You can help bolster DC's resiliency

You are an expert on resilience

You don’t have to be a climate expert or economist to know about resilience. Resilience is the “ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like” according to Dictionary.com. Many DC residents, especially those who battle poverty, sickness or unfair disadvantages know a lot about resilience.

For example, people who are unbanked (“A person is unbanked when he or she does not participate in the banking system and relies on the use of cash rather than checks or credit cards.”) have limited access to cash and frequently live paycheck-to-paycheck. Under normal conditions, they may be stressed, but they cope. They are resilient. Similar are people who have family members with health problems or are caring for persons with disabilities. Families may struggle, but they find ways to cope. They, too, are resilient.

Share your expertise

Share your ideas and experiences, and shape DC’s Resilience Plan so that it serves you. What are the things DC government, for-profit and nonprofit businesses, and individuals can do to make various facets of life in DC more resilient? That’s what Resilient DC, part of the DC Mayor’s Office, wants to know.

This November, the Rockefeller Foundation-funded initiative is talking with people like you about threats to resilience and ways to support and protect institutions and individuals from various threats.

Contribute in person

Resilient DC wants to meet you in person. The Resilient DC public engagement open houses start Monday, November 5. The close-to-home open houses are:

  • Ward 7 Open House: Thursday, November 15, 6:00-8:00 pm; Benning Library (3935 Benning Rd, NE in the Large Meeting Room); RSVP

  • Ward 8 Open House: Wednesday, November 28, 6:00-8:00 pm; Anacostia Library (1800 Good Hope Rd, SE, Ora Glover Community Room); RSVP

Open house attendees will build on the work that has taken place since May with more than 100 representatives of communities and topics, identifying, refining, and prioritizing ideas for building resilience.

Contribute online

Resilient DC is engaging people online. The questions are about climate change (How can we make DC more resilient to climate change?), growth (How can we make DC more resilient to population and economic growth?), and technological change (How can we make DC more resilient to technological change?).

Residents and stakeholders have until December 9 to contribute online.

Resilient DC writes “Urban Resilience is the capacity of individuals, communities, institutions, businesses, and systems within a city to survive, adapt, and grow no matter what kinds of chronic stresses and acute shocks they experience.”

The Resilience Strategy is the document that will drive how DC builds its ability to resist and recover from those “stresses” and “shocks.” Your ideas could become part of this effort.

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