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From the left: PEPCO Regional President Donna Cooper presents Sustainable Communities award to Penn Branch Public Works Chair Alberta Paul and President Stan Benton.
Penn Branch Community Association was awarded $25,000 to make improvements to 9/11 Memorial Park by Pepco and Sustainable Maryland. This funding is made available through Pepco’s Sustainable Communities Grant program, which provides funding to support open space preservation, improvements to parks and recreation resources, environmental conservation, and innovative community resiliency projects.
Our community association was one of 11 local municipalities, recreational authorities, and nonprofits that were chosen to receive $125,000 in funds from Pepco and Sustainable Maryland to support open space and resiliency projects across the District of Columbia and Maryland.
“These are important and impactful projects that will have sustainable impacts on our communities. We are so fortunate to have the opportunity to support such projects,” said Donna Cooper, Pepco region president. “We are committed to helping our customers and communities achieve our collective climate goals, equitably and inclusively. These grants are one of the many ways we are working to foster a cleaner and safer environment for all.”
Pepco launched the Sustainable Communities Grant program in 2020.
During our December Holiday Gathering, PBCA recognized outstanding examples of community service in our neighborhood. Alberta Paul, received the ‘Penn Brancher of the Year’ Award for her efforts in securing an $25,000 grant from PEPCO and Sustainable Maryland to continue renovations in 9/11 Memorial Park and the ‘Distinguished Community Service’ award was given to outgoing President Stan Benton. Stan will complete his successful two year term as president at the end of January 2023.
Outstanding community service should never be regarded as a thankless task, ‘ said incoming PBCA President Paul Grant as he presented the first award during PBCA’s Annual Holiday Gathering. ‘We must show those who give back that we also know how to say, ‘thank you’.”
‘I am very grateful to my community for recognizing the hard lifting that has been done on their behalf throughout the years,’ said Alberta Paul after receiving her Penn Brancher of the Year award. I’ll continue to do that. Everybody can serve, regardless of what your skillset is. And I encourage you. Step up or step out. Okay. Don’t complain. Please don’t complain. Help us to make this the greatest community in the nation. Not just the district -In the nation.”
In the future, PBCA members will be able to nominate their neighbors who have shown extraordinary community service throughout the year and vote for awardees.
Save the Date! Please join us on Tuesday, December 13th for our December holiday gathering /meeting. The meeting will be held in-person at the Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church (lower level meeting space) from 7:00PM – 9:00PM. This will be our first in-person community meeting
On August 13, 2022, The Penn Branch Community Association will host our annual Penn Branch Community Day, from 11am to 6pm. This year will be extra special because it is our first community day in three years! This event includes
Happy almost Spring, Neighbors. It’s a bit of a difficult time at the moment with the war in Ukraine and lots of global tension in the air. Locally, we also had our fair share of issues with two attempted car-jackings in our community.Locally, we also
It looks as if the smoldering heat of summer is over, and
Executive Board 2020-2022
Stan Benton, President
Stan.Benton@pennbranchdc.org
Sarah Byun, 1st Vice-President
A resident of D.C. for nearly 20 years, I am more certain than ever that our capital is my favorite city in the world. I moved here from Kentucky after college, to complete graduate school (American University) and begin my career on Capitol Hill. While I’m grateful for those years working in the House and Senate, and then lobbying for medical associations, no job has been more fulfilling than parenting my two children. In addition to homeschooling my kids, I also work for an online meal planning company (www.cooksmarts.com), providing marketing and communications support, and managing special projects. My family and I are members of National Community Church. We enjoy walks around the neighborhood, traveling, hosting friends and famil and dog sitting.
VACANT, 2nd Vice-President
VACANT, Treasurer
Erica Nichols, Secretary
I currently reside and work in the Penn Branch Community. I moved to the DMV area from Tampa, FL, Go Buc’s, with my husband Brian Nichols and two dogs Callie and Bo Nichols. I’m a fine arts major with a BFA from the University of North Florida out of Jacksonville, FL and a MA in Fine Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in San Francisco, CA. I’ve been married to my amazing partner and father Brian T. Nichols for 11+ years and we just added an addition to our family last year with our son who is 1, Sterling Silver Nichols. I currently teach at our community school Randle Highlands Elementary as an Art Teacher.
We heard about the great Penn Branch area through a student bike ride I volunteered for in 2015 and fell in love with the neighbors and the beauty of the mature natural landscape. We’ve been residents of Penn Branc
Paul Grant, Communications Director
Paul Grant is a native of South Carolina. He is Chief Creative Officer and Senior Producer at Ascender Communications (dba Ascender Films, Inc), a full-service digital advertising and media production company, based in Washington, DC. He established the firm in 2005 and has 20 years of professional experience producing award-winning advertising and public health campaign messages for non-profit advocacy groups, businesses, and federal agencies. He also produces interactive content, oral histories and factual/exploratory documentaries for museum exhibitions and broadcast media. Paul is a member of the American Advertising Federation (AAF-DC), American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA), Women in Film and Video (WIFV-DC) and the Association of African American Museums (AAM). He studied film-making and graphic design at Virginia Commonwealth University, School of Visual Arts in Richmond, VA. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, collecting and listening to vinyl records, and attempting open-fire cookery. He and his wife Tracey have lived in Penn Branch for 10years.
Naytia Curtis, Parliamentarian
Natiya Curtis grew up in the Eckington neighborhood of DC in the 1990s. She attended Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Spelman College, and Howard University School of Law. After law school she briefly practiced law in Philadelphia, but quickly realized there is no place like home. She is currently employed at the Social Security Administration (SSA) as an attorney. She has been a resident of Penn Branch since 2016. She lives with her husband and two children.
PBCA will host an informal Penn Branch Playdate at the playground so that families with children in the neighborhood can get together. Join us at Pope Branch Park Playground from Date / Time: 2:00pm. –4:00pm Saturday, March 19 (Rain date:
Tonight PBCA will build on recent communty wide conversations about the proposed Phase II development at Penn Branch Shopping Center by discussing community-owned grocery stores. Mike Houston, General Manager, of the Takoma Park-Silver Spring Co-Op is our invited guest speaker for our General
The owner of The Shops at Penn Branch (Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners) recently made public their plans to develop Phase II, an apartment building that will be built over the rear parking lot of the renovated shopping center located