CERT. Washington, D.C. Get involved in your community. January 2024

Serve DC Headquarters 2235 Shannon Place SE Suite 3040 Washington, DC 20020 (202) 727-7925 communityaffairs.dc.gov/servedc Instagram: @ServeDC X: @ServeDC Linkedin: Mayor's Office on Volunteerism and Partnerships Muriel Bowser Mayor Jackie Reyes-Yanes Director, Mayor's Office on Community Affairs Jermaine Dillon Director, Serve DC Michellay Atieku Deputy Director of Partnerships and Engagement Adam Lattimore National Service Director  TeCora Estes  Interim Public Information Officer Rold Louis Head of Donations and Partnerships  Lavita Anthony  Special Assistant  TeCora Estes Grants Management Specialist  Marian Hancock Grants Management Specialist  Trevor Schmutz Grants Management Specialist  Frances Whalen Community Outreach Specialist  Travaughn Kinney Emergency Preparedness Specialist  Sheika Reid  Outreach and Special Initiatives Specialist  Letter from the Mayor Letter from the Director Hello Service Ambassadors,   Throughout January, Serve DC has served our residents through public service in the community!  The month began with Serve DC leading the charge of volunteerism by partnering with DPR and Events DC to kick off the 10th anniversary of the Fresh Start 5K race.  On January 13th, Serve DC hosted our Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Day of Action at Arthur Capper Recreation Center. With the help of more than 100 volunteers, we packed over 100 boxes of food and delivered over 200 senior care kits to the Arthur Capper Senior facility. This event was made possible with the partnership of US Hunger, FEMS, Kaiser Permanente, and Albertson by way of the Department of Health. Our National Service Director, Adam Lattimore, also attended our grantee City Year's MLK Day of Service at Ketchum Elementary School in honor of MLK Day of Service. Each year, City Year honors the legacy of Dr. King by organizing one of Washington, DC's most significant community-wide days of service for volunteers across the community.  In support of Mayor Muriel Bowser's downtown initiative, Serve DC attended the launch of the new Gallery Place/Chinatown Task Force. This Task Force will develop a vision and recommendations for future uses of the two-block District parcel encompassing Capital One Arena and Gallery Place. January has also been busy for CERT members in the community! For the past three years, CERT courses have taken place at the Fauntery Community Enrichment Center for their Ready in Ward 7 program series—the presentations about Emergency Preparedness and workforce development skills to be successful in the Emergency Preparedness field. Frances Whalen, Serve DC's very own CERT specialist, recently presented a Stop the Bleed demonstration at the Fannie Mae headquarters with local outreach partners, including MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Howard University Hospital, Inova Fairfax, and UM Capital Region Medical. On Friday, January 19th, CERTs supported Mayor Bowser's call to assist residents during the Water Boil Advisory in Wards 3 & 4 by passing out water cases at Catholic University. Yicheng Ren, a member of our SDC CERT team and a 2022 Mid-Fall Cohort graduate, took CERT to help others be prepared in cases of emergency. He has continued his service, supporting the team with hands-on support in our office and volunteering at our programs. We wish him the best as he returns home to China.  To close out the month, Mayor Bowser recently put out the call for our #DCSnowheroes program; Serve DC was able to deploy our 200+ volunteers, including Mute the Violence DC, & DC Bulls, CERT, and other community organizations and constituents who signed up to become a #DCSnowHero. Our Snow Heroes provided shoveling services to over 300+ Senior residents in the district.  We look forward to sharing fantastic stories in next month's newsletter, cheers to public service! In partnership and collaboration,  Jermaine Dillon   Director  MLK Day of Action On January 15th, we held our MLK Day of Action in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Our volunteers packaged meals and put together senior go kits, to give to our Ward 8 residents at Arthur Capper Senior Center. Attendees also had the opportunity to learn Hands on Heart CPR and receive their vaccines and health screenings!  CERT Member Highlight Yicheng Ren, who is a member of our SDC CERT team, and a graduate of Mid- Fall 2022 Cohort took CERT to help others be prepared in cases of emergency. He has continued his service supporting the team with hands-on support in our office and volunteering at our programs. Be Downtown DC Serve DC supported Mayor Bowser at the launch of the new Gallery Place/Chinatown Task Force. This Task Force will develop a vision and recommendations for potential future uses of the two-block District parcel encompassing Capital One Arena and Gallery Place. City Year MLK Day of Service Our National Service Director Adam Lattimore attended our grantee City Year's MLK Day of Service at Ketchum Elementary School. Each year, City Year honors the legacy of Dr. King by organizing one of Washington DC’s largest community-wide day of service for volunteers across the community. Mayor Bowser's DC Snow Heroes On behalf of Mayor Bowser, our 200+ volunteers, including Mute the Violence DC, & DC Bulls, CERT, and other community organizations and constituents who signed up to become a #DCSnowHero, were able to provide shoveling services to over 300+ Senior residents in the District. If you would like to become a #DCsnowhero, signup at: http://www.servedc.galaxydigital.com   Ready in Ward 7 Series at the Faunteroy Center Our CERT program manager Frances Whalen has been partnering with the Fauntery Center, giving presentations about Emergency Preparedness and workforce development skills and ways to be successful in the field. Serve DC has partnered with The Faunteroy Center on this series for the last three years. We are excited for our 2024 Spring Cohort registration! Stay tuned for upcoming dates for our spring cohorts.   Stop the Bleed Demonstrations Serve DC attended the Fannie Mae HQ in downtown DC with some of our local & regional hospital outreach partners: MedStar Washington Hospital Center, Howard University Hospital, Inova Fairfax and UM Capital Region medical to give stop the Bleed demonstrations. CERT Water Boil Advisory Deployment Serve DC CERT along with our Mayor's Office on Community Relations was recently deployed for the boil water distribution at Catholic University, to support Mayor Bowser with aiding residents with cases of water until the advisory had been lifted. Ballou Senior Service Day Serve DC welcomed Ballou Senior High School students to our agency for their Senior Service Day! We would like to thank Mr. Larson, and his team over at DC Public Schools & Ballou Senior High for allowing us the opportunity to host the students. Volunteer to become a DC Snow Hero! Winter is near, and we need YOU! Sign up today, to help make sure your neighborhood is safe this Winter! Visit us at: https://servedc.galaxydigital.com/snow-team/ for more information on registering.  STAY CONNECTED:     Questions? Contact Us :             This message has been sent by the District of Columbia · Washington, D.C. 20004