Content categorized as News

DC Council chair and mayor point fingers as nearly 300 households face eviction during the pandemic

As D.C.’s eviction moratorium begins to unwind, a battle is brewing between D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson and Mayor Muriel Bowser’s administration over who will take the blame when residents begin to lose their homes.

255 households are on the waiting list for ADA-compliant housing in DCHA-managed properties

With a backlog of over 70,000 households, the demand for public housing is steadily growing in the city amid a precipitous rise in housing costs. Meanwhile, seniors and people with disabilities already in D.C. public housing struggle especially, with a 255-household waiting list for ADA-compliant units.

A pilot program offering “flexible subsidies” to DC renters shows promise, a report says

D.C.’s pilot program to try giving families a smaller, more flexible rent subsidy than a standard voucher shows promise, according to a new report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Stimulus checks have been distributed nationwide, but low-income locals haven’t received them. Volunteers are uniting to solve the issue.

Volunteers are working to help low-income residents file for stimulus checks that they’ve yet to receive.

Park evictions disrupt housing placements and send residents scrambling

Residents of Burke Park and Samuel Gompers Memorial Park packed up what they could carry from their tents after last-ditch efforts to cancel their eviction failed. Advocates are worried that the evictions will make their journeys to permanent housing more difficult.

Franklin Park opening in September with public bathrooms and improved accessibility

Franklin Park, long a gathering place for homeless residents, will open in September with new public bathrooms, improved accessibility, and overhauled greenspaces.

UMC drafts budget while hospital finances remain in trouble

Southeast DC’s only hospital is trying to dig itself out of a financial pit, but a lack of patients has complicated the effort.

DC Council passes the Budget Support Act

The D.C. Council passed the Budget Support Act last week with several changes to a variety of programs to include the Access to Justice Initiative, the District’s local earned income tax credit, and business recovery grants.

Community-controlled affordable housing model could address gentrification in Southwest Washington

Ward 6 residents are advocating for soon-to-be available land to become a new community-controlled, permanently affordable housing and retail space in the Navy Yard neighborhood.

Mama and Baby Bus: Bringing care to wards 7 and 8

Mallory Mpare is seeking to make a difference for pregnant people of color in the District through a mobile health clinic that brings comprehensive care to parents and babies in wards 7 and 8. 

Local teen’s message on poverty: Believe in yourself but don’t leave others behind

Local Templeton Academy sophomore Miguel Coppedge started a fundraiser last year to benefit children in foster care and families experiencing homelessness. His charity donations are destined for St. Ann’s Center for Youth, Children and Families, the place where he was adopted at age 2.

City program employs homeless people to help promote vaccinations in shelters and on the streets

Amidst staggering vaccination, peer educators are informing people experiencing homelessness about COVID-19 and encouraging vaccinations in their communities.

How the Democrats’ infrastructure plans could change Medicare

Together, the party’s sister bills would be the biggest domestic investment in a generation. Whether either one survives Congress remains to be seen.

Ward 2 residents fight attempt to displace a homeless encampment near Safeway

After wooden planters were illegally placed in front of a Ward 2 Safeway following a scheduled encampment clean-up, advocates and housed residents fought back against this attempt to keep the unhoused residents from moving back.

Encampment cleanup at 7th and P St NW bus shelter sparks debate over public space

Two full encampment cleanups at the 7th and P St NW bus shelter and in a neighboring empty lot add to the debate about D.C.’s public space.

Unhoused Washingtonians need places to shower and do laundry. Could sanitation buses be the answer?

ANC commissioners are asking for money to fund mobile showers, laundry facilities, and bathrooms for unhoused residents.

PEP-V is scheduled to conclude next month, but advocates are fighting to make the program permanent

The Pandemic Emergency Protection for Medically Vulnerable Individuals program is ending on Sept. 30, despite calls from community advocates and over 400 remaining residents in need of housing.

U.S. cities offer displaced Black families the ‘right to return’

Santa Monica, California joins a handful of US cities seeking to atone for the negative effects of ‘urban renewal’ programs in the 1950s and 1960s.

DC evictions still temporarily paused while federal moratorium remains uncertain

The CDC’s moratorium lapsed at the end of July, and any chances of renewal are still in flux. Regardless, local provisions still give D.C. renters some time.

Despite including additional money for housing vouchers, today’s FY22 budget vote may leave 500 rapid rehousing recipients facing termination

During the pandemic, families living in rapid rehousing have not been required to move out once their time in the program ends. Now, with the publicly declared health exemption coming to an end, many program participants are growing concerned about finding a new place to live. Here’s how the D.C. Council’s latest budget might help them.