@thesesweetimperfections - Tumblr Blog

NOV. 27, 2016 Renee Moore presented Washington Area Bicyclist Association’s (WABA), first community outreach workshop about traffic safety at Dorothy I. Height/Benning Neighborhood Library on Sunday. WABA has adopted the safety principles from Vision Zero. Vision Zero, established in 1997, primary goal is to keep pedestrians, bikers, and drivers safe. Another important aspect of Vision Zero is parenting with associations like WABA that educate the community about ensuring traffic safety and limiting untimely deaths. Vision Zero has reported in the last 12 months there three deaths due to distracted driving or intoxicated drivers. Moore revealed those three unfortunate deaths were Margaret “Peggy” Ruth Dickie, Adjoko Lassey and Lorenzo Queen. These three deaths influence why WABA has adopted Vision Zero safety plans. Vision Zero aims to have no deaths due to traffic accidents with bikers or pedestrians. Reene Moore believes her community outreach workshops are important because it educates the community about traffic safety laws. She particularly wanted to focus community outreaches in wards seven and eight. Prior to Sunday, ward seven has not been educated in traffic safety laws from WABA. Moore discusses the possible causes of 75 percent of traffic fatalities involving African-Americans (D.C. Dot Transport). I think [the death rates are] higher for us [blacks] because we tend to live in neighborhoods that use transit more so we tend to be walking more. And drive a little bit less, due to financial reasons, parking. It could be the areas live in. Planners do not come back and look at the areas. Also, we don’t know that we can advocate for changes. Marky Bey out of N.E., uses his bicycle as his main method of transportation. Bey appreciates workshops such as WABA’s emphasis on traffic safety. Bey believes the purpose of the event is to “enlighten the community about what’s going on as far as traffic and bike related [safety].” Bey is concerned about the congestion of vehicles on Benning Road NE and the traffic cautions of having no bike lanes. Raymond Tolson also a Washington native has been riding bicycles since he was 12-years-old. Although Tolson has been riding bikes for years he still has fears of injures from riding in D.C. He recalls, “not [having] enough room between the curb and the cars. And there [being] no designated area to ride the bike.” Tolson believes D.C. should add more bike lanes in areas such as Benning Road NE to ensure the safety of bikers. Moore wants to continue her community outreach workshops. Her upcoming workshop will be held in ward one. She still plans to return to ward seven in the Deanwood area next year to further educate the community about traffic safety.

#renee moore #waba #visionzero #twu #benningroad #ne dc #dc #traffic safety

OCT. 27, 2016 Raleigh Durham International Airport (RDU) tennis hosts a daily after school enrichment programs for elementary schooled children in the Washington, D.C. area. RDU originated in North Carolina but as of March 2015 expanded to the metropolitan area. Since then it has touched many lives of children and parents. The tennis programs include summer camps, daily after school programming, and weekend events at local universities. RDU hosts events at American and Catholic universities and also partners with District of Columbia public schools (DCPS). Ross Elementary school implemented tennis programming in their after-school administration. A large part of RDU tennis is to have the tennis instructors form a strong bond with the children they serve. Richard DeGeneste from S.E. is a lead camp counselor in DCPS after school programming. DeGeneste believes that he made a positive impact in the community. He recalls his relationship with the younger boys prospering. “I really like working with the boys. They started to look up to me as a mentor or male figure. They came out of their shells and really adapted to me and grasped the sport of tennis.” DeGeneste felt flattered that he could “make a positive change in the youth and introduce them into tennis. Before I came in no one could really get thorough to them.” He aspires to develop a relationship with the children. DeGeneste acknowledges that young children, particularly boys, need positive men in their lives. Nicole Williams out of N.W. has been a camp counselor since June. Williams has played tennis since the age of eight and can relate to the children she teaches. Williams enjoys having active parents that participate in the tennis drills. “We like to include the parents in the lesson. I learned that they are very aware if you care about their child’s advancement in tennis. They really pay attention to my coaching skills.” Williams appreciates the parent involvement because it encourages the children to enjoy tennis. “The parents really want to bond with their children and make sure their child is being taught properly,” said Williams. Kim Balbuena in College Park, M.D. recalls a positive change she made in a young girl’s life. As a camp counselor she witnesses many personalities including those who are more reserved. “This one little girl was very reserved and refused to hit the ball. By the third week of working on her tennis skills she began interact with her peers and make contact with the ball.” This made Balbuena feel positive that she made a breakthrough. The girl’s parents “were almost defeated with trying to find a hobby for their daughter, “said Balbuena. Her parents were grateful that their daughter enjoyed the tennis program. Brian Rosenthal is the owner of RDU tennis. Rosenthal saw a need for tennis programming in D.C. after doing extensive online research the fall of 2014. He believes his personal relationship with the facility directors at partnering schools attributed to the success of the programs in D.C. “I felt there were many venues without legitimate programming. There is and was a need for RDUTennis,” he said. Its fall season of tennis programming will conclude toward December and continue in the spring. Rosenthal has future plans of having “12 after-school tennis enrichments by spring 2017.”

Artist and Craftsman Supply store is a pleasant surprise that diversifies the Brentwood community (D.C.) said Darren Soto. Soto, sales associate, believes that this store is unlike other art supply stores because of product variety. On the other hand, other art supply stores have many of the same products but lack variety. “In terms of product, as an arts and craft store I think we do well with exotic paper. The different ranges of paper Mache, our markers, our canvas. I feel overall as an arts supply store even though some of the items I have named are at other places we have a better variety and a better stock,” said Soto. Artist and Craftsman items are also affordable and convenient. In fact, all of the products in the store are discounted. Molly Woods manages the store and advocates for their high quality products because some items they carry are not available at other stores. “We offer supplies for the finer artists. Those hard to find items we carry. [For example,] oil primed linen sold by the yard and we also have high quality oil paints that I haven’t seen in many places in D.C., We have specific art markers for illustrators and we have tons of exotic handmade paper,” said Woods. The customers enjoy their experience at Artist and Craftsman because of the friendly staff and convenience of the location. Cortlin Jackson from the 1300 block Downing St. N.E., appreciates the store because he does not have to travel far from home to gain art supplies for his comics. Jackson creates political comics mostly about the upcoming election and graphic novels in his spare time. This store is an easy place to get his art pencils, sketchbooks, and erasers. Jackson’s customer service was pleasant because of the friendly and dedicated staff. The staff helped him find an item based off his description of it. Jackson said he does not forget the caring nature of the staff. Jackson enjoys shopping here because the workers “know what they are talking about.” He also said the store is a positive addition to the area. “I appreciate a store like this because it brings diversity to the neighborhood. I am tired of seeing the same stores around here. In fact, a lot of my friends are artists and have to travel far ways just to get quality art supplies. So a store like this that’s close is great.”