The newly formed Friends of King Greenleaf Booster Club (KGBC) sponsored a Homecoming 2008 event Saturday, Oct 4, 2008 to kick off the Pop Warner football season at the beautiful Greenleaf Parks and Recreation center, located at First and N Streets SW.   The formation of the Friends of King Greenleaf Booster Club (KGBC) started this summer when a small group of parents from the 75 pound King Greenleaf football squad got together to discuss how they could support their team.  After holding informational meetings with other parents with children involved in sports at King Greenleaf, they realized the interest was there for supporting all the sports programs at the Center.  The mission of KGBC is to advocate, support and provide financial assistance for all King Greenleaf Recreation Center’s athletic and spirit programs.

With a little more than a week’s planning, the parents organized the 2008 King Greenleaf Football Home Coming Event.  It was a well organized  The three Greenleaf teams all were dressed in black and white color uniforms and gear, with matching color shirts worn by coaches, mothers, cheerleaders, and supporters.  The mother’s shirts were personalized on the backs.  e.g. Brandon’s Mom followed with players’ uniform number   The WolfPack logo – a beautiful large graphic design of two black and white wolves’s heads is on the front of the shirts.  The shirts were designed by Tiffany’s Tantalizing Graphic Designs & T-shirts, owned by one of the parents.  The KGBC secretary/treasurer Tia Fossett-Swain is also a professional events planning consultant, whose organization contribution was evident. The interim President is Linda Dean, whose son Brandon ran a touchdown in the first few minutes of his team’s game.

There are three teams in the King Greenleaf Wolfpack squad:  The Mitey-Mites are the youngest football squad weighing no more than 65 pounds. Their record is currently 2-1-2. Their head coach is Coach Greg assisted by Coach Apple and Coach Deno.  The 75 pound squad began the season with the motto “Losers Complain-Winners Train. Their record is 1-2, looking for a “W” going into the Homecoming game.  Their head coach is Tony, assisted by Coach Bruce.  The 90 pound squad has begun the 2008 season with a 3-0 record, with each game a shut-out.  They have not been scored on by their opponents.  Their coaches, Coach Malcolm, Coach Hines, and Coach Greg feel the team is destined to go to Florida this year for the 2008 Pop Warner Championship. There is an average of 25 players on each squad (at least one girl was noticed in uniform).  The teen girls in the cheer leading group that were already a part of the recreation center’s program  quickly adopted the Wolfpack squad, and dressed in spare team football pants with their own white  tee shirts and team football socks.  They performed at the rally and at the homecoming, adding to the overall completeness of the Wolfpack Squad.

A mandatory Parents Meeting was held Wednesday night followed by a pep rally on  Friday night before the Saturday morning Homecoming Celebration at the King Greenleaf Recreation Center.  Approximately 400 parents, children and supporters attended the rally.  On Saturday, after game lunch was provided to all players, courtesy of parents.  Fund raising sales of candy, hot dogs, tee shirts and other items were sold at the event.

While not all of the parent leaders come from the SW community, the majority of the parents and children engaged in the athletic programs live in the King Greenleaf service area.  All live in DC.  The Councilmember, Rick Bardash, co-chair of the Youth Activities Task Force of SWNA, ANC Commissioner Ron McBee, and the King Greenleaf Recreation Center Director, Henry Moton and staff members Ms. Schue, and Ms. Shannon quickly pitched in to support the initiative, motivation and achievement of the parents, friends and families demonstrated by the formation and hard work of the Friends of King Greenleaf Booster Club.

Recently, The Brookings Institute hosted a public seminar on "Poverty Reduction Strategies for the Next Decade" at its offices in Washington, DC.  I attended along with DCHA Family Commissioner Aquarius Gharsi-Van and a few other community oriented residents.

My interest in learning about strategies that might reduce poverty comes from my personal frustrations over my years of professional and personal efforts to  combat the ills that poverty brings to families and communities.

As part of my staff role in Community Relations, I often talk with our residents and work in support of community efforts to cope with the impacts of poverty in our ward.   I struggle to understand how city services, other service resources and public policies combined with community action can undo what looks like a lack of personal responsibility by the individuals who are caught up in poverty.  It is clear that poverty follows when individuals drop out of school, fail to gain living wage employment, have children out of wedlock and engage in crime.  The cycle continues in families with the next generation, though exceptions do occur and some at-risk children and families break out and lead successful lives.  It is not entirely clear why this is true, but it is critical that we continue to try to unlock the answer.

The policy experts at the Brookings event shed some light on this question, and provided some insights on how poverty could be understood partly as a direct outcome of public policies that cause and perpetuate the problems that families in poverty experience.  I believe that a better understanding of poverty can lead us to a better understanding of the forces affecting people in our communities who are living in poverty and suggest some community-based interventions that may be effective in helping families and neighborhoods break the cycles of poverty in the next decade.

Excerpts and summaries of the presentations and papers of various experts that appear to be most useful will appear on this blog over the next few weeks.  The complete papers can be viewed by clicking here.

On October 1, 2008 the Committee on Human Services marked up the Mayor's appointment of Ms. Willa Day Morris, Dr. Eileen Dombo, and Ms. Sharon Cascone as members of the Board of Social Work. The Committee strongly believes that each nominee will bring to their appointment not only a wealth of diverse professional experiences but also a demonstrated commitment to the profession of social work.

The Board of Social Work is responsible for the regulation of the practice of social work in the District of Columbia. The Board fulfills this important function by ensuring the protection of the health, safety, and well-being of the public by setting the standards for qualification, training, and experience for those individuals who desire to become engaged in the professional practice of social work and by promoting high standards of ethical and professional performance for those currently practicing as social workers. The Board has the rulemaking authority to define the scope of social work practice, recommend professional standards and procedures, to license or credential all social work practitioners, to take disciplinary action, as necessary, based on formal complaints, and the authority to implement and monitor continuing education requirements. 

The profession of social work has a profound impact on the wellbeing of the lives of many residents and vulnerable populations in the District who are faced with some of society’s greatest ills. These individuals struggle daily with poverty, substance abuse, domestic violence, generational family dysfunction, sexual abuse, physical abuse, homelessness, mental illness, unemployment, gang violence, and a host of other very real and challenging issues. It is imperative that the Board of Social Work members understand the severity of their mandate in ensuring that residents of the District receive services from social workers who adhere to the highest ethical and professional standards. 

Construction at the old Waterside Mall location continues to progress. We got word of additional demolition about to take place in the parking lots around the Metro entrance. The Metro entrace will remain open and functioning during all of the construction, but some parking and pedestrian access will be closed. Below is the announcement we received (the shaded areas in the image are the areas about to be demolished). Also, check out the live webcam to check on progress anytime.

On or about October 9, 2008, the parking area between the Waterfront/SEU Metro Station escalator and the Bank of America located at Waterfront Station will be closed to vehicles and pedestrians to make way for the demolition and construction of 4th Street, SW.  The Metro station escalators and elevators will not be affected by the change.  Parking for Safeway will continue to be available in the lot adjacent to the Safeway store along M Street.  Please see the diagram below: