Vol 61 No 7
From Crisis to Community: Inside D.C.’s Collective Stand Against Hunger
Serving Our Community in the DMV
November 27 - December 3, 2025
The Collins D.C. Council Report
ERAP Application Breakdown, Congressional Interference, and a Proposal for Teen Centers
Demand for Food Rises to Critical Levels While Funding Rapidly Decreases
By Dr. Patrise Holden WI Contributing Writer Across the District, food insecurity has soared to levels nonprofit leaders say they have never seen before. This hunger crisis is not confined to one neighborhood or demographic; it stretches across the city. Lines for food assistance in many locations extend out the door, stretching down sidewalks, in some locations, for blocks. Those in need arrive on foot, by bus, in older model cars, and even sleek new luxury vehicles. Many never imagined they’d ever end up here. “Most people in these lines for assistance are working,” said Ashley Domm, chief development officer for Bread for the City. “They’re doing everything right, but it’s still not enough.” While communities of color remain disproportionately affected, to-
HUNGER Page 44
By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
5 Tristan Gardner, 13, an 8th grader at Columbia Heights Educational Campus in Northwest D.C., volunteers with the Hour Generation Foundation at Peppermill Community Center in Hyattsville during its Thanksgiving Grant-ed Meal Giveaway. (Shevry Lassiter/The Washington Informer)
During its Nov. 18 additional legislative meeting, the D.C. Council kept it relatively short with its confirmation of Rachel Pierre as director of the D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS), and the approval of revenue bonds projects for The Field School, Children’s National Medical Center, Early Childhood Academy Public Charter School, and Richard Wright Public Charter School. Other agenda items concerned the jurisdictional transfer of National Park Service land for the construction of the 11th Street Bridge Park, and the approval of a resolution recognizing the
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Rosa Parks’ ‘Quiet Strength’ Echoes 70 Years Later
3 Dr. Rubin Patterson, dean of Howard University’s College of Arts and Sciences, leads a discussion on environmental justice and stewardship with District advocates Kari Fulton, Akiima Price, and the Rev. Dr. Benjamin Chavis Jr., in Northwest, D.C., on Nov. 13. (Jada Ingleton/The Washington Informer)
Civil Rights Advocates, Leaders Honor A Legacy Beyond 1955
By Jada Ingleton WI Content Editor
5 The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority commemorates Rosa Parks Day, reserving a seat for the civil rights icon on each of its buses, in December 2022. (WI File Photo/Ja’Mon Jackson)
Reflecting on the catalyst for civil justice in his life, Frank Smith Jr., founder of the African American Civil War Museum, credits the “quiet strength” of a 42-year-old seamstress on December 1, 1955, when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat and sparked a revolution in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. “Not only did she ignite that fire in
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Environmental Advocates Push Black Youth to Live Green
Howard University Panel Tackles A New Vision for Sustainability, Justice By Jada Ingleton WI Content Editor From threats to eco-friendly policies and protections, to reneges on climate action, the Trump administration has taken a clear stance on the environment that won’t stand
for the District’s green advocates. Howard University’s Gwendolyn S. and Colbert I. King Endowed Chair of Public Policy program, chaired by Marie Johns, presented a two-hour panel on Nov. 13 titled “From Awareness to Action: Building Resilient Com-
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