Building Opportunities, Bridging Communities

Building Bridges 2022 & 2023 Annual Report

Our Mission & Vision

In 2022 and 2023, we continued to amplify our mission and vision for the future – a future in which the residents East of the Anacostia River experience vital, thriving communities characterized by social, cultural, economic and racial equity.

Dear Friends,

At Building Bridges Across the River, our mission is to connect residents East of the Anacostia River with world-class facilities, programs, and services that support their growth and well-being. Through the multi-sector partnerships we foster, we provide community members with access to essential resources they need to thrive. Together with our partners, we are committed to offering programs for economic empowerment, access to health and wellness resources, and platforms that allow community members to share their voices and experiences through the arts.

In 2022, we reopened our campus to full capacity, welcoming thousands of visitors back to THEARC. In 2023, we moved forward with finalizing plans for new home for the Washington School for Girls (THEARC Phase IV), paving the way for new construction on campus. Throughout the year, we continued to provide critical resources, including healthy food, vaccines, COVID tests, and mobile medical consultations, in collaboration with our partners.

Our work is rooted in the needs and aspirations of the community we serve. We continually create avenues for feedback, listening to community members in various settings—whether it’s in a conversation with a parent during camp pickup at THEARC, at an ANC meeting, or in a convening we organized to hear from residents directly. This dedication to community-driven work supports our vision for a future where residents East of the Anacostia River live in vibrant, equitable communities, enriched by social, cultural, economic, and racial justice.

Rahsaan Headshot

Rashaan Bernard
President & CEO
Building Bridges Across the River

Our theory of change identifies 3 areas in which Building Bridges Across the River is uniquely positioned to build a more equitable city:

Arts & Culture

200,000+

engagements (in person and online) for THEARC Theater and iCAN Technical Theater Internship program

Economic Opportunity

300+

job seekers were placed in jobs through our workforce development programming at the Skyland Workforce Center

Health &
Well-being

6,000

pounds of locally grown fruits and vegetables distributed a part of our Building Bridges Farms', CSA program in collaboration with women and BIPOC-owned farms throughout the DMV area

Arts &
Culture

Building Bridges to innovative, homegrown artistic and cultural experiences East of the River.

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THEARC Theater presented robust programming engaging audiences with themes centered around Black History Month and DC’s Black LGBTQIA Pride weekend. Partnerships included: poet and musician O-Slice; Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company; Roll On, a Gospel Musical; Starshine and Clay, a Black Pride Showcase; a Digital library screening of WILD, a film inspired by Maurice Sendak’s classic children’s novel Where the Wild Things Are; Pilot of Possibilities, a youth takeover of our original podcast series Young, Gifted, and Black by creative duo Pour Girls; Soulversations hosted by indie artist Russell Taylor; and STEP presented in partnership with Anacostia Library. 

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The Bridge Park’s 8th and 9th annual Anacostia River Festival hosted a variety of performances by local bands. As part of our work to amplify neighborhood culture, we supported the creative East of the River economy by highlighting Go-Go bands New Impressionz, Sirius Company, and the Experience Band; marching bands, including the Eastern High School Marching Band and the US Navy Band; and singer-songwriters such as DC native Tamika Love Jones. We also supported Ward 8 arts by hosting a Spoken Word to Go-Go competition and filming DC natives’ stories about their neighborhoods as a part of the Anacostia Park Oral History Project.

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iCAN interns were hosted in 2022 and 2023, providing technical support at all Theater events and assisting with 5 key community engagement events.

 

The iCAN interns shared their favorite experiences from the program, highlighting moments of creativity, hands-on learning, and friendly competition:

“My favorite activity was when we got to test out the cameras and take pictures outside, I liked this because it helped me to realize I like doing photography” – iCAN Intern 

“My favorite learning day was when we made two beats and put them up against two other beats, it allowed for plenty of freedom. Another one of my favorite activities is when we had a competition to see who could troubleshoot the soundboard the fastest and most efficiently.” – Ian Williams, iCAN Intern

800

neighbors were engaged by the 11th Street Bridge Park team through programming that celebrated the history, culture, and power of the community, including events like the annual Taste of the Harvest Festival.

Economic
Opportunity

Building Bridges to education pathways, affordable housing, and sustainable employment East of the River.

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The Skyland Workforce Center helped 322 jobseekers obtain employment in 2022 and 2023. We hosted job fairs with Starbucks, USPS, Lidl, Chipotle, DC Central Kitchen, St. James Modern  Carribean, Strip Matter, Flippo Construction, LP Roofing, Doors & Hardware, and District Electrical Services. 

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The Ward 8 Home Buyers Club, an initiative of the 11th Street Bridge Park’s Equitable Development Plan, addresses the priority of home ownership in response to community needs. It removes barriers for families within the Bridge Park's Impact Area and provides financial tools to residents East of the Anacostia River, enabling 150+ Ward 8 residents to become homeowners in 2022 and 2023. (https://buildingbridgesdc.org/11th-street-bridge-park/community-investments/).

$150,000

has been invested to date in sustaining East of the River small businesses through a partnership between the 11th Street Bridge Park and the Anacostia Business Improvement District (BID). In 2023, the Bridge Park team developed a small business preservation program in Historic Anacostia, enabling businesses to enhance their operations with new accounting systems, improved websites, and a stronger online marketing presence.

I have a host of certifications that I acquired while I was incarcerated. However, …once [potential employers] done the background check and they seen that I was incarcerated for drugs, they just said no. So I had one door after another close on me…When I got [to Skyland Workforce Center], … [they] started working with me from day one to polish everything up—how to interview, how to talk, how to present yourself, how to dress. So without Skyland, I would be still out there in the field, looking, bumping into walls, not finding my way. 

Richard Sullivan, Ward 8 resident currently employed as a truck driver

1,000

clients have been placed in jobs as of August 2022, marking a significant milestone for the Skyland Workforce Center.

Health &
Well-being

Building Bridges to a resilient food network and access to urban agriculture education East of the River.

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The Building Bridges Farm Team led a free honey harvest workshop at the farm and walked participants through the steps it takes to get the honey from the hive to the jar. 

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Our C.R.I.S.P., CSA program featured 8 Black-owned businesses (Fight Juice, Kitchen Physician, Green Things Work, Blossom Bakery, Oh Mighty Food, Dreaming Out Loud, BLKFLWRMRKT and Jacki Cans) connecting residents to Black entrepreneurs in our community.

195

pounds of shiitake mushrooms harvested from the logs we inoculated in 2022 and 2023.

7 Farms

We supported a network of seven urban farms in SE D.C., providing fresh and health food to the community.

11,380

pounds of fruits and vegetables harvested in our network of seven urban farms and gardens throughout SE D.C.

2022 & 2023 Highlights & Partnerships

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Partnership is in our DNA

Partnership is in our DNA. We’re grateful to all of partners at THEARC for their continued commitment to communities East of the Anacostia River  READ MORE ABOUT OUR PARTNERS >

A New Home for the Washington School for Girls (THEARC Phase IV)

Access to high-quality educational programs for East of the River residents is a key offering at THEARC. The Washington School for Girls (WSG) was founded with this context in mind. One of THEARC’s founding partners, WSG is an all-scholarship independent Catholic School serving girls in grades 3-8 who come primarily from DC’s Wards 7 and 8. WSG’s mission is to ignite the joyful pursuit of learning and inspire faith-filled lives of purpose, leadership, and service.  

As a founding partner at THEARC campus, WSG is a key partner in the life of THEARC campus. According to the Urban Institute's study of cross utilization at THEARC, students at the Washington School for Girls were the highest cross-utilizers. Thanks to formalized and informal partnerships engendered by the WSG leadership, students at WSG take advantage of the arts, music, dance, health and recreation opportunities provided by the other 13 partners on campus.  

Currently, WSG’s student population is split between 2 campuses. Students in grades 6-8 attend school on THEARC campus, while grades 3-5 attend school at the VIEW campus on Morris Road. To move forward with their academic plans, WSG must build a new home for the school. The Phase IV project will bring the entire 3-8 roster for WSG to THEARC Campus allowing instruction and advancement to take place in one location and give all 140 students the opportunity to enjoy the benefits of the multi-sector collaboration between 14 nonprofit partners in one centralized location. 

Bridge Spot Small Business Pilot

In 2022 we launched two new programs supporting East of the River small businesses: a commissioned mobile small business kiosk featuring Ward 8 entrepreneurs and a Small Business Preservation Pilot providing free technical assistance to Anacostia bricks and mortar establishments.

2022 and 2023 Whacky and Whimsical Tea

We want to thank everyone for supporting the Whacky and Whimsical Tea for THEARC which celebrated the work we are doing East of the River with family friendly 2022 Charlotte’s Web and 2023 Top Gun themed extravaganzas. Special shout out to our Tea Co-Chairs: Diana Allen (2022 Tea Co-Chair); Lucia Cassidy (2022 Tea Co-Chair); Betsy Wright DeLaney (2022 Tea Co-Chair); Johanna Howe (2022 Tea Co-Chair); Julia Ghafouri (2023 Tea Co-Chair); Maureen Shuler (2023 Tea-Co Chair); and Britt Williams (2023 Tea Co-Chair).

2022 and 2023 AfterDark@THEARC

Our AfterDark@THEARC Celebration; We want to thank everyone for supporting the AfterDark @THEARC gala, which celebrated the story of resilience of our community. Special thank you to our 2022 gala chairs: Anne Ashmore-Hudson; Toni Brody; Dibbie Conahan; Kay Kendall; Janet Stone; Karen Thomas; Bruce Thorne; and 2023 gala chairs: Christopher Forte; Adam Johnston; Connor Locke; Brendan Coleman, Colin Coleman, & Skye Stansbury from Walker & Dunlop 

Holiday Walk Bike Distribution

In partnership with Ward 8 community leaders and the local MPD precinct, the 11th Street Bridge Park team distributed over 100 bikes to the Woodland Terrace and Garfield Heights neighborhoods along with 1,500 gifts to kids ages 5-12 for the holiday season. 

 

Donors

Thank you to all of our donors and supporters for continuing to build bridges with us. Your commitment helps to build thriving communities east of the Anacostia River characterized by social, cultural and economic equity.

Building Bridges Across the River (Building Bridges) exists to reduce structural barriers to social and economic mobility to build a more equitable city. Founded in 1997, the organization has created an effective blueprint for equitable development for Washington, DC residents living east of the Anacostia River.  

Building Bridges operates facilities, programs, and key partnerships focused on arts and culture, economic opportunity, and health and well-being. Its Town Hall Education Arts Recreation Campus (THEARC) houses more than a dozen nonprofits in a 203,000 square foot, state-of-the-art campus in DC’s Ward 8. THEARC is the country’s largest multisector social service nonprofit collaboration. Additional Building Bridges projects include the 11th Street Bridge Park, the Skyland Workforce Center, THEARC Theater, and Building Bridges Farms. 

Dear Friends,

At Building Bridges Across the River, we connect residents East of the Anacostia River to world class programs and services. The multi-sector collaboration we facilitate connects community members to the critical resources they need. We will continue to provide resources for economic opportunity, health and well-being, and engagement with arts to our community.

Thanks to our network of deeply engaged givers and public servants, we were able to continue our work during the pandemic, providing critical resources such as vaccines and groceries. We will continue this work because the people in our community deserve the best opportunities to succeed in this continuously shifting environment.

The work we do is deeply needed and as we faced new challenges, formed new partnerships, and began reopening our campuses in 2021, we stayed focused on our vision for the future – a future in which the residents East of the Anacostia River experience vital, thriving communities characterized by social, cultural, economic and racial equity.

Rashaan image

Rashaan Bernard
President 
Building Bridges Across the River