By Matt Koehler Last month, I spoke to Dianne Lee at The Press about their community initiative of making face shields and two kinds of face masks, and giving them away for free. Since speaking with the part owner and spokesperson, The Press has increased their efforts to produce even more masks and face shields […]
“The Bard” Shelved Amid Financial Uncertainty
By Southwester Staff Along a nearly empty sidewalk adjacent to a closed elementary school, the screen over a chain link fence in Southwest flutters gently in the unseasonably cool spring breeze. It surrounds an empty lot where, were it not for the COVID-19 pandemic, the sounds of children playing might be intermingled with workers shouting […]
Local Community Garden Continues to Grow
By Matt Koehler Every spring, we look forward to the opening of the SW Community Gardens at Lansburgh Park in Southwest DC. For the last several years, during the growing season we’ve been going to Gardens at least once a week to drop off compost (more on that below), plant, weed, do projects (I once […]
The New Southwest Library Takes Shape
By Georgine Wallace At the start of the construction in March, the new Southwest Library was described in a Tweet as designed by Ikea because the first wooden beams resembled a chair more than a building. However, a few short weeks later, the building is starting to take shape. In the included picture you can […]
Piecing Together Care Packages to Stay in Business
By Matthew Koehler “Right away, like most other businesses, I kind of went into panic mode. Like, oh my gosh, how am I going to pay my rent? How am I going to pay my employees? [It] was a day or two of total shock,” Libby Diament, owner of Diament Jewelry, explained to me over […]
Washington Nationals Work to Get Shift Done
By Southwester Staff In late April, Washington Nationals Philanthropies and the Greater Washington Community Foundation announced a new partnership with Get Shift Done to launch the Get Shift Done DMV initiative to coordinate, schedule, and pay adversely affected hourly workers in the hospitality industry to work shifts for local food access providers. Get Shift Done […]
Farmers Market SW Remains Open, with Rules
By Mike Goodman Farmers Market SW is operating under a government issued waiver, and is still operating every Saturday, from April 4 through Nov. 21, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. During the COVID-19 emergency, communities need provisions, and DC has deemed farmers markets as an essential business that can operate so long as they follow […]