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/ Our River: The Anacostia /
USING NATURE TO HEAL AND EMPOWER COMMUNITIES ALONG OUR RIVER by Bill Matuszeski
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here are a number and provide recreation – a good Akiima Price on the Anacostia of special people example is the City’s plan for Photo: Akiima Price who are workKingman Island developed with ing to make t3he neighborhood participation. At Anacostia Rivthe other end is the confusion er come alive as a place to learn and lack of clear plans for Keabout nature and to use that nilworth Park, where the City learning to serve our neighborDepartment of Environment hoods and communities. Tywants to rebuild the tidal weting life in Anacostia and other lands, the City Department of neighborhoods to the River and Transportation has plans for a its tributaries adds new layers of trail in the same place, the Park activities and learning to tradiService wants to put in a bridge tional communities throughout to the National Arboretum that the watershed. will be big enough to handle One of these people is Akipolice and emergency vehicles, ima Price, who grew up around and upstream citizens want to range of recreation and community service activities. the River in Southeast DC and nearby Prince Georgprotect the long natural vista and the safety of their Since 2018, Akiima has been on contract with es County. She studied communication at the Unichildren practicing with their school team in racing the National Park Foundation to help build Friends versity of Maryland Eastern Shore, and in 1991, afboats. Access options are not always clear and simple. of Anacostia Park, a new group slated to start earter working for the National Park Service out west on Second, the River can play a major role in eduly this year. This group will prioritize not only the Lake Mead, she began thinking about how to use the cation about nature, land use and protection, wildgoals of the National Park Service, it will also embenefits of nature to help people in stressed commulife, and water quality. The schools for younger stupower stressed residents to inform projects and pronities. This led her to work in the 90’s for the Earth dents seem to have found a number of groups to grams. Friends of AnacosConservation Corps, Anacostia Watershed Society, tia Park will not only add to and other organizations working to improve the Anthe other organizations that acostia. She even spent a spell in New York City in make up APACC; it will as2006 working on restoration issues. sure that the efforts in and When she came back to the area, she began along the River are not simworking with social service organizations, connectply for the partners and the ing them with environmental groups working to imRiver, but benefit the people prove the Anacostia. Early on she met Brenda Richliving nearby in every way. ardson, President of Chozen Consulting LLC, and There are a number of was impressed. “Brenda was an inspiration, a modways that Akiima’s talents el of caring about social and environmental issues tomight be useful. First, there gether for what I call ‘trauma-informed environmenare always proposed improvetalism.’ She has a gift for engaging people with the ments to access and use of the River, parks and trails east of the River as a natural lands along the River and its resource they can use for healing.” And both womwaters. Some are well thought en have joined forces with APACC (Anacostia Parks out and support the goals to and Community Collaboration) to help achieve these Winter Along an Anacostia Trail. use the River and its lands to Photo: Bill Matuszeski goals by getting folks out and along the River for a broaden public knowledge
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