IN LOVING MEMORIES OF
IN LOVING MEMORIES OF
Shawn Allen (Margaret -Allen Price), was a wonderful woman. Her compassion for other people was heartwarming. She was the type of person that if you needed a place to stay she would give it too you, and if you were hungry she would feed you even if she didn't eat. After becoming ill from Hepatitis C. which she contracted from a blood transfusion in the late 70's. She suffered a long and agonizing battle. Well on April 14th,2013 at 12:42pm that battle came to an end. Shawn was loved by her Arthur Capper Family and will be missed but never forgotten..We love you Shawn.....
<a href="http://vimeo.com/6929949">Struggling to Get Back</a>
In 2003, over 400 families from the Arthur Capper's housing project in South East Washington DC were forced from their homes as part of a massive nation-wide redevelopment program. Although they lived only a stone's throw from the world’s most famous symbols of democracy their voices were sidelined from the key decisions affecting the development of their neighborhood. This short film documents the struggle of one woman fighting to return to her home. To watch video highlight link below and right click and open video in new tab.
http://vimeo.com/6929949
http://vimeo.com/6929949#
<a title="Larry Anderson" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iB3Dmp2bRsw">Larry Anderson oral history</a> (short clip)
Mr. Larry Anderson was born on an Air Force base in New Mexico. His father was an Army sergeant. They moved to Turkey and then to Seattle, WA. Sometime between 1964 and 1966, they moved to Arthur Capper. His mother had been raised in Southwest DC, off of 4th St, SW, and wanted to return to DC. In Arthur Capper, he lived with his parents and his three siblings (Richard, Ronald, and Teresa) in a two-level townhouse at 200 K St, SE. Mr. Anderson is a musician and a graphic artist, two skills he developed first in and around Arthur Capper.
<a title="NCHA Arthur Capper Dwellings Map and Addresses List" href="http://www.scribd.com/doc/128661183/NCHA-Arthur-Capper-Dwellings-1957-Map-and-Addresses-List" target="_blank">NCHA Arthur Capper Map & Addresses List</a>
NCHA Arthur Capper Map & Addresses List
This is the original Site Plan Diagram for the Arthur Capper Dwellings (DC-1-20) and Addresses and Account Numbers list dated February 25, 1957.
DC Archives, National Capital Housing Authority, Legal Division, Box "Misc. office files, including site plans, publications, etc.," Accession 91-012, File "Site Diagrams & Addresses," blueprint maps of DC public housing projects.
February 25, 1957
<a title="Residents Fight to Save" href="http://washingtonpeacecenter.net/pla_residentsfighttosave" target="_blank">Residents Fight to Save Low Income Housing</a> By Madeleine Fletcher
In the midst of the District's low-income housing crisis, thousands of public housing residents, mostly African-Americans, are facing involuntary displacement because of several federally-funded HOPE VI redevelopment projects. "Improving the living environment for public housing residents" is the stated purpose of HOPE VI, which stands for ’Homeownership Opportunities for People Everywhere." However, based on recent nationwide statistics compiled by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), only 12.5 percent of original residents have been moved back into HOPE VI communities. Low-income housing advocates say that families in greatest need are more likely to be left out because of the way the HOPE VI process is designed and implemented.
D.C. Housing Authority (DCHA) was recently awarded a $35 million HOPE VI grant to redevelop Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg Dwellings, a public housing community of 707 units adjoining the Navy Yard in Southeast Washington. A fact sheet distributed to residents on the day of the announcement vaguely promised "the opportunity for current residents to return to the redeveloped community," that "the level of relocation effecting families will be determined by the public planning process" and that "no person or families need think about relocating any time during the next twelve months." Stephen Davis, a resident at Carrollsburg, was skeptical of the city's intent to return low-income residents to the site. He said that the daily struggles of his fellow residents to shelter, feed, and clothe their families are not bringing big dollars to the city. D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton has characterized the area where Davis resides, which has convenient Metro and bus access, as "one of the most valuable pieces of property on the East Coast, five minutes from the Capitol."
At the press conference announcing the award, Mayor Williams publicly reaffirmed the city's commitment to "one-to-one" replacement of demolished public housing units. However, a closer look at the HOPE VI application reveals that the existing 707 very-low income units will in fact be replaced by 417 low-income units, the remaining subsidized units being for moderate-income housing. Only 340 low-income units will actually be at the current site, while another 77 units will be relocated off-site, 65 of them to a former garbage transfer station, a site that the application acknowledges may have contaminated soil. Further diluting the availability of subsidized housing to truly needy families, the application states that so-called "low-income" units will be subject to a rent ceiling applicable to families with an income as high as $51,360, while average annual income for current residents is $7,942. Families with incomes as high as $68,480 will qualify for subsidized homeownership.
In his rap entitled "Gentrification," Brian Green-White, a Carrollsburg resident, referred to his community as "a poor black”hood destined to be torn down“ and to the project as "a war on the poor." He wrote:
My community lacks unity that's truly a fact
But politicians won't run us out of our ”hood like that
Not going out without a fight I'm throwing blows with all my might
If not, I'll look up one day and have nowhere to stay at night.
Residents Organize
In a recent letter to HUD secretary Mel Martinez an organizing committee called "Residents and Friends of Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg Dwellings" demanded a suspension of the HOPE VI project pending substantive changes, including a switch to new developers selected by residents, and an alternative plan to revitalize the community that would avoid displacing the residents from their jobs and schools. They wrote: "We are fighting to retain badly needed low-income and very-low income housing on site for all of our residents who are currently eligible for public housing, at current rent guidelines, and we do not want to lose our long-standing, close-knit community to unscrupulous developers."
They went on to write that complete demolition and rebuilding was not necessary, that many buildings were structurally sound and that renovations had recently been made. Keeping renovation costs down, they felt, would ensure that the renovated housing units would remain truly affordable for current residents. Says Davis, one of the signatories: "We want to fix HOPE VI so that it works for us, not against us."
The organizers appear to have support from their community. They were able to collect signatures from 67 percent of the current 405 households in town homes and walk-up apartments. Similarly, in a poll of 76 residents the organizers conducted in early August, over 85 percent of respondents said they were not in favor of the plan and were willing to join an eventual lawsuit to block it.
Residents feel betrayed by the fact that a community development corporation (CDC) is being formed to represent them, but without public discussion or vote. Although project manager Paul Rowe seems well informed about the CDC, no information has been provided to residents about its structure, membership, and by-laws, or even when and where it meets. The CDC will be empowered to negotiate with developers on behalf of residents, but because of the secretive way it is being set up, it may not democratically represent the residents or be accountable to them.
Public Officials Make Empty Promises
The limited extent of relocation help to be provided was revealed in a letter DCHA sent to each resident in July: "When DCHA decides on a date to demolish your unit and you are eligible for Relocation Assistance, you will be given advisory services, including referrals for replacement housing and at least 90 days advance written notice of the date you will be required to move." Providing "advisory services" falls far short of providing actual housing. The current plan to relocate the residents amounts to forced displacement, and will effectively render many residents homeless. Some residents would be issued "Section 8" vouchers, which would take them out of public housing and make them search for a federally-subsidized unit on the private market. However, Section 8 units are at critically low levels in the District, with 16,434 families already on the waiting list. Over half the people given a voucher are unable to find housing prior to its expiry date. Even after a unit is found, the landlord can refuse to renew the lease after one year, and the search has to start all over again. The remaining residents would be relocated to other public housing developments or to unsubsidized housing. However, public housing in the District is 98 percent occupied, leaving only about 140 units available, and an existing waiting list of 11,097 families.
In a recent letter to one of the resident organizers, Larry Dwyer, the DCHA director of planning and development, stated: "DCHA cannot guarantee that every single resident of the Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg neighborhood will come back to the new community, this is a matter of individual choice." The use of the word "choice" masks the fact that many families in financial distress will be prevented from returning by strict screening criteria, including credit history and five-year rent payment history. Application fees and substantial downpayments are other obstacles. Few residents realize that even if they are among the few to make it back, payment guidelines are not as flexible as for public housing, where rent is adjusted at 30 percent of gross income. A family who returned to subsidized housing at the redeveloped Ellen Wilson property learned that the hard way: although their income substantially declined since their return, they remained locked in a higher income bracket and had to continue making payments at a higher level than they could afford, or lose their home.
Returnees to HOPE VI units face HUD's more restrictive Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) requirements. FSS requirements require residents to participate in training and employment programs, which are often of untested and unmonitored quality. Residents can be evicted if they fail to make demonstrable progress, which places them at the mercy of potentially arbitrary decisions by others. FSS requirements are widely discredited by affordable housing advocates as discriminating against people with very low incomes.
A Bad Deal For D.C. Taxpayers
The project should ring alarm bells for the average taxpayer because of the massive diversion of public money and land to private developers. Demolition and relocation costs will total $6.5 million. The privatization of public land is an aspect of the proposed project that has so far escaped public attention. DCHA will use the proceeds of the land sale to build subsidized housing on what will become private land. Much of the land will be used for building market-rate homes, and office buildings providing over 600,000 square feet of office and retail space.
Another $1.8 million of taxpayer money will be used to buy up over two dozen private homes and locally-owned small businesses, "if necessary by eminent domain." Eminent domain refers to the overriding right of government to take possession of private property for a public purpose. However, in this instance, private homes and locally-owned small businesses will be turned over to large-scale private developers.
The total input of public funds will be $89.8 million, including $34.9 million in federal money and $54.8 million in city money, with an additional $98.6 million in tax-exempt bonds. Outside evaluation of the project by the Howard University Center for Urban Progress may be compromised by the fact that much of the data will be controlled by DCHA and developers.
The credentials and accountability of the proposed developers, Mid-City Urban LLC, The NOAH Group, LLC, and Edgewood Management Corporation, which all operate out of the same Silver Spring office, are questionable. The co-founder of Mid-City Urban, Scott Nordheimer, is a convicted real estate felon who also owes the D.C. government $18,121 in unpaid back taxes, according to a recent article in The Common Denominator. Edgewood Management Corporation was mentioned in a Baltimore Sun article as the target of a planned lawsuit, because of its abysmal performance record ranging from "a lack of security to poor maintenance to safety hazards and shoddy construction."
Michael Kelly, executive director of DCHA, also has a questionable track record. He has said he wants to work with residents at Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg, yet he was recently named as defendant in a lawsuit by public housing residents in New Orleans, who are fighting to hold the housing authority he headed there accountable for promises made. During the time Kelly headed the New Orleans housing authority (HANO), HANO did not satisfactorily administer its HOPE VI grants and failed to significantly improve housing, according to HUD's Office of the Inspector General. "If HANO were a Section 8 landlord, HUD could prosecute it for failing to provide housing that meets contract standards," the report said.
Fix or Stop HOPE VI?
Residents at District properties affected by HOPE VI are contemplating lawsuits to protect their rights, building on other lawsuits filed against HOPE VI projects in Miami, New Orleans, and elsewhere. In Boston, public housing residents won a negotiated agreement that earned every displaced resident one of the new units, ensured that two thirds of the new units would be for people earning less than 30% of area median income, and gave residents enough power to block any plans they disagreed with. Jay Rose of Greater Boston Legal Services, who referred to HOPE VI as "government-funded gentrification," cited their campaign slogan, "People who lived there during bad times should get the benefit of the good times." He noted: "Residents refused to move out and demanded jury trials for each eviction."
http://washingtonpeacecenter.net/pla_residentsfighttosave
<h3 class="post-title entry-title">The Repetition of Displacement at the Ellen Wilson Dwellings</h3>
The Repetition of Displacement at the Ellen Wilson Dwellings
The Repetition of Displacement at the Ellen Wilson Dwellings
This summer, I've been conducting research on the history of the Ellen Wilson Dwellings, a public housing project that used to sit at I Street between 6th and 7th Streets, SE, and that was replaced by a mixed-income development funded by one of the first HOPE VI grants. The Ellen Wilson Dwellings opened in 1941, were emptied for renovation in 1988, and destroyed in 1996. After researching this the entire summer, I feel as if a book could be written about just about the history of the Ellen Wilson Dwellings. Here are just a few things that I found.
Ellen Wilson was built in 1941 as a segregated white public housing project. African American groups protested the naming of the project for a known white segregationist and wife of Woodrow Wilson, also a white segregationist. According to the Washington Post in 1941: “Negroes have protested against the name. They claim Mrs. Wilson was responsible for segregating employees at the Bureau of Engraving & Printing.”(1) They also protested the creation of segregated public housing. Ellen Wilson basically sat on a large block between G and I Streets, SE, between 6th and 7th Streets. The north side of the block (G Street) housed only white homeowners and renters; this side was not demolished. Along the East and West sides, there were predominantly white residents. The South side was predominantly African American. Most significantly, over 300 African Americans lived in the block’s alley, called Navy Place. African American residents had lived in Navy Place for at least 75 years. To build Ellen Wilson, all the African American residents from the alleys and the South side of the block, as well as whites and African Americans from the East and West sides of the block were displaced. Not a single African American resident was allowed to move into the new Ellen Wilson.The Alley Dwelling Authority declared the block part of a “predominantly white” neighborhood and thus Ellen Wilson became a white public housing project: “Officials of the Alley Dwelling Authority, explaining why the new homes were to be occupied by white tenants, said the surrounding neighborhood is predominantly white.”(2)
By 1953, DC public housing was no longer allowed to remain segregated. It would be interesting to know if anyone from Navy Place or other parts of the block moved into Ellen Wilson at this time.
In 1996, the Ellen Wilson Dwellings were destroyed, after being abandoned for about eight years, and only 7 households from the 134 unit public housing project were allowed to move into the new development. The creation of the new development was part of a nation-wide movement against the segregation of minorities into public housing and was part of a local, deeply committed movement for social justice. These movements spoke out against the negative consequences of concentrated poverty. In the end, however, the outcome in 1941 and in 1996 were nearly the same: the displacement of low-income African Americans was complete in 1941 and nearly complete in 1996.
How did this happen? The answer so far seems to involve two main issues:
the Ellen Wilson public housing residents had been moved out and dispersed when discussions about plans were made for the new development, plans that were supposed to help them. What did they want? Where did they end up?
Some of those involved in the planning had many more resources than others and could push things in the direction they preferred. I found a paper on which strategy by one group had been laid out. The notes said many things, including: “avoid debate,” “Involve bleeding hearts in constructive way,” and “Isolate naysayers.”(3)
Queens College sociologist Stephen Steinberg has argued that claims about concentrated poverty are myths used politically by developers and politicians when poor people live on valuable land, like on Capitol Hill, which has been gentrifying since the 1960s. (Ellen Wilson was thus already part of a mixed-income community well before the 1980s.) Steinberg writes:
We have to be savvy about the political uses of the theory of concentrated poverty, which is invoked wherever the poor occupy valuable real estate that is coveted by developers, and which is part of the neoliberal agenda of reclaiming urban space that earlier was relinquished to the nation’s racial and class pariahs.(4)
In both 1941 and 1988/1996, low-income African American residents were displaced in the name of a form of development that claimed to help them but in fact hurt them. How can we avoid the displacement of our neighbors and protect such housing that is affordable?
There were a lot of displacements of African Americans from that block.
1) there was the displacement of the people from Navy Place (the old alleys within the block) 1939-1941
2) the displacement of Ellen Wilson residents from 5 buildings around 1967 to build the freeway/bridge.
3) the displacement of all the rest of the Ellen Wilson residents in 1988 to renovate the buildings, but this plan was ended and Ellen Wilson was destroyed.
The Repetition of Displacement at the Ellen Wilson Dwellings (II)
In response to my previous post, someone who lived in the Ellen Wilson Dwellings in the mid-1960s as a small child reminded me of a third displacement. In 1965, five of the Ellen Wilson buildings were razed (see map below from the DC Archives) to build the SE Freeway. This razing destroyed 79 apartments. If 3 people lived in each apartment, then over 230 people were displaced. If more lived in each apartment, then more were displaced.
I know of one family that was moved to Arthur Capper public housing, but I don't know where the others went.
Of course, the freeway's path went a certain way and not other ways as a result of the influence of certain people. Those living in these five buildings did not have the power to stop the freeway from destroying their housing, while others on the Hill had this power to stop the freeway from destroying their housing. Did those with power on the Hill work with Ellen Wilson residents to stop the freeway from destroying this section of the Ellen Wilson Dwellings? (I know that there was much organizing to stop other parts of freeway.) If not, why not?
So far, we have three displacements of low-income African Americans basically on one block:
1) the 1939-1941 displacement, including the 300+ low-income African Americans living in the Navy Place alley, to construct the Ellen Wilson Dwellings, a white public housing project.
2) the 1965 displacement of low-income African Americans, and maybe some whites, from 79 apartments in 5 buildings. Possibly totaling 230 people.
3) the 1988 displacement of low-income African Americans in 134 apartments to renovate the buildings, which were destroyed and replaced with a mixed-income development. I vaguely remember that there were households living in 125 of the apartments. Seven households from Ellen Wilson were allowed to move into this new development. If we use the earlier calculation of 3 per apartment, then ((125 - 7) x 3)) about 350 people were displaced.
How do we stop such repetitive displacement not only on this block but also elsewhere in Ward 6?
JOHANNA BOCKMAN
http://sociologyinmyneighborhood.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-repetition-of-displacement-at-ellen.html
11th Street Bridge
11th Street Bridge
Project Overview
By far the largest District Department of Transportation (DDOT) project underway, the $390 million 11th Street Bridge Project is critical to improving travel and achieving the larger vision of the Anacostia Waterfront Initiative.
The project is replacing two bridges built in the 1960s with three new bridges that separate local and freeway traffic.
The new freeway bridges also provide direct connections between the Southeast-Southwest Freeway and both directions of Interstate/DC-295, fixing a long-standing deficiency that forced motorists to use local streets to connect to and from both freeways.
From:http://www.anacostiawaterfront.org/awi-transportation-projects/11th-street-bridge/
7th & Lst Market
7th & Lst Market
7th and L Market
7th & L St SE
Washington, DC 20003
The corner market at 7th and L Streets, SE was owned and operated by several proprietors. Like many other neighborhood stores it served general convenience items.
From:http://www.capitolriverfront.org/go/7th-and-l-market
A Celebration of Life for
Michael L. Tillman
September 26, 1955 – January 13, 2015
A Celebration of Life for
Michael L. Tillman
September 26, 1955 – January 13, 2015
On January 13, 2015 in the comfort of his home God called home one of his Soldiers Michael Lynn Tillman. Michael aka “Seymour” named by his childhood friends was the oldest of 7 children and he loved his family dearly. He was born and raised in Washington D.C. in the Southeast Public Housing Dwellings of Arthur Cappers. He attended the D.C. Public Schools of Giddings Elementary, Randall Junior High School and Western Senior High School. He later attended Shaw University and St. Augustine University before enlisting in the United States Navy to serve his country. When Michael successfully completed his duties for the U.S. Navy he joined his working family of Wiley and Rein Law Firm in Washington D.C. where he worked until his passing.
Michael had a quiet demeanor and a lot of patience. He could always be counted on for advice with just about any decision that bothered you. He was a “Die Hard” Redskins fan who had a passion for the latest technology. He enjoyed rebuilding computers and helped many people understand more about technology. He had a love for music especially Jazz.
Michael’s faith in God was strong and his love for his family great. He took great pleasure in being able to help his nieces and nephews in any way possible. To say that we will miss him is putting it mildly, because we all loved him so much.
Michael Lynn Tillman was born September 26, 1955 to Lena Estelle Farrar and Raymond Tillman. He is survived by his father Raymond Tillman, two brothers; Andre N. Tillman and Carlos E. Farrar; three sisters; Renee C. Tillman, Denise M. Hooker and Carlena R. Farrar. A Host of Nieces, Nephews, Great Nieces and Great Nephews.
A Small-Scale Before-and-After on 3rd Street
A Small-Scale Before-and-After on 3rd Street
In early 2011, the two-story multi-unit apartment building at 1010 3rd Street, SE (a little south of Cornercopia) was hit by an early-morning fire. Subsequently, a building permit was issued to add another floor, and after close to 18 months of work, the project is now mostly finished. What do you think of the change? Very nice I used to live at 1009 across the street from here, nice very nice.
http://www.jdland.com/dc/index.cfm/3843/A-Small-Scale-Before-and-After-on-3rd-Street/