Let’s Make 2022 a Gateway to the World We Imagine
A few weeks ago, I crossed over the Anacostia River into Ward 8, and was welcomed with the realization of a vision, a dream, shared with me and my LISC colleagues in the prior century: a “gateway” had arisen on a vacant lot.
MLK Gateway Phase One Ribbon Cutting
The new office building, MLK Gateway in historic Anacostia, was imagined by residents and nonprofit leaders like Butch Hopkins and Retta Gilliam, and their boards of directors, because they knew that to be one city, an inclusive District of Columbia, a vacant lot could not be the first vision of Ward 8. When the Menkiti Group approached us in 2016 for financing to advance the vision, we knew this opportunity was special. It was Oramenta’s final project as Executive Director of LISC DC.
From an initial investment, LISC deployed over $10 million using a Tax Credit and Equity capital. Within the MLK Gateway, Enlightened, Inc, a Black owned technology firm, will base 150 DC employees, bolstering the Historic Anacostia downtown area into what is becoming an arts and tech hub for the city and region. A Capital One Café and a new sit down restaurant add retail and amenities still in short supply in Ward 8.
As the calendar changes, we are deeply grateful to all our supporters and contributors who have helped us bring visions and dreams to reality, especially in this year of opportunity and challenge.
LISC DC pictured with the residents of the HOPE Cooperative and Michael Milliner
Our work is not quick, but the results are precious. We shared the story, a saga perhaps, of support of Ana Margarita Pineda and her fellow tenants at the Hope Cooperative. While so many have been displaced from Columbia Heights, with multi-year support from LISC, Ms. Pineda and 12 neighbors purchased their building as a limited equity cooperative where all can remain and raise families. Ms Pineda is one of over 800 families whose homes we invested in because home is a refuge in a global pandemic.
LISC DC and Newsome Fellows Pictured with Ron Motten of Check It Enterprises
We supported nonprofit partners with eager, young minds to help small businesses survive with our Oramenta Newsome Fellowship and Resilient Together in support of small businesses; and helped key partners design an innovative cash assistance program, THRIVE East of the River. In every project, partner or initiative, you’ll find a through line: a commitment to building a more just, inclusive and equitable region where all residents, regardless of race or income can live and thrive
THRIVE East of the River food distribution. Photo courtesy of 11th Street Bridge Park
As we look towards 2022, we need your support. This year highlighted the consequences of our intersecting crises of racial injustice, health inequities, and economic hardship, but also showed us what is possible when humanity comes together to solve hard problems. Those won’t go away, but we must recognize and be ready to help change the dynamics as much as the landscape. We are prepared to take up the mantle, and help Washingtonians remain in their community and find dignity in self-determination.
We want other communities to conjure visions of equitable development, from lower Georgia Avenue to Prince George’s Central Avenue Corridor – and we want them to have the tools to deliver more healthy, inclusive, sustainable and equitable communities across the region.
Karin House Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, affordable senior housing developed by So Other's Might Eat (SOME)
Help us kindle this moment of change, with new federal dollars and local expertise, into a period of long-term transformation. Help us ensure that capital and talent and imagination are channeled to the neighborhood leaders and organizations who best understand the assets and changes needed in our communities, and bring those changes to life. Let’s make 2022 a gateway to the world we imagine.
Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Ramon Jacobson, Executive Director, LISC DC
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