“Helping begins with listening. Context is everything. People who experience the problem know best how to solve it. Big problems often have small solutions. And, finally do whatever you can.”
Gloria Steinem
It is my pleasure to welcome you to DCPNI’s website. Here you will discover how we are doing our very best to be a leading force in ending intergenerational poverty in the Kenilworth-Parkside community, in the nation’s capital. As BIG & BOLD as our vision may seem, we are convinced that it is quite possible if we listen and mindfully, creatively, and respectfully, engage our children, families and community in the process of discovering their innate capacity to affect positive change. In order to give rise to lasting outcomes, it is imperative that our families and community ultimately OWN those successes that arise from our work with the community.
Our work, thus far, has been based on a Two Generation Approach – with a focus on the WHOLE FAMILY – in which we strive to support the child and the parents, equally and intentionally, in terms of Education, Health and Safety, Economic Well Being and Social Capital. We also recognize that our families do not function in isolation. There are grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, neighbors, all playing roles in the development of our children here in Kenilworth. Contrary to common stereotypes of absent fathers in marginalized communities, here in Kenilworth, we DO have fathers and men who influence our families. Elders are present, desiring to “roll up their sleeves” and share their life experiences.
In essence, here in Kenilworth we are discovering a community dynamic in which the residents, very organically, are building lasting networks of support and are attempting to reclaim the narrative whose loss has devastated the social, economic, and educational opportunities afforded to Kenilworth’s children. Through Promise Neighborhoods, seeded by the Department of Education, DCPNI has a very unique, important and yes, “sacred” obligation. We are responsible for facilitating engagement strategies that honor the innate resilience and brilliance of our Kenilworth-Parkside children, parents, family members and community; and working with provider partners to implement interventions that will “leave the learning” with the community to sustain lasting opportunities for creating successful children, successful parents, and a strong community – generation to generation. This is a BIG & BOLD vision and this is exactly why we NEED YOU! We need your provocative inquiries and constructive feedback! We hope you will take time to give one hour of your day to come and visit us to learn more about our mission first hand. We need you to dare to “BE the Promise”!
Together we can DO THIS!
Mary Brown,
Executive Director
