Dear Neighbors,

As we gather to share Thanksgiving meals with loved ones, I want to take a moment to wish each of you and your families a happy Thanksgiving! In my family every year, we go around the table and each share one thing we’re thankful for. This year I’m especially grateful for our DC government workers, who work hard to keep our city running and get our community the resources we need. Thank you to the wonderful staff at our COVID Centers, the DPW workers who are up early serving our communities, our dedicated educators and staff in DC schools, the committed employees at DACL and other agencies that support our seniors, and every other DC government and federal worker for all that you do.

Here are a few quick updates that may be helpful to you over the holiday weekend:

Government services. We have modified government services over Thanksgiving week. All household trash and recycling collections scheduled for Thursday, November 24 and Friday, November 25 will slide to Saturday, November 26. Meanwhile, leaf collection is continuing with DPW crews still working to collect leaves in Area B the rest of this week. Benning Road Transfer Station will be closed on Thursday and Friday for residential drop-off, but it will be open on Saturday for household hazardous waste. DCPS schools are closed Wednesday through Friday. DMV and DC Public Library locations are closed Thursday and Friday but resume regular hours on Saturday. Additionally, DC’s COVID Centers and Monkeypox Walk-In Clinics will be closed today and resume regular hours on Friday. DPR outdoor parks, playgrounds, athletic courts, and fields will be open today, but DPR indoor recreation centers and aquatic centers are closed. Finally, WMATA is running MetroBus and MetroRail on a Sunday schedule today but resuming a regular schedule on Friday.

Events in our Ward 4 community. There’s a quite a bit going on in Ward 4 over the holiday weekend! Neighbors in Crestwood are celebrating Thanksgiving with their annual Turkey Trot. In Takoma, ANC 4B Commissioners Palmer and Yeats are hosting a clean up with neighbors around Takoma Elementary. One of the best Thanksgiving traditions in Ward 4 is the free annual sit-down Thanksgiving Day Dinner hosted by CEASE FIRE…Don’t Smoke the Brothers and Sisters, in conjunction with Universal Madness, today from 3pm-7pm at 4708 14th Street NW. A great meal will be prepared by Chef Moe of Highlands Café & Grill for all who wish to join. And that’s not all. Our Roosevelt High School football team will be competing against Dunbar in the Turkey Bowl at Eastern High School today at 11am! And on Saturday, after clinching the Gravy Bowl last weekend, the Coolidge Colts will take on Maret this Saturday, November 26 at 4pm at Georgetown University’s Cooper Field for the Class A DCSAA Championship! Other events to look forward to include the holiday celebration at the Parks at Walter Reed and the Miracle on Upshur Street event in Petworth on Saturday, December 3.

A big leap forward for a Green New Deal for Housing. Despite it taking place just two days before Thanksgiving, more than 150 residents signed up to speak at a Council hearing on my bill to create social housing in DC. Social housing is District-owned, mixed-income, sustainable, public transit–oriented housing. Because social housing is publicly owned, all surplus rent goes into lowering rent for tenants and keeping units permanently affordable or deeply affordable in our communities. I feel overwhelmed with gratitude for everyone who made time to testify at the hearing. We had an incredible diversity of speakers that included native DC residents, immigrant street vendors, tenants, housing organizers, climate activists, seniors, young people, labor unions, ANC Commissioners, and many other community leaders supporting this bill and offering great recommendations on how to strengthen it. DC residents know how critical it is to confront our housing crisis and our climate crisis. If you want to weigh in on the bill, send written testimony to housing@dccouncil.gov by Friday, December 2. Make your voice heard!

Over the last few days, so many neighbors stepped up to support our community with giveaways, celebrations, and feasts to ensure that everyone enjoys a warm meal and friendly company this Thanksgiving. I want to give a special shoutout to all who joined our Turkey Giveaway at Lamond Rec Center on Saturday with the Lamond Riggs Citizens Association; Saturday’s Turkey Giveaway from the Friends of Emery and the Vernon Davis Foundation; the food box distribution hosted by Shepherd Park Christian Church; the sharing of gift cards, food, and supplies by Ward 4 Mutual Aid; and the holiday meals we shared with seniors and veterans at Abrams Hall and Karin House at the Parks at Walter Reed in partnership with Triden, Hines, Urban Atlantic, Edgewood, Help USA, and SOME. It was Karin House’s first Thanksgiving since the residence opened, so it was special to be there and break bread together. These were just a few of the ways Ward 4 neighbors gave back this season.  I’ll leave you with photo highlights from the events (and Coolidge’s big win) at the end of this update.

In closing, I want to encourage our community to support our Ward 4 businesses for Small Business Saturday and think locally when Giving Tuesday comes around! I’ll be rooting for our Roosevelt Rough Riders today and for our Coolidge Colts on Saturday. And I wish all of you a very joyful and meaningful Thanksgiving!

Yours in Gratitude,
—Janeese