(Washington, DC) – Former President Jimmy Carter, his wife, Rosalynn, and more than 200 Habitat for Humanity of Washington, DC (DC Habitat) volunteers have gathered in Northeast DC community of Ivy City to kick off the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter Work Project (JRCWP), a week of building, repairing, and rehabilitating homes. DC Habitat is a partner on the Department of Housing and Community Development’s (DHCD) Ivy City Special Demonstration Initiative, a major effort to revitalize this underserved neighborhood.
Volunteers will construct 6 new homes and rehabilitate 6 existing homes over the next week.
“DHCD is proud to be part of the Carter Work Project, where Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter have given their time for 27 years to help raise awareness about the need for affordable housing,” said DHCD Director Leila Finucane Edmonds. “The efforts of the Carters and of the volunteers will have a significant impact on the Ivy City community and the District as a whole.”
The District is one of four host areas for this year’s JRCWP. More than 1,000 volunteers from across the country will build and renovate homes in DC; Annapolis and Baltimore, Maryland; Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota; and Birmingham, Alabama.
“Rosalynn and I are pleased to join Habitat for Humanity volunteers in six communities this year to help raise walls on new homes and improve existing housing,” said President Carter. “More than 75 homeowners will realize new or improved housing conditions as a result of this week.”
DHCD’s Ivy City Special Demonstration Initiative will redevelop 37 vacant properties in the Ivy City neighborhood that will result in 58 new homes. Of those homes, 52 will be affordable housing and 6 will be market rate. DHCD has partnered with three nonprofit developers, DC Habitat, Mi Casa and Manna, Inc., for this project. Eight units have already been completed and are available for sale through Mi Casa. DHCD anticipates that the project, which could potentially double the homeownership rate in Ivy City, will be complete in Spring 2012.
DHCD was awarded $2.8 million from the first round of HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) funding under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, and DHCD used that funding solely for the Ivy City Special Demonstration Initiative. DHCD also received $9.6 million in the second round of NSP funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, of a portion of which will be invested in Ivy City.
Pictured (left to right): Habitat for Humanity Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Reckford, Former President Jimmy Carter, US Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, and Habitat for Humanity of Washington, DC President Kent Adcock.