Although I am at home today recovering from a case of "the sickies" I had to take a moment to share this really amazing piece in today's Washington City Paper. Housing Complex reporter Aaron Wiener had some really nice things to say about the ongoing revitalization of the Anacostia neighborhood and the role of the nonprofit I have the pleasure of working with, ARCH Development Corporation. Everyday I think how lucky I am to have the opportunities to do what I do and work with such amazing, talented, and dedicated people. They are a hardworking bunch who really want to see Anacostia with all of it's charm and history succeed.

2012 was a great year for Anacostia and ARCH and I am looking forward to what 2013 has in store!

Go HERE to read the post about Anacostia in this week's WCP coverstory:   Annotated Guide to 2012.



Excerpt:

The biggest party was  Lumen8Anacostia, a three-month-long arts festival that brought people from all over the District to a neighborhood many of them had never visited. During the festival’s second weekend, trapeze artists flew over a crowd of 1,200 at the Cherry Blast party in a vacant old police warehouse. In November, locals, entrepreneurs, and politicos converged on the grand opening of The Hive 2.0, a business incubator on Good Hope Road SE that provides office space to Ward 8 residents trying to get their small companies off the ground. 

The driving force behind both Lumen8 and The Hive, as well as two newish art galleries in the neighborhood, is ARCH Development Corporation, led by longtime Anacostia cheerleader Duane Gautier. A white guy who lives in Virginia, Gautier doesn’t necessarily fit the neighborhood profile, but he’s won over the locals with his 30-year effort to bring new life to Anacostia. ARCH’s mission involves turning Anacostia into an arts destination—it helped lure the H Street Playhouse this summer—and thus bring other amenities to the many vacant storefronts ARCH is renovating with a city grant.