Left to right: Jeff Lesk, Genevieve Fugere Hulick and Herb Stevens.

Genevieve Fugere Hulick is currently the chief of staff for Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto. She was previously executive director at New Partners Community Solar, an organization that focuses on bringing the economic benefits of clean energy to low-income District residents. She and her husband, Stephen Hulick, are monthly donors to Jubilee Housing. They live in DC with their two children.

Tristan Dewar – We reached out because you’ve had a relationship with Jubilee Housing for a while now and we really appreciate the work you’ve done with New Partners Community Solar during the construction of the Maycroft Apartments. Could you talk about your work with New Partners and its connection to affordable housing? 

Genevieve Fugere Hulick – I first became familiar with Jubilee Housing through a family friend, Jubilee Housing’s Vice President of External Affairs Marty Mellett. I was familiar with the wonderful work Jubilee does through Marty, but hadn’t gotten a chance to work formally with Jubilee until I joined New Partners Community Solar in September of 2017. 

There, I got to work with New Partners’ founders, Herb Stevens and Jeff Lesk, and they were working with Jubilee as development was underway on the now completed Maycroft. New Partners had developed the first community solar project in DC that same year in 2017, when Herb and Jeff placed a solar array on the rooftop of the law offices of Nixon Peabody, where they were partners. The DC government then started its Solar for All program, which was modeled in significant part on New Partners’ demonstration project, and we were happy to connect with Jubilee regarding the Solar For All project and its implementation at the Maycroft. 

TD – That’s awesome how it worked out. Could you tell us more about Solar for All? 

GFH – Solar For All is a DC program that focuses on bringing the financial benefits of solar renewable energy to residents who could most use the savings. The mission of New Partners is to use that program as a catalyst to bring solar energy and its benefits to folks across the city who would otherwise not be able to participate due to financial constraints, and especially those who live in affordable housing. New Partners now produces and distributes 100% of the economic benefits of clean, renewable energy from solar arrays throughout the District of Columbia to more than 200 low-income families, offsetting over 450 tons of carbon emissions.

We were excited when we heard about the Maycroft project that was pretty much shovel-ready. It was an opportunity where New Partners could do something really creative. 

That meant not only installing solar panels on the roof, but having them be a resource in times of crisis. If the electricity goes out in a storm or as we saw in California with rolling blackouts, storing energy from the solar panels in high-capacity batteries provides a back-up support system for residents. That back-up support could be for the refrigeration of medication, or as a power source to charge cell phones, or used to operate medical equipment such as ventilators.

We were so thrilled to be able to partner with Jubilee on that project, bringing this incredible resource to residents at the Maycroft. We were able to bring on Pepco to help with coordinating and financing the first battery-powered resiliency center in the District at the Maycroft. We were really thrilled to do that with an organization like Jubilee that has such an incredible mission centered on justice housing and supporting low-income residents. It really resonated with New Partners and our mission to pass the energy savings on to DC families who need them most.

TD – What an incredible way to promote equity! 

GFH – Yes! We felt like the work sits at the intersection of affordable housing, economic justice and environmental justice. We understand with urgency these days how, increasingly, these systemic issues must be tackled in tandem. They’re not individualized issues, right? They’re problems that have broad impacts across all parts of our society. The people who stand to be impacted the most because of climate change and the resulting economic deprivation must be included in this push for equity. 

TD – Absolutely. That’s an amazing, tangible benefit for our community members, and an exciting feature at the Maycroft Apartments. Thanks for all your work on that! It really helped draw greater attention to what we’re doing with justice housing, which you mentioned earlier is in large part why you’ve continued to support us. 

Is there anyone in your life who helped inspire you to become an advocate for climate justice and affordable housing? 

GFH – There are two groups of people – I’ll first mention Herb Stevens and Jeff Lesk again, the founders of New Partners Community Solar. They are now retired partners at Nixon Peabody, and their decision to use their gifts, resources and talent to launch New Partners Community Solar is so inspiring. They brought together various groups, from lenders and commercial bankers to lawyers doing pro bono work, and really wanted to be sure what they were doing was meaningful and impactful for the community. 

It’s not often you see law partners start a nonprofit organization with such an incredible mission, and so I think I’ve always been inspired by them and their drive to, like I said, use their talents and their treasure to affect positive social change.  

Also, of course, my mom, Patty Fugere – she is one of the founders of the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless, so she of course has had a tremendous impact on my life. And again, she uses her talents and resources to make sure that everyone has a safe and affordable place to live. 

That ties in perfectly with Jubilee’s mission in justice housing. It’s not just enough to get somebody into an apartment, but to also have those wrap-around services and supports, whether that’s job training, access to a grocery store or tutoring for your kids. It’s important that there’s community built around that housing, and that’s something that my mom certainly instilled in me. 

I think that’s incredibly important and special, and that’s why our family collectively chooses to support Jubilee each month in a small way.  

TD – It’s bigger than you know, definitely. I think I may have shared over email how monthly donors are incredibly important to Jubilee and other organizations like ours because we’re so dependent upon contributed revenue. Gifts like yours help us project a more accurate budget, which is really useful in gauging capacity for long-term projects. 

We’re deeply grateful for your monthly support, especially in light of everything that has happened over the last year. Thank you for stepping up and being there for our community during an incredibly difficult time. 

You have these wonderful people in your life you mentioned – your mom, your former colleagues at New Partners. You said before that this tradition of service and the idea behind justice housing were instilled in you from early on – how has that informed your work with Councilmember Pinto and your work with the DC Council? 

GFH – Councilmember Pinto has some top priorities, and one of her top priorities is affordable housing and moving our neighbors who are experiencing homelessness into housing and providing them with support. When I decided to join her team, that was an important part of our conversation on how I would spend my time working in her office and how I could best support her constituents in Ward 2 who are experiencing homelessness.  

Sometimes we have the tendency to view people through a singular lens, and it’s really important to realize that even if somebody is experiencing homelessness, that’s not their sole identity – it’s a temporary condition that we can change. DC’s government has resources that can be directed through the budget process to support those neighbors. That’s incredibly important, and that’s why Councilmember Pinto has made significant asks of the mayor and her budget for permanent supportive housing vouchers and the Housing Production Trust Fund, which I know Jubilee leverages in part to create their housing continuum. 

So knowing that this was an important policy objective of Councilmember Pinto was one of the motivating factors for me in joining her team and being able to use the mantle of the DC Council office to help support her agenda around affordable housing and our neighbors experiencing homelessness. 

TD – We’re really glad that we have representation on the council that is prioritizing the needs of long-time community members and not simply new residents who can bolster the tax base, so that’s really heartening to hear.  

How can organizations like Jubilee Housing support you and Councilmember Pinto’s constituents in Ward 2? Is there any advice you would give to DC residents who are interested in advocating for the expansion and preservation of affordable housing?  

GFH – Absolutely! This is something that Councilmember Pinto stresses in her interactions with residents, but also imparts to her staff: it’s so important to have community input present in the decisions that are being made by the council or by the mayor. We can’t move forward without that input, so we need that meaningful input from the community. It’s not something where we just check a box and say we met with constituents. 

These decisions will be made one way or the other, so it’s important for the community, residents and organizations like Jubilee to reach out to the council. Also, please remember that you have at-large councilmembers. You have Jubilee’s Ward 1 representative, Councilmember Nadeau, but you have at-large councilmembers that also represent you, so it’s important that your voice is heard by all of those representatives and their offices as well. Make your policy priorities known!

I think building coalitions can also be particularly important. The Way Home DC is an organization that is very helpful in identifying different budget items that are important to alleviating homelessness and ensuring that there’s funding for affordable housing. It’s an outgrowth of Miriam’s Kitchen’s advocacy and policy work, and so building coalitions of organizations is also really important. 

But of course, reach out to your councilmember, whether through social media, email or call us and leave a message if we miss you. Hopefully we’ll all be back in the office one day and we look forward to having visitors down at the Wilson Building again soon. 

TD – Jubilee has always been very engaged with The Coalition for Nonprofit Housing & Economic Development’s Advocacy Day. Many of our community members always look forward to participating because they really value speaking to their representatives. So yes, definitely, every single voice counts, every single voice matters, and I’m happy to hear that the councilmembers feel the same. 

GFH – We take all of that input into consideration, so it’s important that we hear from you no matter how you choose to engage with the DC Council’s offices. Always leave that voicemail message because we check all of them!