the pee wee division. The grant also allows 2006 midget division champs, the Marshall Heights Bison, to defend their title.

Last year, the Fannie Mae Foundation donated $30,000 so Marshall Heights could make the trip.

We should be extremely proud of our teams...not only for making it to the National Championships, but also considering that Pop Warner is the only youth sports organization with an academic requirement.

You can watch video of the Falcons here.

Violence Erupts Among Day Laborers in Brentwood; Community Opposes Proposed Multicultural Training & Employment Center

The Washington Times - perhaps because of their NE home base - have been closely following the controversy over the proposed multicultural training and employment center in Brentwood. They recently reported the only mention I've found of a brawl erupting Thursday, September 13th among the day laborers:

Community leaders scheduled a public-safety meeting in a Northeast neighborhood after a bloody clash among a group of Hispanic men that residents said began in an area where day laborers gather looking for work.

As many as 200 mostly Hispanic day laborers congregate each day at a shopping plaza in Brentwood looking to link up with area contractors for jobs....

The incident occurred at about 7:30 p.m. last Thursday, when police found a Hispanic man lying on a sidewalk and bleeding from his head near 10th Street and Rhode Island Avenue in Northeast — only a few hundred feet away from the shopping plaza.

Police said the victim — who was identified only as "John Doe" in police reports — also had a stab wound in the center of his back.

Mr. Chandler said his constituents who live in the area told him the man was assaulted during a fight involving a large group of men that began behind the Bank of America at 915 Rhode Island Ave.

The clash then spilled over from a hill behind the bank onto 10th Street, where [ANC Commissioner Raymond] Chandler said men were "rolling over people's cars" during the fight....

Mr. Chandler and other residents adamantly oppose constructing the center, saying employment services already exist in the area and that city money should not be used to fund a center for day laborers, many of whom are illegal aliens.

The incident caused Mr. Chandler to organize a public-safety meeting for community residents and businesses to voice their concerns to police.

The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Oct. 9 at Isle of Patmos Baptist Church [1216 Saratoga Avenue NE/1200 Isle of Patmos Plaza NE] in Northeast.

The same day they also ran one of Tom Knott's "insightful" columns, where law-abiding citizens get screwed at the expense of "lawbreakers":

The good folks of Brentwood have made it clear to D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Jr. that they do not want a day-laborer center in a Northeast shopping center on Rhode Island Avenue....

But Mr. Thomas, Ward 5 Democrat, presses forward, because he thinks on a higher plane than the good folks of Brentwood. He knows many of the day laborers are illegal aliens, and he knows many of them urinate and defecate on the properties belonging to the good folks of Brentwood, and he knows that if impotent lawmakers at all levels of government merely enforced the existing laws, there would be no illegal-alien mess in this nation....

But our lawmakers, who purport to be in the public-service business, are not heeding the words of those who elect them to office. Mr. Thomas is not unlike so many other legislators at the local, state and federal levels. He blames the illegal-alien problem on some other part of the bureaucracy. He is merely trying to address a situation in the Home Depot parking lot, even if he is dead wrong, even if his constituents in Ward 5 do not want public funds being spent on an illegal-alien center....

I could hang out at the day-laborer center and read Spanish-language materials. And if anyone ever objected to my illegal existence, I would shout racism and bigotry, because that always works, especially around pathetic, whiny white people who have this profound sense of guilt.

Our useless lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are showering our dollars on illegal aliens, who turn around and wave the silly-looking flag of their country. Sorry. I forgot how it works. If they wave the flag of the country they abandoned, it is called pride. If Americans wave their flag, it is called jingoism.

Mr. Thomas undoubtedly expects the legal residents of the city to follow every last law. But there he is ready to reward lawbreakers. While he is at it, he might as well appropriate more of our tax money to equip the illegal-alien center with a health spa.

It is crazy.

As are you, sir.

» The Washington Times, 9.20.07, "Melee spurs calls for action on day laborers"
» The Washington Times, 9.20.07, "Note to Brentwood: Don't doubt Thomas"
» Previous community workshop, 9.8.07
» Previous town hall meeting, 8.15.07
» WaPo, 6.17.07, "As Plan for D.C. Day-Laborer Center Idles, Anger Over Workers Grows"
» The Washington Times, 7.5.07, "Day laborers shower us with culture, irrigation"
» The Washington Times, 7.16.07, "Two sites eyed for D.C. day-labor center"

Book Drive to Benefit DC Youth - Through Sunday, September 23rd

From the inbox - I can't resist spreading the word about an event that pairs children and books:

First Book, a nonprofit organization, has teamed up with the Veterans of Foreign Wars, SunTrust Bank, and SunTrust Mortgage to host a book drive in DC through this Sunday, September 23rd. The drive will enable First Book to achieve its mission of providing children in low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. Social venture company Better World Books will sell the books online and First Book will use the proceeds to bring thousands of new books to children in need in the DC community.

Between now and this Sunday, September 23rd, you can drop off your used books at select DC SunTrust locations, or, if you don’t live in the area, donate them by following the instructions on our webpage: www.firstbook.org/betterworld. This site also provides guidelines on which kinds of books are most helpful.

Ward 5 Community Workshop on Proposed Multicultural Training & Employment Center - Saturday, September 8th

What: Attend this workshop and share your thoughts on the need for an inclusive job readiness, training, and employment center located in Ward 5 in close proximity to Home Depot.

When: Saturday, September 8th, 9-11:30 a.m.

Where: Noyes Elementary School, 2725 10th Street NE

Etc.: For additional information contact the Ward 5 Council office at 202.724.8028

From Councilman Thomas:

WARD 5 MULTICULTURAL TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT CENTER FACT SHEET

What it is: The Center will be an inclusive training, career, and employment center that will provide a range of services to Ward 5 residents—particularly the residents of Brentwood, Edgewood, and Montana Terrace—and other under-served groups.

Why it’s needed: The Brentwood, Edgewood, and Montana Terrace neighborhoods traditionally have had high rates of unemployment. On average, one in 10 adults in these neighborhoods are unemployed. A Center that addresses employment and training needs is greatly needed for these neighborhoods. An organized system linking contractors and individuals seeking work from contractors at the Home Depot site is also needed.

What it will do: The core mission of the Center will be to provide comprehensive employment and training services to residents of the adjacent Ward 5 neighborhoods and other under-served groups. The Center will offer a wide range of classes, ranging from language immersion to financial literacy and assistance with preparing local and federal income taxes. The Center will also have services geared toward manual laborers, including those seeking work from contractors at the Home Depot site.

Community: The Center will include local labor and community organizations like Israel Baptist Church's Facing It Together (FIT) Academy as partners. The FIT Academy is a neighborhood-based organization with a track record of providing residents of Brentwood, Edgewood, and Montana Terrace with job training and readiness skills. In the past year, the program has placed more than 30 individuals in jobs. By linking with local labor and community organizations and leveraging their program successes, the Center will bring effective employment and job training services to Ward 5 residents and other under-served groups.

A national model: The Center envisioned for Ward 5 has the potential to be a national model showcasing how employment and training services focusing on African-Americans, Latinos, and any other under-served group can be incorporated together in a single, inclusive facility. The Center brings job readiness and placement programs directly to the Ward 5 neighborhoods that need them the most.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Angel Nix at 202.724.8107 or snix@dccouncil.us
Vicky Leonard-Chambers at 202.727.8204 or vleonardchambers@dccouncil.us

» Previous town hall meeting, 8.15.07
» WaPo, 6.17.07, "As Plan for D.C. Day-Laborer Center Idles, Anger Over Workers Grows"
» The Washington Times, 7.5.07, "Day laborers shower us with culture, irrigation"
» The Washington Times, 7.16.07, "Two sites eyed for D.C. day-labor center"

Ward 5 Youth March Against Violence - Saturday, August 25th

What: Ward 5 Youth March Against Violence

When: Saturday, August 2th, 2007, 1-8pm

Where: Starts at 12th and Rhode Island Avenue NE, ends at the concert ground at 2413 14th Street NE

Etc.: Live performances and inspirational speakers, including: Al-Malik Farrakhan, Minister Vincent Hucks, The Trumpet Kings, Chaka Rollins, The Miracle Tones, Israel Baptist Youth Choir, Mt. Calvary Youth Choir, Yango Sawyer, Copper Rose and Bone, and more.

For questions and information, contact Preston Haythe at 202.526.8454.

Ward 5 Town Hall Meeting on Proposed Multicultural Training & Employment Center - Wednesday, August 15th

What: Share your thoughts with Councilman Thomas regarding the need for this center to be tentatively located in Ward 5 in close proximity to Home Depot.

When: Wednesday, August 15th, 2007, 7-9pm

Where: Israel Baptist Church, 1251 Saratoga Ave, NE

From Councilman Thomas:

WARD 5 MULTICULTURAL TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT CENTER FACT SHEET

What it is: The Center will be an inclusive training, career, and employment center that will provide a range of services to Ward 5 residents—particularly the residents of Brentwood, Edgewood, and Montana Terrace—and other under-served groups.

Why it’s needed: The Brentwood, Edgewood, and Montana Terrace neighborhoods traditionally have had high rates of unemployment. On average, one in 10 adults in these neighborhoods are unemployed. A Center that addresses employment and training needs is greatly needed for these neighborhoods. An organized system linking contractors and individuals seeking work from contractors at the Home Depot site is also needed.

What it will do: The core mission of the Center will be to provide comprehensive employment and training services to residents of the adjacent Ward 5 neighborhoods and other under-served groups. The Center will offer a wide range of classes, ranging from language immersion to financial literacy and assistance with preparing local and federal income taxes. The Center will also have services geared toward manual laborers, including those seeking work from contractors at the Home Depot site.

Community: The Center will include local labor and community organizations like Israel Baptist Church's Facing It Together (FIT) Academy as partners. The FIT Academy is a neighborhood-based organization with a track record of providing residents of Brentwood, Edgewood, and Montana Terrace with job training and readiness skills. In the past year, the program has placed more than 30 individuals in jobs. By linking with local labor and community organizations and leveraging their program successes, the Center will bring effective employment and job training services to Ward 5 residents and other under-served groups.

A national model: The Center envisioned for Ward 5 has the potential to be a national model showcasing how employment and training services focusing on African-Americans, Latinos, and any other under-served group can be incorporated together in a single, inclusive facility. The Center brings job readiness and placement programs directly to the Ward 5 neighborhoods that need them the most.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Angel Nix at 202.724.8107 or snix@dccouncil.us
Vicky Leonard-Chambers at 202.727.8204 or vleonardchambers@dccouncil.us

» WaPo, 6.17.07, "As Plan for D.C. Day-Laborer Center Idles, Anger Over Workers Grows"
» The Washington Times, 7.5.07, "Day laborers shower us with culture, irrigation"
» The Washington Times, 7.16.07, "Two sites eyed for D.C. day-labor center"

KaBOOM! Prep & Build Days at Friendship Public Charter School - Volunteers Needed

The children of the Woodridge community need a safe, clean, and fun place to play and enjoy with their families!

What: KaBOOM! - Prep & Build Days/Playground Initiative

When: Prep day - Monday, July 30th, 2007, 8am-4pm (breakfast & lunch will be served); Build day - August 1st, 2007

Where: Friendship Public Charter School, 2959 Carlton Avenue, NE

Etc.: In order to provide this wonderful space for our children we will need your involvement! We are planning two fun-filled days as we create this new community-build playground. There will be food, music and activities as we put the playground together. Volunteers will help with all aspects of the playground planning, prep and build. For more information call or email Crystal Clark, Woodridge Principal, at 202.635.6500 or cclark@friendshipschools.org.

KaBOOM! believes that, together, we can achieve it by pursuing smaller common goals: a playground, skatepark or field complex, toward collective causes − the well being of children, (that results in achievable wins) a one day build, all through the small, yet courageous act of volunteering. This is how KaBOOM! activates powerful citizenship.

Hands Across Ward 5 - Saturday, July 21st

What: Hands Across Ward 5 - Community Service Information Fair

When: Saturday, July 21st, 2007, 10am-4pm

Where: Trinidad Recreation Center, 1310 Childress Street, NE

Etc.: Sponsored by the DHS DC Fatherhood Initiative Network, this event is meant to connect DC services with the citizens. Also in attendance/available: DPR, DOES, health screenings, HIV testing, literacy and financial labs, and food and activities for the kids.

May is National Foster Care Month - FAN Needs Your Support

As the founding vice-chair of the board for Fihankra Akoma Ntoaso (FAN), I find myself in the delicate situation of asking for your financial support for our grassroots 501(c)3 on my community blog. I keep reminding myself that I've asked my readers to support a number of community organizations and events that I have no official ties to, all in the name of community and civic investment, and this is really no different aside from my personal commitment to FAN. This is not my day job, it truly is a volunteer labor of love. Please, read the information below, and, if possible, contribute to FAN and help us stay on track in fulfilling our mission to provide safety, security, love, and understanding to DC's foster adolescents....

Can you imagine being separated from your family, moving from place to place, not knowing if you'll be in the same school, same neighborhood, or same house from one day to the next?

Nearly 3,000 children in foster care from Washington, DC live with this uncertainty every day, staying in care for 3 years on average and living in 3 different homes during that time. The crisis-driven child welfare system is so focused on what's wrong with teens in foster care, that they fail to see what's "right" with this group of young people.

FAN works with some of the city's most vulnerable youth: teens in foster care, in a daily after school and summer positive youth development program that engages youth in academic support, extracurricular instruction, community service, group mentoring, and cultural enrichment. Youth are provided with opportunities to belong, to develop their talents and skills, to develop meaningful relationships with peers and adults, and to experience success. FAN serves as a source of stability, consistency, and support that enhances the well-being and positive development of youth. Please visit our website at www.fan-dc.org to learn more about our organization and to join our mailing list.

May is National Foster Care Month. Make a difference in the lives of teens in foster care with your tax deductible donation of $10, $25, $50, $100, or more. To be a part of FAN's success, please mail a check today or donate online on our website through Network for Good.

I cannot thank you enough for your generosity!

Fihankra Akoma Ntoaso / FAN
1227 Good Hope Road SE, Room 106
Washington, DC 20020
202.889.5000 x114
202.889.5035 (fax)
www.fan-dc.org

Thomas Requests $400,000 for Proposed Labor Site at Home Depot

From The Washington Times:

A D.C. Council member is requesting $400,000 in city funds to put a day-laborer center in a Northeast shopping center. But it is unclear whether city officials will check the immigration status of the mostly Hispanic job-seekers that congregate at the site.

About 200 workers, many of whom are Hispanic day laborers, wait for work each day outside the Home Depot store at 901 Rhode Island Ave. NE, said council member Harry Thomas Jr., Ward 5 Democrat.

Mr. Thomas proposed building the center after neighbors complained about loitering and public urination in the area.

....

Mr. Thomas said he hopes to place a temporary "multicultural and training-based center" on land owned by Home Depot in the shopping center by next month. The council member's long-term goal is to begin building a permanent center in the plaza by the end of the year.

Ron DeFeo, a spokesman for Home Depot, said discussions are ongoing and that the national chain has cooperated with other projects in the past to help solve similar problems. Often the day laborers gather to appeal to the contractors and homeowners who frequent the home-improvement store.

....

The permanent structure would sit on land owned by both Home Depot and the District and would hopefully be paid for with private funds, Mr. Thomas said.

The site would not be a "day-laborer" center but also would serve local residents seeking work, he said.

Three men were stabbed - two died - last year in a day-laborer scuffle. I would imagine the developers working on the Rhode Island Avenue/Brentwood Metro redesign will weigh in on this idea.

City Pulls Contract with President Inn; WUSA9 Gets Points for Good Deed

From WUSA9:

The new director of the District’s Emergency Management Agency, Darrel Darnell says that he will no longer be sending displaced families to the President Inn.

Darnell’s decision Monday came after he viewed on the WUSA9.com our exclusive 9NEWS NOW report with a hidden camera that disclosed deplorable conditions inside the rooms where DC families and tourists to Washington had been placed.

The unsuspecting tourists began posting their comments on web pages that rated the hotels and motels in the Washington area.

After staying at the New York Avenue motel [1600 New York Avenue, NE], they complained of rats, bed bugs, soiled linen and carpets.

Our camera also showed cigarette burns and evidence that fires had been set and a bathroom door kicked in. There was human hair in the bed and bathroom.

One woman from Oregon claims she became ill with scabies after staying at the President Inn.

Monday, Darnell’s office confirmed the Inn has a contract to provide up to 25 beds on a temporary emergency basis to homeless families at a cost of up to $75,000 per year. The contract ends at the end of September.

In another move the city’s Consumer and Regulatory Affairs Office sent a team of inspectors to the President Inn Monday. They were looking for construction, fire, plumbing and electrical code violations.

DC Councilman Kwame Brown, after seeing our original report on 9NEWS NOW Sunday night at 11 p.m., said Monday "No family should be placed in conditions like that."

» Bruce Johnson's original report (5.7.07) and video....Ewwww. I can understand how tourists could be duped, but the DC government? Seriously?

Community Computer Sale & Recycling - Saturday and Sunday

Community Computer Sale
Join us at our upcoming Community Computer Sale on Saturday, April 21st, 2007, 10-2pm at Kennedy Rec Center (1401 7th Street NW, 202.671.4794). Hosted by United Planning Organization Head Start Program and Per Scholas.

Computers will be available for $230 & $330!

Per Scholas is a non-profit organization with a rich 12-year history of offering affordable technology to low-income families and financially challenged schools and community-based organizations. We are headquartered in Bronx, NY with offices in Miami and Baltimore. For the past two years, Per Scholas has partnered with the Head Start Program in various cities to reach out to families without home computers and technology-deprived schools, day care centers and after school programs.

Beyond the New York City area, we have co-hosted outreach events in Baltimore, Miami, Pittsburgh, Toledo, Wilmington, & Washington, DC. This is our third time in DC. Learn more about our threefold technology programs at www.perscholas.org.

Please spread the word about this event. We do not require proof of income nor applications. Instead, we ask community organizations serving financially challenged populations to share the information with their staff and the families they serve. These computers also ideal for organizations setting up classrooms and tech labs. We highly recommend placing advance orders at 866.907.1758 - although walk-ins are welcome.

Should there be any questions, please contact me (Angela Tyler) at 410.230.1819.

Angela Tyler
Marketing Director/Consultant
Per Scholas - Affordable computers year-round!
410.230.1819 / 866.907.1758

- - -

Household Hazardous Waste, E-Cycling Collection
The DC Department of Public Works will hold its annual spring Household Hazardous Waste and E-Cycling collection event Saturday, April 21, 2007, 9am-3pm at the Carter Barron Amphitheatre parking lot at 16th and Kennedy Streets, NW. This drop-off service is free and open to all District residents.

DC residents can bring items including leftover cleaning and gardening chemicals, small quantities of gasoline, pesticides and poisons, mercury thermometers, varnish, solvents, spent batteries of all kinds, roofing tar, chemistry sets, automotive fluids, even asbestos floor tiles to the collection site for environmentally safe disposal.

Additionally, an electronics recycler will be onsite to take end-of-life consumer electronics including computers, computer monitors and other accessories, televisions, and office equipment. These machines will be broken down into their component parts (plastic, glass, toxic/heavy metals) and recycled or disposed of safely.

Items that will not be accepted during the Household Hazardous Waste and Electronics Recycling Collection include ammunition, bulk trash, wooden TV consoles, propane tanks, microwave ovens, air conditioners and other appliances, as well as radioactive or medical wastes.

For more information on household hazardous waste, visit the DPW site.

- - -

Computer Recycling
Bring your old and unwanted computers and computer-related equipment to Freedom Plaza (13th and E Streets, NW) on Sunday, April 22nd, 2007, 11am-3pm, and the Environmental Protection Agency will recycle them for free in a manner that is safe for the environment.

Safely recycling and reusing computer equipment helps keep substances like lead and mercury from harming people or the environment.

Encourage your family, friends, schools, religious institutions, and other community organizations to do the same. We will take donations of computers, laptops, monitors, keyboards, scanners, mice, and other related computer equipment.

More information is available at www.epa.gov/oei/recycling.

MPD Youth Investigations Branch Open House - Saturday, April 21st

In honor of National Child Abuse Prevention Month, the Youth Investigation Branch (YIB) will hold an Open House on Saturday, April 21st, 2007, 11am–5pm. The event is free and open to the public. For additional information contact:

Youth Investigations Branch
1700 Rhode Island Avenue, NE
(202) 576-6768 (phone)
(202) 576-6561 (fax)

The Metropolitan Police Department, Youth Investigations Branch (YIB), is responsible for the following:
· Investigating Child Abuse and Neglect
· Investigating Child Sexual Abuse & Exploitation (including child pornography and child prostitution)
· Investigating Juvenile Missing Persons (under the age of 18 years) & Parental Kidnapping
· Investigating Persons In Need of Supervision (PINS)
· Juvenile Processing Center (process juvenile arrestees)
· Absconder Unit (locate youth in abscondence)
· Investigating Internet Crimes against Children Unit

For more information on YIB sevices and resources, visit this page of the MPD site.

Food & Friends to Deliver 10 Millionth Meal - Tuesday April 17th

Join Special Guest, Mayor Adrian M. Fenty,

and Food & Friends' Clients, Volunteers, Board, Staff and Supporters

as we Commemorate our 10 Millionth Meal!

Mayor Fenty will Package Food & Friends' 10 Millionth Meal

and Deliver it to a Food & Friends Client

Tuesday, April 17
8:30 - 9:30 a.m.
Food & Friends
219 Riggs Road, NE
Shuttle Service Available from Fort Totten Metro Station

Breakfast will be Provided

RSVP by this Friday, April 13

Art Enables' Housewarming Holiday Party - Sunday, December 3rd

Art Enables - Outsider Art Inside the Beltway has moved into a new space at 411 New York Avenue, NE. This Sunday, December 3rd, 2006 from 2-6pm, they are hosting a housewarming and holiday party entitled "Raising the Roof & the Rent."

From their website:

Art Enables is an arts-and-enterprise program for adults with developmental and/or mental disabilities from throughout the Washington, DC, metropolitan area.

Participants in Art Enables are selected for their interest in drawing, painting and color. They come to the studio on scheduled days to work under the guidance of professional artist-instructors creating and marketing their own outsider and folk art. Their artwork is exhibited and sold in shows at the studio, via retailers around the city and at galleries, markets and special events throughout the region.

The program is open to adults with developmental and/or mental disabilities who are enthusiastic about working toward becoming professional artists and who are willing and able to focus on their work for a full studio day.

Art Enables demonstrates that the visual arts are an effective training and employment tool for people who may have barriers to cognitive-based training systems but who are interested in drawing and painting. Their ability to express themselves through visual images can operate as the basis on which they build skills and capabilities, become integrated in the community and earn money. More importantly, they experience a growth in confidence and self-esteem as the natural and inevitable result of becoming achievers at something they do well.

If you or someone you know is interested in applying to the program, e-mail info@art-enables.org or call 202.554.9455

DC/World AIDS Day 2006 - TODAY

Visit Fight HIV in DC for more information, not just today, but every day. AIDS in DC also has a comprehensive collection of HIV/AIDS resources.

Also check out the The Living HIV Quilt site on washingtonpost.com, including today's article on a grassroots effort to distribute 30,000 free condoms "in targeted District neighborhoods."

Finally, support organizations like the Whitman-Walker Clinic or Food & Friends by donating or volunteering - at the very least by Shopping for Life on Saturday, December 2, 2006.

Byte Back Open House and Fundraiser - Saturday, December 2nd

What: Brookland's own Byte Back Computer Training Center's Open House and Fundraiser

When: Saturday, December 2nd, 2006, from 4-7pm

Where: Byte Back's offices and training center, located at 815 Monroe Street, NE across 9th Street from Colonel Brooks' Tavern.

Etc.: Come, hear about our mission, see our facility, learn about our classes, and even make a contribution. Join us for hot cider and cookies! Any questions, please contact Patricia M. Jayne, Executive Director, at 202.529.3395 or pjayne@byteback.org.

Teens Attack and Shoot Metrobus on Rhode Island Avenue

Yet more proof that the curfew is nothing more than a band-aid on a festering wound that, I believe, improved social programs and community investment can help heal. The story is on NBC4 and WTOP. The "facts" vary, and why the bus continued en route to Ft. Lincoln remains a mystery, but what seems to jive in all versions is this:

Around 4:45pm Wednesday, September 20, 2006, near Rhode Island and Montana Avenues, NE, a group of juveniles threw either rocks or a brick through a window in the bus. One of the juveniles proceeded to push a gun through the broken window and fire off two rounds. Between 15 and 35 people were on board, and no one was injured. It is believed that the intended target was a group of teens that likely boarded the bus at the Rhode Island Avenue Metro. Before transit police were able to get involved, all of the passengers (i.e. witnesses and potential suspects) were dropped off at their respective stops. I will be terribly impressed if the authorities are able to get any leads now that everyone involved is scattered.

The curfew couldn't stop this; gun control couldn't stop this. Being proactive in our children's lives can. It really does take a village, and anyone who finds that trite or cliché is no better than the problem at hand.

Help Make the Alexander Crummel School Community Center a Reality - Thursday, August 24th

What: The Department of Parks and Recreation Ward 5 Town Hall Meeting. Stand in solidarity with your Ivy City neighbors in getting the historic Crummel School transferred to the jurisdiction of the Department of Parks and Recreation as a multi-purpose recreation center.

When: Thursday, August 24th, 2006, 6:30-8:30pm

Where: North Michigan Park Recreation Center, 1333 Emerson Street, NE

Background: (from Empower DC)
Ivy City Has a Youth Detention Center - We Need a Youth Opportunity Center!

The continued trend and current rise in crime among youth in the District underscores the dire need for more services, employment opportunities and youth development programs.

The Historic Ivy City/Crummell School Revitalization Coalition is a community based organization dedicated to the rebirth of the historic Alexander Crummell school into a multi-use facility that would provide services to youth and largely underserved senior residents of Ivy City, Langston-Carver Terrace, Trinidad, and surrounding neighborhoods.

The renovated school and its two acre grounds must be transformed from a place of blight and decay to one of community uplift and opportunity including job training, tutoring, mentorship, recreation and other needed programs.

Why Crummell School? The Alexander Crummell School is named for abolitionist, educator and clergyman Rev. Doctor Alexander Crummell whose life's mission was the uplift of Black people. The school was built in 1911 to serve African American children from the historic working-class community of Ivy City and neighboring Trinidad. The school served as the civic heart of the community and as a site for recreational programs until around 1980. Since that time the DC government has allowed the building to sit and rot, and depress its surrounding neighborhood. Residents of Ivy City have long been on record asking that their broken heart be repaired, and turned into a multi-use center to serve youth and elders. Now is a critical time to make this vision a reality.

We are asking the City Council to immediately transfer the Crummell School building and its grounds from the office of Property Management and add it to the inventory of the Department of Parks and Recreation for renovation and community use. Help us hold elected officials accountable to caring for the lives of our youth.

Support the Campaign for Crummell School By:

* You or Your Organization/Institution Signing-On as an Endorser

* Participating in on-going Campaign Activities

Partial List of Endorsing Organizations:

Empower DC
Historic Ivy City/Crummell School Revitalization Coalition
Movement for Love and Unity
Bread for the City
Young Women's Drumming Empowerment Project
DC Statehood Green Party
Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless
Sasha Bruce Youthwork, Inc
Youth Leadership Support Network
Save Our Schools
Power Palette
Gray Panthers of Metropolitan Washington
Stand Up! for Democracy in DC
Committee to Save Franklin Shelter
DC Library Renaissance Project
Fix Our Schools
GCH Endowment to Promote Quality Early Childhood Education
Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, DC

Parisa B. Norouzi
Co-Director/Organizer
District of Columbia Grassroots Empowerment Project
(Empower DC)
1419 V St, NW
Washington, DC 20009
(202) 234-9119


More background information at Frozen Tropics, Cultural Tourism DC, and the Ivy City-Trinidad Citizens Association.