Low-impact Development

SCI conducted a public education effort with Capitol Hill neighborhood residents, businesses, and institutions informing them about the benefits of channeling rainwater from rooftops into public and private gardens and rain barrels so as to reduce damaging combined stormwater and sewage overflows into the Anacostia River. This form of rainwater diversion is sometimes referred to as low-impact development. SCI worked with students at Tyler Elementary School on a hands-on raingarden demonstration project. This work is supported by the generous contributions of the Summit Fund of Washington and The Spring Creek Foundation.

Wood Salvage Job-training Program

We established a Wood Salvage job-training program for public housing residents, in partnership with the DC Housing Authority and the resident-established business development organization “Just You Wait and See.” The salvage took place on the sites of the former Frederick Douglass and Stanton Dwellings, now in the process of becoming the HOPE VI funded Henson Ridge Community.

Deconstruction Job Training Program

The Ivy City / Trinidad Deconstruction job training program trained chronically unemployed men and women in the art of manually dismantling whole buildings in order to sell, reuse, or recycle tons of wood, metal, masonry, and equipment that would otherwise cost $30 to $40 per ton to be land-filled. Several graduates of the training program are now working for or running their own deconstruction and construction related businesses. Contributors to the job training program included the US-EPA, the Citigroup Foundation, and the Arcana Foundation.

Transit Oriented Development

An Outreach coordination project for residents of the Brookland and Fort Totten neighborhoods about the potentials for community improvement inherent in community-sensitive Transit Oriented Development near existing Metro Stations. This work was performed under contract to the Washington Regional Network for Livable Communities.

Community Vision Statement

We conducted a year-and-a-half long community visioning process in the D.C. neighborhoods of Ivy City and Trinidad that led to the establishment of a consensus community vision statement identifying a strong need in those communities for adult education and job-training, and arts and design activities for teens. These efforts were funded by the Sustainable Communities Network, First Union Bank, Citibank, and the US Dept. of Justice Weed and Seed Program.