Columbia Heights Village Together Celebrates End of Summer Programs with Award Ceremony, Cookout

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Clark Realty Capital, Columbia Heights Village Together, Inc. (CHVT), Whaler's Creation, and community members celebrated the end of Columbia Heights Village Togethers' summer youth programs today with an award ceremony followed by a cookout in the courtyard of Columbia Heights Village Apartments. The children who participated in the programs provided entertainment for the event by presenting a play about Eleanor Roosevelt and performing individual acts of singing, dancing, and acting for their guests. Youth Program Director Jackie Britt and Youth Program Assistant Julius Nichols presented summer program participants with certificates of completion and achievement awards.

Calvin Woodland, a representative of D.C. Councilman Jim Graham, also spoke at the awards ceremony. "Events like this prove it doesn't matter where you come from, because these talented children will go wherever they want and become whatever they choose," Woodland said.

The free summer programs are among many that CHVT has created to help the youth of Columbia Heights Village succeed in school and in life. Domoniquie Ginyard, who participated in the summer employment program for the last three years, worked in the Columbia Heights rental office this summer. "The people I worked with for the past three summers are my true family," Ginyard said. "Without them I wouldn't have graduated high school and I would not be going to college today."

This summer, CHVT offered three programs: a summer camp for 30 children age six to 12, the Summer Feeding Program, and a Youth Employment Program for teens age 13 to 18. The Summer Feeding Program served 120 catered meals, courtesy of City Lights catering, to neighborhood children everyday throughout the summer and the Youth Employment Program placed 23 teens in summer jobs. Many of the teens worked in the maintenance office, Village Day Care Center, Change All Souls Development Corporation office, and Columbia Heights rental office. In the six-week summer camp, children participated in arts and crafts, math class, visits to the library, swimming, basketball, and other games. Every Friday, the programs took trips together to New York City's Coney Island, Splash Down Water Park, Union Station, the Air and Space Museum, Sandy Point Beach, and the 911 Call Center.

The CHVT summer programs were made possible by grants and/or services provided by the following organizations: Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham, the Mayor's Office of Latino Affairs, Columbia Heights/Shaw Family Support Collaborative, Columbia Heights Village Apartments Tenants Association, Change All Souls Housing Corporation, Latin American Youth Center, Department of Employment Services, State Education Office, Clark Realty Capital, LLC, Clark Realty Management, WHALER's Creation, City Lights Catering, and Ms. Yvonne Brockenberry.

Whaler's Creation, a non-profit organization that helps children in foster care, group homes, and orphanages, taught children history lessons in this year's summer programs. The play about Eleanor Roosevelt was performed under the direction of Whaler's Creation CEO La'Toria Hickmon-Kern.

CHVT is a non-profit organization established to provide social services to the more than 850 residents of Columbia Heights Village Apartments, an affordable housing community in northwest Washington, D.C. The organization's mission is to work with residents, local organizations, and other partners to empower residents and help improve their individual, family, and community quality of life. To learn more about CHVT programs or to volunteer at Columbia Heights, call Amanda Hursen at 202-234-1478.

A partnership between Clark Realty Capital, Change All Souls Housing Corporation (CASHC), CHV Tenants Association, D.C. Housing Finance Agency (HFA), and Fannie Mae successfully rehabilitated Columbia Heights Village last year. Clark and CASHC have invested more than $10 million in the substantial renovation. The partnership has also invested time and resources to provide social services to this community.

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