Equitable Development Bridges the Economic Divide in Washington D.C. 

到D.C. 当地人, the 阿纳卡斯蒂亚 River represents both a physical and metaphorical dividing line between the city’s haves and have-nots. To the west of the river sits the Capitol Building, 美国政治的中心, surrounded by affluent neighborhoods where less than a quarter of the residents are black, household annual incomes average about $140,000, and around half of the residents are homeowners, despite the high median home price of $777,000. Not surprisingly, unemployment is low in these neighborhoods, as are rates of childhood poverty.

把它和 阿纳卡斯蒂亚 河东边的邻居. 在那里, 92 percent of the residents are black, 年平均收入48美元,000, and less than one-fourth of the residents are homeowners despite a more affordable median home price of $329,500. In 阿纳卡斯蒂亚 and surrounding communities, roughly 16 percent of residents are unemployed, and 50 percent of children live in poverty.

一个非营利组织, Building Bridges Across the River (BBAR), developed a plan to help bridge the divide: an elevated park to connect communities on both sides of the river. The park, scheduled to open in 2025, will serve as a common space for recreation, arts, and culture. 除了连接东方和西方, BBAR’s plan creates opportunities to prevent resident displacement, improve neighborhood conditions and promote resident-owned small businesses.

The $90 million project needed support and 12bet官方 was in a unique position to help from the very beginning. 2017年，该银行做出了一项投资 初始投资 of $25 million in Greater Washington, significantly impacting 阿纳卡斯蒂亚 and other parts of Wards 7 and 8. Of that, $5 million was awarded to support BBAR and a 华盛顿特区.C.-based collaborative of Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFIs) to  support access to capital and technical assistance for minority- and locally-owned small businesses, construction training to local residents for work on the 11^th Street Bridge Park and other forthcoming developments and the preservation of affordable housing with the Douglass Community Land Trust.

“What we have seen time and again is that collaborative partnerships are a really effective way to leverage community investments,Dekonti Mends-Cole说, vice president of global philanthropy at 12bet官方. “这是老套的, 这也是事实, that they can create a sum so much greater than the whole of the parts.”

BBAR had the bank’s backing, but before getting off the ground, they needed community buy-in. 

“Before we engaged an architect, an engineer, or anyone like that to design the 11^th 街桥公园, we spent two years going out and talking to the community,斯科特·克拉兹说, 项目负责人. “We had more than 200 meetings with faith leaders, 社区领袖, local business owners and government officials to make sure we understood the residents’ needs. We wanted to make sure we addressed those needs before we start building instead of trying to insert it later as an afterthought.”

为什么维.C. 为什么是现在??

华盛顿特区.C. is one of the nation’s fastest growing cities, with a population that is increasing by more than a thousand people per month thanks to the city’s bevy of political and professional jobs. As the city has grown, so too has its economic inequality, which breaks down along racial lines.

City newcomers who cannot afford to live west of the river are heading east, bringing with them a wave of gentrification that increased home prices in 阿纳卡斯蒂亚 by 70 percent from 2010 to 2015. 在回应, more than two dozen new real estate developments are slated to come online east of the river in the next few years, raising concerns that residents who have lived in Wards 7 and 8 for generations will be priced out of their homes.

Through intentional and integrated investment, 慈善与政策, 12bet官方 is focused on closing the racial wealth divide today — and for generations to come.

Learn more about how 12bet官方 is expanding economic opportunities for residents of Greater Washington through its commitments to equitable local development.