Washington Parks and People is an alliance of community urban park partnerships based at the Josephine Butler Parks Center in the Columbia Heights (Washington, D.C.) neighborhood in Northwest Washington, DC. The organization's field headquarters, the Riverside Center, is located in a former nightclub in Northeast Washington, DC, next to the center of Marvin Gaye Park. Washington Parks & People and its community partners manage environmental reclamation, tree planting, and park programming by community volunteers and trainees.
Washington Parks & People is known for its work in the transformation of Marvin Gaye Park, formerly Watts Branch Park, in Northeast Washington, DC. The organization was incorporated in 1990 as Friends of Meridian Hill, focused on assisting the National Park Service and the US Park Police with the reclamation of Meridian Hill Park. The Meridian Hill/Malcolm X park partnership earned the organization the Partnership Leadership Award from the National Park Foundation and the President of the United States, who came to the Park to honor the community's work on April 21, 1994. [1]
Washington Parks & People has developed several urban greening programs which seek to better the outdoor spaces in the District of Columbia. These include the Community Harvest program, a citywide grant and technical assistance program for greening and gardening in under-served areas; Heart & Soul, a park-based public health and fitness initiative; the Walter Pierce Park Archaeology and Master Planning Project; the Cool Capital Challenge community-based energy efficiency drive; the Down by the Riverside Program to transform Marvin Gaye Park; and the Oxon Run Community Alliance Oxon Run Parkway initiative. Most recently, the organization has been responsible for the creation of the North Columbia Heights Green.
In 2011, Washington Parks and People is investing its resources in the DC Green Corps initiative. The Green Corps job training program focuses on urban reforestation, community greening, invasive removal, stream and habitat restoration, park reclamation and stewardship, urban wastewood recovery, environmental justice and health, and green infrastructure controls of urban systems, such as storm and sewer flows. [2] The DC Green Corps initiative was the subject of the 2015 documentary City of Trees. [3]
Adams Morgan is a neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C., centered at the intersection of 18th Street NW and Columbia Road, about 1.5 miles (2.54 km) north of the White House. Notable establishments in the neighborhood include the Washington Hilton and Madam's Organ Blues Bar. Notable residential buildings include Euclid Apartments, Fuller House, Park Tower, Meridian Mansions, and the Pink Palace. Embassies in the neighborhood include the Embassy of Lithuania, the Embassy of Poland, the Embassy of the Central African Republic, the Embassy of Gabon and the Embassy of Cuba. Notable public artwork in Adams Morgan includes Carry the Rainbow on Your Shoulders, The Servant Christ, and The Mama Ayesha's Restaurant Presidential Mural.
The Anacostia River is a river in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States. It flows from Prince George's County in Maryland into Washington, D.C., where it joins with the Washington Channel to empty into the Potomac River at Buzzard Point. It is approximately 8.7 miles (14.0 km) long. The name "Anacostia" derives from the area's early history as Nacotchtank, a settlement of Necostan or Anacostan Native Americans on the banks of the Anacostia River.
Columbia Heights is a neighborhood in Northwest Washington, D.C., United States. It has diverse demographics, the DC USA shopping mall and many restaurants, BloomBars, Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park, Howard University, Banneker Recreation Center, and All Souls Church.
Congress Heights is a residential neighborhood in Southeast Washington, D.C., in the United States. The irregularly shaped neighborhood is bounded by the St. Elizabeths Hospital campus, Lebaum Street SE, 4th Street SE, and Newcomb Street SE on the northeast; Shepard Parkway and South Capitol Street on the west; Atlantic Street SE and 1st Street SE on the south; Oxon Run Parkway on the southeast; and Wheeler Street SE and Alabama Avenue SE on the east. Commercial development is heavy along Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue and Malcolm X Avenue.
The Green Belt Movement (GBM) is an indigenous, grassroots, non-governmental organization based in Nairobi, Kenya, that takes a holistic approach to development by focusing on environmental conservation, community development and capacity building. Professor Wangari Maathai established the organization in 1977, under the auspices of the National Council of Women of Kenya.
Conservation Volunteers Australia is an Australian not-for-profit conservation organisation that attracts and co-ordinates volunteers for environmental restoration projects.
Meridian Hill Park, also known as Malcolm X Park, is a structured urban park located in the Washington, D.C., neighborhood of Columbia Heights; it also abuts the nearby neighborhood of Adams Morgan. The park was designed and built between 1912 and 1940. This 12-acre (49,000 m2), formally landscaped site is officially part of the National Capital Parks Unit of the National Park System, and is administered by the superintendent of nearby Rock Creek Park. Meridian Hill Park is bordered by 15th, 16th, W, and Euclid streets NW, and sits on a prominent hill 1.5 miles (2.4 km) directly north of the White House. Since 1969, the name "Malcolm X Park" has been used by many in honor of minister and activist Malcolm X.
Cardozo Education Campus, formerly Cardozo Senior High School and Central High School, is a combined middle and high school at 13th and Clifton Street in northwest Washington, D.C., United States, in the Columbia Heights neighborhood.
TreePeople is an educational and training environmental advocacy organization based in Los Angeles, California. The TreePeople organization advocates and works to support a sustainable urban ecosystems in the Greater Los Angeles area through education, volunteer community-based action, and advocacy.
Bellevue is a residential neighborhood in far Southeast and Southwest in Washington, D.C., United States. It is bounded by South Capitol Street, one block of Atlantic Street SE, and 1st Streets SE and SW to the north and east; Joliet Street SW and Oxon Run Parkway to the south; Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE, Shepherd Parkway, 2nd Street SW, and Xenia Street SW to the west. Bellevue was created from some of the earliest land patents in Maryland, and draws its name from a 1795 mansion built in the area. Subdivisions began in the 1870s, but extensive residential building did not occur until the early 1940s. Bellevue is adjacent to a number of federal and city agency buildings.
Washington Highlands is a residential neighborhood in Southeast Washington, D.C., in the United States. It lies within Ward 8.
Northeast Boundary is small neighborhood located in the northeast quadrant of Washington, D.C., in the United States. Along with the Capitol View neighborhood, it is the easternmost neighborhood of the District of Columbia.
Green infrastructure or blue-green infrastructure refers to a network that provides the “ingredients” for solving urban and climatic challenges by building with nature. The main components of this approach include stormwater management, climate adaptation, the reduction of heat stress, increasing biodiversity, food production, better air quality, sustainable energy production, clean water, and healthy soils, as well as more anthropocentric functions, such as increased quality of life through recreation and the provision of shade and shelter in and around towns and cities. Green infrastructure also serves to provide an ecological framework for social, economic, and environmental health of the surroundings. More recently scholars and activists have also called for green infrastructure that promotes social inclusion and equality rather than reinforcing pre-existing structures of unequal access to nature-based services.
The culture of Washington, D.C. is reflected in its status as the capital of the United States and the presence of its federal government, its predominantly Black population, and role as the largest city in the Chesapeake Bay region. The presence of the U.S. federal government has been instrumental in developing numerous cultural institutions throughout the city. During the early 20th century, Washington's U Street Corridor became an important center for African American culture.
Greening is the process of transforming living environments, and also artifacts such as a space, a lifestyle or a brand image, into a more environmentally friendly version. The act of greening generally involves incorporating more environmentally friendly systems into one's environment, such as the home, work place, and general lifestyle.
Cultural Tourism DC is an independent non-profit coalition of more than 230 culture, heritage, and community-based organizations in Washington, DC. Cultural Tourism DC and its members develop and present programs in Washington for area residents and visitors. Member organizations represent cultural and community organizations throughout Washington, DC; they include large institutions such as the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and U.S. National Arboretum to smaller ones such as the Frederick Douglass House and the Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens.
Casey Trees is a non-profit organization established in 2001 to restore, enhance, and protect the tree canopy of Washington, D.C. The organization plants trees, engages volunteers in tree planting and care, offers an education program open to the public, monitors the District's tree canopy, and advocates and plans for the urban forest.
Shepherd Parkway is part of the Civil War Defenses of Washington. It includes two forts, of which some remains still exist. The parkway runs along the high ground opposite the Anacostia Freeway from Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling in the District of Columbia. Shepherd Parkway is bordered on the north by St. Elizabeths Campus and the District of Columbia neighborhoods of Congress Heights and Bellevue and on the south by Bald Eagle Hill.
City of Trees is a 2015 independent documentary film, directed by Brandon Kramer and produced by Meridian Hill Pictures in association with Kartemquin Films and Magic Labs Media. City of Trees follows two years in the life of trainees and directors in the Washington Parks and People DC Green Corps, a green job training program funded by an American Recovery & Reinvestment Act grant. The film takes place primarily in Wards 1, 7 and 8 in Washington, DC. The film premiered at the 2015 American Conservation Film Festival on October 5, 2015 and on the PBS/World Channel series America ReFramed on April 19, 2016.
Josephine Dorothy Butler was an American activist. She co-founded and was chairman of the D.C. Statehood Party.