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Dear Neighbor,
I hope your fall is off to a great start! My team and I have been working full throttle to address the 'perfect storm' of issues making housing in DC more expensive. In this newsletter, I'll share how I'm continuing to fight to prevent families in rapid rehousing from returning to homelessness. And I'll detail new reforms to the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) and my work to keep these balanced to meet the needs of both residents and landlords. There is a lot of exciting work to come on the future of Downtown DC and I'll share my takeaways from a recent roundtable I had with experts. And, last but never least, I'll detail where things stand on my public safety legislation and the work my team and I are doing to make the District safer for everyone. Let's dig in.
Sincerely,
Robert
P.S. This photo is from a school supply drive and cookout that I co-hosted in Anacostia Park with Alpha Phi Alpha, OLA chapter and SEDC Solar to show love to young people in Ward 8 as they headed back to school.
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Taking Action on DC's Housing Crisis | |
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Washington DC is facing a mounting crisis in affordable housing caused by several issues coming together at the same time. I'll briefly explain the situation and share what I'm doing alongside my Council colleagues to make it better.
Non-Payment of Rent
Salaries aren't rising fast enough to keep up with the rising cost of rent and residents are having to stretch every dollar farther. Even people working multiple jobs find themselves living on the razor's edge. Another part of the housing crisis is non-payment of rent, which has surged by over 800%, and an overwhelming number of people are applying for emergency rental assistance to close the gap. The ripple effect we're seeing is that smaller landlords and affordable housing providers are struggling to keep up with building maintenance and paying their mortgages. Nonprofit housing developers are folding, and the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of DC's team testified last week that the District has zero new construction permits in the pipeline for affordable housing.
I am working with residents, landlords, and advocates to focus on solutions that will help stabilize our housing system and ensure residents have access to safe, well-maintained, affordable housing over the long-term.
Rapid Rehousing Failing Families
Adding to the crisis of too many people looking for too little affordable housing is the fact that the mayor is pushing over 2,000 families out of rapid rehousing -- a subsidized housing program that her administration has leaned on heavily to move families out of shelters. As a result, many are at risk of becoming homeless again. During budget season in the spring, I worked with Chairman Mendelson and the Council to prevent families from getting 'exited' from the rapid rehousing program. The mayor's administration pushed back, and so I found a stopgap solution: securing long-term housing vouchers for these displaced families so they won't end up back on the streets. Now, the mayor is saying there is no money for these vouchers even though they were included in the budget and approved by the CFO. If the administration’s budget numbers have changed, families should not be the ones to suffer the consequences. I continue to call on the mayor to show leadership and find a solution for these families. The administration’s current approach to housing and human services is not compassionate, it’s not logical, and it’s certainly not solving problems. If anything, it’s creating more.
ERAP in Need of Reform
This week, the Council unanimously passed an Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) reform bill. I worked with Chairman Mendelson to reform the program to make sure ERAP money goes to the residents most in need, while also ensuring housing providers have the resources to maintain their housing. I'm proud that the bill we passed includes my amendment to ensure residents in dire circumstances can continue to access ERAP and to allow judges to stop evictions where ERAP payments are delayed. But ERAP alone isn’t enough, and it was never meant to carry the entire weight of our housing crisis. I secured $6.7 million in the budget to add to what the mayor proposed for ERAP, but we also need a larger movement to build more housing that low-and-middle-income residents can afford and to preserve what we have left. That is where my focus will be moving forward.
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Envisioning The Future of Downtown DC | |
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On September 24th, I chaired a public roundtable to explore strategies for revitalizing downtown DC. The discussion brought together experts and community leaders to address how we can redevelop downtown in a way that reflects the diversity of our city and meets the needs of the changing market. A key focus of the roundtable was on policies to increase housing—including affordable housing—in downtown DC. By investing in housing, we can create a more vibrant, inclusive downtown community that benefits all residents.
I was grateful to have the insights of expert panelists, including GSA Commissioner of Public Buildings Elliot Doomes; leader and author on the future of work, Dror Poleg; Dr. Fitzroy Lee, DC’s Deputy Chief Financial Officer and Chief Economist; and others. Appropriately for the subject matter, we held the roundtable at The Square, a new food hall located in formerly underutilized office space downtown.
I am still thinking through what we learned from this hearing and our next steps, but some initial takeaways include:
- Downtown DC is never going to be what it was pre-pandemic: the ecosystem of work is changing, and employees are not returning to the office full time
- The District government is too slow and unwieldy to lead the charge on transforming Downtown; we may need to set up an Economic Development Corporation to ensure the vision for a revitalized Downtown happens quickly and smoothly
- We need the federal government to partner with DC on the future of Downtown since so much of the real estate is owned by federal agencies
- Downtown has so much potential to be a hub of music, art, and culture
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Fall Legislative Priorities | |
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As we move toward the end of this Council period in December, I am continuing to push forward on my legislative priorities around housing and public safety.
Housing
- My committee team remains focused on reforming the DC Housing Authority (note our upcoming oversight hearing on October 22!) so it can more effectively meet its mission for residents.
- Putting forward a vision for housing in Downtown DC.
- Working with tenants, homeowners, landlords, and advocates to identify more ways to create and protect existing affordable housing in the District.
Public Safety
- In the past year, I've introduced five bills to respond to and prevent crime, including the Whole Government Response to Crime Act, the Vocational Education for a New Generation Act, the Youth Mentorship Through Community Engagement Act, the Truancy Reduction for Student Success Act, and the Firearm Injury Prevention Amendment Act.
- I am proud that components of my Whole Government Response to Crime Act were included in the Council's major Secure DC crime bill, passed last spring. However, I continue to urge the Council to create a 90-day 911 Improvement Task Force, as our 911 system remains an issue for residents.
- I am also working to advance my Youth Mentorship Through Community Engagement Act. When I asked young people what they need to stay on the right path, they consistently requested more access to good mentors. This week, I held a hearing on the bill, and we heard inspiring and helpful testimony from students and community leaders about why mentoring is such a difference-maker for young people.
- I will continue to push forward my Vocational Education for a New Generation Act and the Truancy Reduction for Student Success Act and will share opportunities for you to testify when these bills receive hearings.
|  | Photo: Hearing from young people and community leaders during the hearing this week on my Youth Mentorship Through Community Engagement Act. | | |
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Your perspective is important in helping to shape our laws. Below are upcoming oversight hearings in my Committee on Housing and I encourage you to sign up to testify and share your experiences with the agencies my committee oversees. You can view all upcoming Council hearings here. To register to testify, click on the hearing link and click the "Register to Testify" button. If you'd rather submit written testimony, click the "Submit Testimony" button.
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Below are various resources that I hope will help solve issues you or your family may be facing. If you are experiencing a housing issue, contact my Housing Committee team by calling (202) 727-8270, or using the contact information in my staff directory, below. For more general constituent issues, feel free to contact anyone on my Personal Office team (see directory, below), or call my office at (202) 724-8174.
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School is back in session! Mark your calendar to keep track of these key dates for the 2025-2026 My School DC lottery.
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October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Did you know that DC provides free breast and cervical cancer screening and diagnostic follow-up for eligible women through Project WISH? For more information about free prevention, screenings, and health services, call Project WISH at (202) 442-9170. Learn more about your treatment options here -- many residents are also eligible to receive treatment through Medicaid.
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Adult Literacy: Know someone who wants to improve their reading and literacy? DC Public Library's Literacy Helpline provides information about available adult literacy education and English as a Second Language programs, and referrals to these programs for walk-in and telephone customers. You can call 202-727-2431 to speak with a staff member who can answer questions, or you can view online directories here.
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For families with kiddos in special ed: DC's Special Ed Hub provides resources, training, and community. Check out their 2024-2025 Training Calendar here.
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Check out the Fatherhood Initiative, which brings DC dads together over Zoom for empowerment and inspiration every Tuesday evening from now through September. Sign up here.
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Did you know that DC's Department of Parks and Recreation gardens host free fresh vegetable giveaways every week? Check out available veggies and pick-up locations here.
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Need to reach me or a member of my team? | |
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My office is available to you. Connect with me and my staff via phone or email. Please call my personal office at (202) 724-8174, or my committee office at (202) 727-8270, or email any of my team members in the staff directory, below.
Your feedback is incredibly valuable! If you have a moment, please take my 3-question constituent survey:
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Robert C. White, Jr. Councilmember, At-Large | Council of the District of Columbia
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