Press Release: Bread for the City’s $26 Million Expansion Project on Good Hope Road Nears Completion

News Release — Bread for the City

JULY 2, 2020 – For IMMEDIATE RELEASE                        

BFC Contact:

Ashley Domm

Head of Development & Chief Development Officer

New Southeast Center, Built in Collaboration with Black-Owned Businesses, to Expand Essential Services and Open a Medical Clinic in the Midst of the COVID-19 Outbreak

WASHINGTON, DC — Bread for the City (BFC) is in the final stretch of a $26M campaign to build a new, 27,650 square foot comprehensive service center at 1700 Good Hope Road SE. Construction began in January 2019 and is on track to be completed this summer. BFC is proud to work with DC based, Black-owned businesses like Michael Marshall Design and Compass Design and Development to execute this project.

As an organization, BFC has been on the front lines in the fight to end poverty in the District of Columbia for more than 45 years. This is their most substantial investment to date in the families and communities east of the Anacostia River, where 92% of the population is Black (compared to 46% of the population of the District).

“This summer we’re finishing our dream of opening a comprehensive Southeast Center, heralding a new age for Good Hope Road,” says George A Jones, Bread for the City CEO. “We consider this massive undertaking essential to our commitment to supporting Black Washingtonians, and to dismantling systems that keep them as second-class citizens in their own country.”

Once fully open, BFC’s new Southeast Center will serve 20,000 clients through 75,000 visits. The new facility will bring BFC’s primary medical, dental and vision care services east of the Anacostia River for the first time in the organization’s history. The building will include a Jobs Center to allow for expansion of BFC’s successful Pre-Employment Program, install a community fitness center with locker rooms and showers, and create space to grow all other existing programs: food and clothing distribution, comprehensive social services, legal advice and representation, and community organizing and advocacy.

This couldn’t come at a better time. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, BFC served about 32,000 DC residents each year, across all their facilities. Now, they are seeing more than a 400% increase in need. Overcrowding at their existing Southeast Center forced BFC to limit the hours and growth of their work. With more space and brand-new facilities, BFC will be able to offer their substantial wrap-around programs in an atmosphere of dignity and respect.

At a time when Black-owned businesses are suffering disproportionally under the COVID-19 restrictions, BFC is proud to have collaborated on this project with several Black-owned companies. Michael Marshall Design, led by Michael Marshall, was the architect. “As a catalyst for development along Good Hope Road, MMD’s design conveys, through built form, the mission and vision of BFC,” says Michael Marshall. Patrick Cooper, Principal at Compass Design and Development served as the project manager, guiding project development teams through design, permitting and construction processes with careful attention to detail and thoughtful shepherding of budgeting and scheduling objectives.

To learn more about Bread for the City and the new center on Good Hope Road, go to https://breadforthecity.org/goodhope/.

####