Ward 7 Residents – Make sure your voice is heard! Please attend the Saturday, May 14 Ward 7 Democrats At-Large & Ward 7 City Council Candidate Forum.
Thanks to all of the merchants who offer discounts to Penn Branch members that present their membership cards:
Your 2015-16 Penn Branch membership card entitles you to discounts at local merchants. We will continue to notify you in newsletters and on this website about participating merchants. You MUST present your current Penn Branch Membership card to qualify for discounts. Please note minimums.
Alpha Custom Cleaners Penn Branch Shopping Center – 10 percent off dry cleaning, tailoring and other services *$10.00 minimum purchase
Beltway Beauty – Penn Branch Shopping Center – 10 percent off any items *$10.00 minimum purchase
Penn Branch Liquors – Penn Branch Shopping Center – 10 percent off any items *$25.00 minimum purchase
Penn Branch Nail Salon – Penn Branch Shopping Center will offer 10 percent off any purchase over $20.00
H & R Block -Pending
Escape the Oval Office located at 1322B, H Street NE, second floor and Urban Grown Veggies are just a few of the businesses owned and operated by Penn Branch residents located in Ward 7. Business owners, friends, relatives, and customers gathered on Saturday, October, 17 at a reception held at the recently opened Escape the Oval Office, which is owned by Ayana Canty and Tim Smith. Attendees welcomed the launch of Urban Grown Veggies by Lisa and Darrell Baker.
Master gardener Lisa Baker, who also launched the You Tube video series Lisa and Bean Stalk, offers consulting services and tips to healthy eating and a sustainable city garden that could reduce your food costs, feed your family, and teach healthy values and gardening skills. 
Escape the Oval Office offers more than some of the ‘escape’ rooms that have been emerging nationwide. In addition to the well-planned escape room, there are class rooms equipped for educational activities. The two floor layout, which is also includes a well-laid out reception room, is perfect for team building and group activities. Attendees included, Ward 7, Councilwoman Yvette Alexander, Penn Branch President, Jimmie Williams, many Penn Branchers and lots of families and children.
The Lloyd D. Smith Foundation is pleased to announce scholarship opportunities for 2015 high school graduates of Ward 7.
Two scholarships will be awarded – applicants must meet all of the eligibility requirements. Applications must be received by the Lloyd D. Smith Foundation by April 16, 2015. To download an application should visit http://www.lloyddsmithfoundation.org or email the Foundation at info@lloyddsmithfoundation
Lloyd D. Smith Foundation
PO Box 10473
Washington, DC 20020-9994
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ABOUT LLOYD SMITH
Lloyd Smith was a long-time Penn Branch resident and husband of Penn Brancher Mary Ann Smith.
Lloyd D. Smith was recognized as a pioneer and leader in housing, community and economic development throughout the Washington Metropolitan area. He also received national and international recognition for his many accomplishments and achievements. During the 1980s and 1990s, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Marshall Heights Community Development Organization (MHCDO). Under his leadership, the organization grew from an annual budget of $115,000 to over $5 million and became known for developing single and multi-family housing and commercial properties, and for managing numerous social service programs. Prior to leading MHCDO, Mr. Smith had 27 years of federal and district government service. Mr. Smith was an organizing director of City First Bank of DC and was a mayoral appointee to the Board of the National Capital Revitalization Corporation. He became Chairman and served as Acting President of both organizations.
Mr. Smith was the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the 1993 Local Minority Business Advocate Award; 1994 Points of Light Foundation Community Leadership Award; the DC Building Industry Association’s Community Service Award; and the Local Minority Business Advocate Award presented at the 8th Annual Salute to Blacks in Business. Mr. Smith was a graduate of the Leadership Washington Class of 1991, a recipient of the 1996 Washingtonian of the Year Award, and was inducted into the District of Columbia Hall of Fame Society in 2002.
Mr. Smith has been featured in several documentaries, and his story has been chronicled in The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. Mr. Smith was instrumental in arranging for former First Lady Barbara Bush and Queen Elizabeth II of England to visit Ward Seven in 1991. President William Jefferson Clinton toured the area in 1993. Mr. Smith had a passion for African-American history and genealogy. He founded The Pearl Coalition, which was formed to commemorate the escape attempt by 77 local slaves in 1848. He also did extensive research on his family ancestry and was compiling his memoirs prior to his death.
Penn Brancher, Mary Ann Smith is a founding member of the Lloyd D. Smith Foundation, and served as chairperson for five years. Recently, she assumed the role of treasurer. Mrs. Smith was married to the late Lloyd D. Smith for 25 years and is a long time resident of Penn Branch. We are proud of his contributions and legacy to the Penn Branch and Ward 7 community.
Penn Branch Resident Pamela D. Bridgewater Toure (July 22, 1969 – Dec. 27, 2014) passed away on December 27, 2014 at the age of 45. 
Pam was an active member of the Penn Branch Citizens Civic Association (PBCCA) and wife of past president, Kweku Toure. Pam produced the Penn Branch newsletter, lead a valuable PBCCA seminar on wills and trusts and senior issues, as well as helped organize host the 2014 community inner dance. Pam never let cancer slow her down.
Pamela was also an activist lawyer and legal scholar specializing in issues related to reproduction, sexuality, identity, poverty and women’s health. As a lawyer, Pamela provided legal defense of reproductive health care clinics, service providers and activists, and also provided pro bono legal service and consultation on matters such as estate planning for poor people and people living with HIV/AIDS, as well as legal services for peace activists and activists within the fair trade and globalization movements. As a professor, she inspired students at Northeastern University’s School of Law and at American University’s Washington College of Law, where she became a tenured law professor by the age of 35. Until illness made continuing at AU impossible, she taught property law, inheritance law, and reproduction and the law.
Pam who took such an active role in some many venues was a friend, advocate and inspiration to many; she will truly be missed.
A memorial services were held at the Woman’s National Democratic Club, located at 1526 New Hampshire Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20036, on Sunday February 1, 2015 ..
You can read Pam’s full obituary at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/washingtonpost/obituary.aspx?pid=173869009#sthash.opDWZ05A.dpuf
More articles about Pamela Bridgewater Toure:
http://kopkind.org/2014/12/31/pamela-bridgewater-toure-july-22-1969-december-27-2014/
http://www.law.wisc.edu/news/Articles/UW_Law_School_mourns_the_loss_of_2015-01-21