November 07, 2017

DC Community Carrot expands program and sprouts new leadership

November 07, 2017/ Rachel Maisler

DC Community Carrot just completed a seven-month pilot project to demonstrate the non-profit organization’s ability to help DC’s Out of School Youth to create their own businesses. Following the pilot’s success, the organization named Petworth resident Harry Alford, III, as the interim executive director. DC Community Carrot works with Opportunity Youth to build and run small businesses to carry them out of poverty. Read more about this amazing local non-profit.

February 14, 2017

DC Community Carrot seeks to find and support young adults looking to be entrepreneurs

February 14, 2017/ Adrienne Chu

“Those hustlers you see on the street corner are really frustrated entrepreneurs.”

David Sheon heard his Petworth neighbor Gary Lockhart speak these words after a daytime shooting shook the 8th and Jefferson community last spring. David, an ANC 4D commissioner, helped to organize a community meeting at the Brightwood United Methodist Church, and it was there that he began to see the crime problem in a whole new way.

“It was like a shot through me,” David said, describing the impact of Lockhart’s words to him.

November 11, 2016

A fire destroyed possessions, but a community can help support the family

November 11, 2016/ Drew

On October 31st, Serita Payton was at home with her family at 5002 Illinois Avenue when they smelled smoke. She rushed her kids and her mother outside, and watched helpless as a fire destroyed the home she rented, and killed their two cats which they were unable to rescue. Now her family is living in a hotel as they look to rebuild their possessions, and feel blessed they have each other and that no one was hurt. They need help getting back on their feet and into a home.

July 29, 2016

Jefferson Street block party / youth empowerment program on Saturday

July 29, 2016/ Drew

ANC 4D Commissioners David Sheon and Nancy Roth, along with nearby residents and Pastor Elston from Brightwood Park United Methodist Church, are hosting a block party / potluck on the 800 block of Jefferson Street on Saturday, July 30th from noon to 4pm.

February 27, 2016

Castello Restaurant on Hamilton Street gets its alcohol license, with restrictions

February 27, 2016/ Drew

After its January 6th protest hearing at the Alcohol Beverage Control Board, Castello Restaurant and Lounge finally gets a decision

October 09, 2015

Fighting to clean up vacant properties, one house at a time

October 09, 2015/ Drew

Walk around Petworth and you'll see houses being renovated on block after block, dumpsters parked on the street with duct-taped "no parking" signs on the trees. Inside you'll hear tools and men's voices as walls go up, floors are redone, new landscaping put in.

Walk around Petworth, and you'll see many examples of houses that are sitting untouched and empty, slowly falling apart with trash strewn yards and a construction permit on the window -- with no signs of construction.

Neighbors are fed up with developers buying properties and leaving them to rot while waiting for housing prices to rise. The city loses out on taxes, and everyone loses out when those properties attract rats and illegal activity.

But KSDA and ANC 4D Commissioner David Sheon are working to fix it.

July 06, 2015

Sheon gets safety improvements to Illinois & Georgia Avenues

July 06, 2015/ Drew

When ANC 4D04 Commissioner David Sheon was campaigning as a first-time candidate for ANC last Fall, he spent a lot of time walking from house-to-house in his Single Member District (SMD) asking every person he could find what they would like to see changed in their community.

And like any dedicated community leader, he kept track of the responses. Improving how traffic and speed on Illinois Ave was managed was at the top of the list of concerns.

Read about the concerns, and what DDOT is proposing to do to resolve them: