Celebrate Veterans Day with Montgomery County
Remember our veterans on November 11th! Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless (MCCH) serves veterans in both its emergency shelter and permanent supportive housing programs. You can honor Veterans Day by providing a financial donation, donating a meal, or by donating items that our veterans need.
The winter holidays are also approaching and MCCH is working to adjust its holiday gifts and meal donations for clients to ensure the safety of all. If you, your family, or an organized group would like to provide a meal to our shelter or one of our programs for any of the upcoming holidays, please reach out to: volunteer@mcch.net
There’s Still Time! DOEE Offering No-Cost Benchmarking Data Verification
The Department of Energy and Environment is still accepting applications for its no-cost benchmarking data verification initiative! If you have a building over 50,000 square feet that is currently covered by the District’s benchmarking law, then you are eligible for free data verification. Data verification is a new benchmarking requirement established in the Clean Energy DC Omnibus Act of 2018 and will need to be conducted by a third-party licensed professional in future reporting years. However, DOEE is offering a one-time no-cost data verification for your 2019 benchmarking data. With the upcoming Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS),having accurate and verified benchmarking data is especially crucial, as this data will be used to set the performance standards for the first BEPS cycle starting in 2021, as well as determine which properties fall above or below those standards.
If you are interested in receiving free data verification of your 2019 benchmarking data, you can access the application portal here. In order to receive data verification, you must completely fill out the application, answer all required questions, and provide all requested documents. If you would like to have more than one property verified, you will need to fill out an application for each unique property within the portal.
Is a Public Ally in Your Organization’s Future?
Public Allies is a social justice organization committed to changing the face and practice of leadership by recruiting and training talented young leaders, with a passion for social impact, to create meaningful change in our community. Allies are diverse, equity-centered, innovative problem solvers, dedicated to mobilizing community assets to develop solutions to local challenges. In partnership with nonprofit partners, the organization delivers its nationally recognized, values-driven, results-led apprenticeship to advance our mission to create a just and equitable society and the diverse leadership to sustain it. Public Allies Washington, D.C. is a proud member of the AmeriCorps national service network.
What do Allies Do?
Allies work on capacity-building projects that are likely to have an impact beyond their terms. This can include but is not limited to: recruiting volunteers, building partnerships, expanding outreach, and launching new programs.
What do Allies Learn?
The leadership development program challenges and supports Allies to become leaders who connect across social boundaries, facilitate collaborative action, recognize and mobilize community assets, commit to continuous learning and self development, and are accountable for creating impact. Allies gain a deep knowledge of their community and important skills from local community leaders, practitioners, educators, and residents. They also learn from the diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences of their fellow Allies.
For more details, check out these FAQs or visit the website.
DOEE to Offer No-Cost Data Verification to Property Owners & Managers
Calling all DC Property Owners & Managers! Under the Clean Energy DC Omnibus Act of 2018, your property will be required to obtain third-party verification every 3 years for benchmarking data submitted to the District Department of Energy Environment (DOEE). Given this is a new requirement, DOEE is partnering with the DC Sustainable Energy Utility (DCSEU) to offer a one-time no-cost data verification for your 2019 benchmarking data.
With the upcoming Building Energy Performance Standards, having accurate and verified benchmarking data is crucial, as this data will be used to set the performance standard that this property will be required to meet starting in 2021. In future years, data verification will need to be conducted by a third-party licensed professional, so we highly recommend taking advantage of this no-cost offering.
If you are interested in having your 2019 benchmarking data verified by DOEE or the DCSEU for free, please fill out this interest form. In the interim, you can start gathering information that you will need in order to have your benchmarking data verified (i.e. 2019 utility bills and property use details) and start submitting an application here.
If you have any additional questions about this new requirement or this no-cost offering, please email DOEE directly at info.benchmark@dc.gov.
Todd A. Lee Scholarship Honors Commitment to Affordable Housing and Education
The Todd A. Lee Scholarship commemorates an outstanding District of Columbia legend. Todd A. Lee was the Executive Director and CEO of the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency from 2016 to 2020.
During his lifetime his career focus was on innovation, infrastructure/process, and financing in real estate. He came to DCHFA because he wanted to have an impact in the city through the preservation and construction of affordable and workforce housing in the District of Columbia.
Graduate students that aspire to be future leaders in the field of affordable housing are encouraged to apply by July 31st to be considered for the awarding of the first Todd A. Lee Scholarship.
View eligibility requirements and the application on DCHFA’s website.
Women of Color in Community Development
Women of Color in Community Development (WCCD) was organized in 2008 by founders, Lisa Hall, Susan Jones, Lessie Powell Evans, and Oramenta Newsome to offer a forum where women of color in fields related to community and economic development could be highlighted and celebrated for their professional achievements. In 2018 WCCD obtained its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and established itself officially as a membership association. Prior to 2018, HAND served as the fiscal agent for the organization, providing critical infrastructure in its early years.
Since its inception, WCCD has grown from an informal network to a flourishing membership collective, with over 100 dues-paying members and 400+ women in the broader network, primarily located in the DC metropolitan area. WCCD members enjoy regularly scheduled professional development events, panel discussions, mentoring, networking sessions and social gatherings, which further promote the personal and professional advancement of women of color in the field.
WCCD’s membership represents a wide variety of industry sectors including:
Affordable housing- Economic development
- Real estate finance
- Social services
- Health care
- Entrepreneurship
- Education
To learn more about WCCD and keep up with its activities, visit the website here.
