Jubilee Housing’s continued push up the long, steep hill toward justice housingTM brought us to new heights over the past three months, as we successfully closed out the new Justice Housing Partners Fund and earned recognition, for several key efforts, from the DC Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), the DC Department of Energy and Environment-Pepco-New Partners Community Solar partnership and NBC 4 Washington, and the Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers (HAND).
We raised $5.37 million for the Justice Housing Partners Fund, enabling Jubilee to purchase 1724 Kalorama Road NW and 1460 Euclid Street NW last year and to contract for two additional properties earlier this year. All told, these four properties will create 120 new deeply affordable homes.
In June, Jubilee received HAND’s Developer of the Year Award at the organization’s annual meeting and housing expo, where I had the chance to share on the luncheon panel about Jubilee’s innovative solutions to the crisis in housing affordability. We were humbled to be included among the accomplished individuals and organizations winning HAND Housing Achievement Awards.
And, after our May opening of the District’s first center to provide power to residents of an affordable housing community in the event of an emergency, we were featured in July in an NBC 4 Washington story about the Maycroft’s resiliency center and community solar program. Not only did the story mention Jubilee’s partnership with the city and Pepco to create environmental justice, it also cited our work to develop deeply affordable homes. Jubilee board member and resident Samuel Buggs shared insights on the invaluable personal benefits of the resiliency center and solar program energy savings.
We’re grateful to the city, Pepco, and New Partners Community Solar for their work with us to ensure that District residents with limited financial resources also benefit from solar energy initiatives.
To top it all off, we had the privilege to partner again with NBC 4 Washington and Pepco for a Backyard Barbecue Weather Report at the Maycroft last week, part of Pepco’s “Summer Weather Customer Education Campaign” to educate Pepco’s customers on ways to stay safe during summer weather.
These important milestones and accomplishments inspire us to keep up the fight for justice housing on behalf of families like former Jubilee resident Samrawit Delelegn and her family. While for some, Jubilee Housing is a high-quality home for a lifetime, for others, such as Delelegn, Jubilee Housing is a stepping stone along the way to a next accomplishment. Delelegn and her husband moved into to a Jubilee property in 2014. Five years later they saved enough money to purchase a three bedroom home in Maryland.
Our residents, our partners, and our community buoy us to forge ahead and reach ever higher. Join us on our journey to achieve a more equitable city!