Billions of dollars have been invested in restoring the Anacostia River, and millions more will be spent on returning the river to a swimmable, fishable waterbody in coming years. As the bills for restoration go up, a taxpayer may begin to ask, “What do I get from all this money being spent?”
Read MoreThe Anacostia Park and Community Collaborative calendar features events hosted by our members and other groups taking place along the Anacostia River Corridor. Check out this week’s upcoming events or add your own organization’s event to the calendar!
Read MoreThe Anacostia Coordinating Council held its annual boat trip on the Anacostia River this past month. The event was attended by several local champions and was featured on the cover of East of the River Magazine’s October issue.
Read MoreThis article is written by Will Lennon and was first published by the DC Line, spotlighting Ward 8 Woods, a member of the Anacostia Park and Community Collaborative.
Read MorePhilip Pannell of the Anacostia Coordinating Council is a founding member of the Anacostia Park and Community Collaborative and has been a community leader in Ward 8 for decades. You are invited to join for a gathering about DC Statehood and celebrate his birthday on September 29! Please see below for the invitation, and send RSVPs to acc01@aol.com.
Read MoreThe Anacostia Park and Community Collaborative now meets every two months on the second Friday of the month to discuss business issues and plan upcoming programs and events. Our next meeting is coming up on September 13, from 10:30a-12:30p. Refreshments provided. Details here.
Read MoreThe Anacostia Park and Community Collaborative is hosting a free capacity building workshop featuring an introduction to trauma-informed community engagement led by experts from the National Council for Behavioral Health. Participating in this free training will help your organization improve the quality and impact of your services, increase participation in programs, enhance engagement, and avoid staff burnout and turnover. Participants will build their capacity to engage with communities that have the most to gain from the many valuable benefits that parks, programming and being outdoors can provide. Lunch provided. Learn more and register here.
Read MoreThe Anacostia River Sediment Project (ARSP) is the plan to clean up the bottom of the Anacostia River. The sediment (soil at the bottom of the river) has potentially harmful pollutants in it from past abuse, and the ARSP will lay out a plan to make the river bottom safe for humans and other creatures.
Read MoreHundreds of people have attended the two “Late Skate” events in Anacostia Park this June and July, free community celebrations that are part of a shared effort between the National Park Service and the Anacostia Park and Community Collaborative to engage residents of Ward 7 and Ward 8 in meaningful events and programming.
Each event has featured local DJs and radio personalities, free roller skate rentals, field games, facepainting, free family portraits and more. The next Late Skate event is scheduled for August 24, and the theme will be “Dancing to the Future,” featuring hand dancing, DJ Spirit, live music by the band “Bela Donna,” and park visions for the future. In September, October and November, these events will continue and will feature more activities hosted by our member organizations and other partners!
Read MoreStarting today, Ward 8 families with a student in a Ward 8-based elementary or middle public, private or charter school can enroll in EduSaveDC and receive as much as $1,800 in the next 12 months to help save for a child's college education. This program is run by Capital Area Asset Builders (CAAB) in collaboration with the 11th Street Bridge Park, a project of the Ward 8 non-profit Building Bridges Across the River.
Read MoreIrfana Jetha Noorani is the Deputy Director of the 11th Street Bridge Park project with Building Bridges Across the River, a member of the Anacostia Park and Community Collaborative. She will be featured in an upcoming national webinar on August 7 at 1:00 PM titled, “How a Park Can Prevent Cultural Gentrification.”
Read MoreThe NPS is hosting a public open house about the future of Shepherd Parkway on July 10, 2019, but in the meantime you can submit comments about the project here.
Read MoreResidents of Kenilworth, Eastland Gardens, Parkside, Mayfair and surrounding neighborhoods could be able to walk from their homes to the National Arboretum with a new proposed pedestrian bridge that would cross the Anacostia River at Kenilworth Park.
Some river users have voiced their concerns about the bridge, primarily that the footings would block boat traffic. You can read more about the issues in this article. One proposed compromise would be to design the bridge as a “clear span” bridge, with no footings in the river, which would be more expensive but not block any boat traffic. The planners have extended the comment period for the project.
Read MoreNew research shows that people who spend at least 120 minutes in nature each week are significantly more likely to report good health and higher psychological wellbeing than those who don’t visit nature at all during an average week.
Read MoreOn June 11, the Anacostia Park and Community Collaborative hosted an online meeting about its new initiative to build a cohort of organizations focused on meaningfully engaging Ward 7 and Ward 8 residents in Anacostia Park programming.
The Collaborative is dedicated to maximizing the value of Anacostia Park and other parts of the Anacostia River corridor for Ward 7 and 8 residents, and one of the most significant ways to make the corridor relevant to people’s lives is through events and activities. That’s why we are launching our Events, Programming and Outreach affinity group!
Read MoreRiver Network is an organization that hosts an annual conference, River Rally, and connects nonprofit organizations and government agencies working on river issues across the country. This year at River Rally in Cleveland, OH, River Network honored a local champion of the Anacostia River, Dennis Chestnut.
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