Resident Services Now Valued as Essential Element in Successful Affordable Housing Development

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For many years, Jubilee Housing has combined supportive services as part of how it manages its deeply affordable housing portfolio.  However, while affordable housing is the most critical building block for a stable life, housing by itself is not enough. And for the first time, DC’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) is recognizing that fact.

After many years of advocacy, Jubilee was excited to see in July that one of the primary funders of affordable housing in the city, DHCD, amended their central housing financing tool to prioritize affordable housing that also includes a resident services plan. For the first time, affordable housing developers like Jubilee can improve their chance for funding based on how many, and how well they deliver, services to their residents.

Platform of Hope (POH) participants creating family vision boards. POH is one of the partner organizations that Jubilee works with to provide services to residents.

On an annual basis, DHCD releases a notice of funding availability (NOFA) to build or preserve different levels of affordable housing throughout the city.  The NOFA released in July 2019 has added a new category, which prioritizes projects that include a resident services plan. This new prioritization affirms what Jubilee has known for a long time – affordable housing that combines effective resident services will create conditions for residents being able to reach their full potential.

For years, Jubilee has provided resident support services on-site or in partnership with other neighborhood non-profits. For example, what we consider our “Newborn to College and Career Pathway ” spans early childhood learning centers at Jubilee Jumpstart & Martha’s Table, Youth Services provided through Jubilee Housing, tutoring from For Love of Children (FLOC) and arts enrichment from Sitar, and Jubilee Housing’s own teen programming preparing older students for college and career. And over the years, we’ve seen many children growing up in Jubilee Housing succeed and go to college as the first one in their family, often using a Jubilee to College scholarship, or working with Jubilee Jobs to get their first employment opportunity.

Because Jubilee Housing has witnessed the success of this model, it has advocated at a city-wide level that the public financing of affordable housing should prioritize the combination of housing and resident services. Through its leadership at the Coalition for Non-profit Housing and Economic Development (CNHED) and at a number legislative hearing opportunities, Jubilee Housing has shared its successful model and advocated for a housing policy that promotes justice.

Jubilee Housing believes that DC can be a place where every resident has an equal opportunity to thrive. But the residents of affordable housing developments, often the lowest-income residents of DC, often have the biggest barriers to reaching their potential. Safe, stable, and affordable housing removes one of those barriers. But to create a truly even playing field for all DC residents, those in affordable housing often need more support to reach their dreams. Combining affordable housing with services, in thriving neighborhoods that offer opportunity, creates justice. This is justice housing.

Jubilee applauds this new direction of DHCD. Our city is recognized nationally as a leader in affordable housing, spending more per capita on affordable housing preservation and development than any other city in the country. If we can continue to advocate for the city to embrace the principles of justice housing in its policy decisions, we can truly create a city where every resident has an equal opportunity

By: Martin Mellett, Jubilee Housing, Vice President of External Affairs

A Farewell to Summer at Jubilee

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Jubilee Housing’s Youth Services wrapped up their six week summer programming in July. During those six weeks, Jubilee’s Early Start (ES) campers and Activity Zone (AZ) campers went on swimming trips, canoed along the river, learned to cook nutritious meals, and made arts and crafts, just to name a few things.

Audrey Walker, Director of Youth Services, with the help of her team, ensured that along with providing the campers with recreational activities, they were also exposed to a program that included academic enrichment.

Walker said, “The curriculums we used this summer were Space Ranger (STEAM), Second Step, a social-emotional curriculum, Civic and Social Engagement, and Literacy.”

As part of their civic and social engagement, campers participated in social-learning projects.

Early Start campers chose to support the homeless through their project. From the beginning, campers led their service-learning project; they chose what organizations to work with and even which shelter to direct their donations.

Kaitlin Very, Early Start Coordinator, said, “They really were involved in every step of the process.”

Campers made flyers to advertise their donation drive and held a popsicle stand, to raise funds. All donations and proceeds from the stand were donated to Christ House, a nonprofit residential medical facility for homeless individuals.

With the slogan “We Need a Solution for Water Pollution,” Activity Zone campers addressed water pollution in our community. Just like Early Start campers, Activity Zone campers were involved in every step of their service-learning project.

Emmanuel Gbajobi, Activity Zone Coordinator, said, “[…] one pointer I took from why they chose water pollution was based on their own knowledge of the harmful waste that continues to contaminate our waters.” 

Campers raised $160 from selling handcrafted bracelets and pins. All proceeds were donated directly to the nonprofit 4oceans.

Throughout the summer programing, Activity Zone campers also attended weekly swimming lessons at American University and free-swim at Banneker Pool.

Jumoke Patterson, Activity Zone Associate, said, “Learning to swim is an essential life skill that [campers] can and will take with them into adulthood.” These lessons were to prepare campers for their much awaited field trip: a canoe trip in the Shenandoah Valley! The trip has become more than just a tradition for campers and staff, it has become more of a “rite of passage,” said Patterson.

The trip allows the campers to get out of the city and experience the true beauty of nature. Patterson said, “Canoeing on the open flat water surrounded by trees, blues skies, Great Blue herons, turtles, and fish can’t be replaced in the memory bank.”

As for the future of Jubilee’s summer programming, “I envision Jubilee’s summer camp creating and developing additional partnerships that will support program goals and objectives. We want to provide the youth with the learning and tools that hopefully will spark interest in STEAM related careers,” said Walker.

By Sahara Bulls
Jubilee Staff Member

Back to School Store

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As the summer winds down, parents and students start to turn their attention to the first day of school. Back to School season can be a time of great excitement as kids look forward to meeting their new classmates, seeing old friends, and getting to know their new teachers. This time can also be a time of anxiety for low-income families. Having to purchase book bags and other school supplies can be a heavy lift when money is already stretched thin.

In order to help combat this issue Jubilee Housing hosts an annual Back to School Store for students living in the Jubilee community. Supplies at the Back to School Store are deeply discounted and affordable to families so students are prepared for the upcoming school year and can focus on their studies.

Jubilee’s Back to School Store was created ten years ago in response to the needs of our residents. It is one of the ways we offer onsite services so that families living in Jubilee Housing have access to much needed resources that are well within their budgets. Every year the Back to School Store helps 50-100 school aged children living in Jubilee Housing.

This year the Back to School Store will take place on August 10th. We are still collecting in-kind supply purchases and donations. You can give a child everything they need for back to school, a high quality book-bag filled with grade appropriate supplies for just $53. You can also help purchase pencils, binders, and other supplies through our Amazon wish-list.

If you’d like to support the Back to School Store, please click here.

Jubilee Youth Services Learns to Code

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While Jubilee Housing Director of Youth Services, Audrey Walker, was shopping at Pentagon City Mall, she stopped in the Microsoft store and sparked up a conversation with the community director about Jubilee Youth Services’ (JYS) focus on STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics) as an educational approach for our youth programming. The community director extended an invitation to JYS Activity Zone students to attend a coding class at the Microsoft store.

On March 28, JYS staff and students loaded into the van and drove to the Microsoft Store in Pentagon City. Once at the Microsoft studio, students were greeted with an interactive screen and lite snacks. During the class students learned about different coding languages, created video game characters, and game backgrounds from Microsoft Surface pads.

During the break, kids had a chance to interact with robots and use past generations of Microsoft computers. Microsoft staff also had conversations with the students about the importance of technology and their interests in coding.

Access to technology and coding classes is important for school-age children, as it can improve math and problem solving skills, foster creativity, and can strengthen verbal and written skills.

“It was a great opportunity to introduce the youth to new resources and STEAM opportunities. This will spark an interest in STEAM professions later on in life,” said Walker.

This is just the beginning of a long partnership between Microsoft and Jubilee Youth Services. There are classes planned throughout the summer including computer basics, entrepreneur training, and HTML coding classes.

Books, Boats, and Backpacks: Summer at Jubilee Youth Services

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Whether it’s through reading books, paddling down the Shenandoah River, or shopping for school supplies,  Jubilee Youth Services (JYS) summer program is filled with opportunities for kids to have fun while fighting summer learning loss.

“Summer learning loss is one of the most significant causes of achievement gap between many lower income youth and their higher income counterparts,” said Sylvia Stokes, vice president of programs at Jubilee Housing. “Our six-week summer program is designed to help students have active, enjoyable, enriching summers, where they are exposed to new opportunities that stem this summer learning loss. Because of our summer programs, many of our youth end the summer with no learning loss and are ready to begin the school year with academic tools to keep achieving.”

Stokes says that one of the most effective ways to prevent a decline in reading achievement from spring to fall is simple: reading. JYS’s summer program makes sure students have literacy support each day, whether it’s through silent reading, book clubs, or reading circles.

But learning extends far beyond traditional classroom activities. Exploring the world outside of the neighborhood provides natural learning and enrichment opportunities for students. One example of this is the JYS Swim and Canoe Program. For over two decades, local architect and nature enthusiast Dickson Carroll has volunteered his time to teach a group of Jubilee Housing kids how to swim and canoe.

This summer, over 20 students participated in the program, which included eight one hour swimming lessons, a one hour canoe lesson on the Potomac River, and a daylong canoe trip down the Shenandoah River. Most of these students didn’t know how to swim or canoe before the start of the summer, yet they felt confident in their newfound abilities by the end of the program.

“I love watching the kids adjust to the pace of the river by the end of the Shenandoah trip,” said one of the volunteer, noting their fearlessness in playing in the rapids, their curiosity in learning about the wildlife, and their calm while paddling out the last leg of the river as indicators of the program’s success.

Finally, no summer at JYS would be complete without making sure students have all the school supplies necessary for the classroom. Each year, Jubilee Housing joins forces with the Jubilee Support Alliance to create a Back to School Store, where children and parents can “shop” for backpacks and other school supplies necessary for learning. This year, dozens of supporters donated time and money to make sure over 70 Jubilee Housing students could shop at the store.

As JYS students head back to school in the coming weeks, they won’t struggle with summer learning loss like many of their low-income peers. Because of their exposure to books, boats, and backpacks at JYS summer camp, they will have the academic tools they need to keep achieving.

Capital Area Food Bank Awards Partner Garden Grant to Jubilee Youth Services

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Our Activity Zone students are excited to expand their rooftop garden this spring! They were recently selected for the Capital Area Food Bank 2016 Partner Garden Grant. The partnership will add two new raised garden beds to the rooftop, garden training for staff and volunteers, and an opportunity for students to plant and grow fresh fruit and vegetables. The classes will be coupled with nutrition education and environmental science lessons. Congratulations, Activity Zone!