RECIPIENT OF THE DC BLACK MBA ASSOCIATION 2023 LEGACY AWARD
Vol 61 No 1
As Encampment Clearings Continue, One Resident Seeks Peace and Justice
Serving Our Community in the DMV
By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
October 16 - 22, 2025
Capture the Moment Page 35
Witt’s Work to Uplift Southwest Residents, Area through the Business Improvement District
By James Wright WI Staff Writer
This article is part of our 2025 contribution to the D.C. Homeless Crisis Reporting Project in collaboration with other local newsrooms. The collective works have been published at bit.ly/DCHCRP. Since the end of the federal officers surge, local agencies have continued clearings at encampments across the District, all while the Bowser administration encourages former and current occupants to enter public shelters. As officials and advocates prepare for a couple of 5 An encampment in McPherson Square in Northwest, D.C. clearings across Northwest, at least one resident is in 2023. Local agencies are continuing to clear encampments telling The Informer that, even with housing inse- across the District, and the Bowser administration is encouraging former and current occupants to enter public shelters.
ENCAMPMENT Page 44 (WI File Photo/Ja’Mon Jackson)
With Its Own Makerspace, Center City PCS Aims to Take STEAM Instruction to the Next Level
MAKERSPACE Page 22
WITT Page 14
Ward 8 Residents Debate Prospect of Urban Spa on Poplar Point
By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
By Sam P.K. Collins WI Staff Writer
In the more than a decade that she’s been an educator, Britney Ayala has helped young people organize to solve contemporary problems and imagine a world beyond their current environment. That mission continues at Center City Public Charter School (PCS) - NoMa Campus, where, despite students’ enthusiasm for learning, Ayala said she and other teachers at times struggle to convey math and science concepts during in-class activities. That’s why, for Ayala and other teachers at the school’s campuses across the District, the newly launched Makerspace at Center City PCS has the potential to enhance their teaching pedagogy and increase students’ fervor for STEAM (science, technology, engineer-
While Southwest, D.C. is the smallest quadrant in the city, it is also the one that is set to undergo massive change due to plans of political administrations and demographic change taking place in its neighborhoods. However, Andre Witt, the chief operating officer of the Southwest Business Improvement District (BID), is working with his team to see that residents in his jurisdiction are enjoying a good quality of life and go beyond services that other BIDS in the city offer. “There is a lot of diversity in Southwest,” said Witt, 61, to The Informer. “We at the Southwest BID manage 53 areas
5 A Center City Public Charter School (PCS) student holds up a creation as part of the newly launched Makerspace at Center City PCS. (Courtesy Photo)
If all goes to plan, Therme Group will construct and operate a multimillion dollar health oasis that’s promised to revitalize the stretch of land along the Anacostia River known as Poplar Point. While the D.C. government awaits the findings of an environmental assessment, Ward 8 resident and Therme representative Wanda Lockridge continues to promote what she predicts will be an engine of economic development in Ward 8. “For over 30 years, this place has just been deserted, contaminated and
URBAN SPA Page 43
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5 Self-described “Ward 8-atonian” Wanda Lockridge currently serves as Therme Group’s director of community engagement, through which she’s speaking to Ward 8 residents and groups about the development of the urban spa on Poplar Point. (Courtesy Photo)