Local
Mayor joins Whitman-Walker in groundbreaking for new building
Health organization to open largest-ever facility at St. Elizabeth’s East
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and D.C. Council members Trayon White (D-Ward 8) and Vincent Gray (D-Ward 7) joined other city officials and community leaders in a groundbreaking ceremony on July 15 for Whitman-Walker Health’s new healthcare center at the city’s rapidly developing site in Ward 8 known as the St. Elizabeth’s East Campus.
The six-story, 118,000-square-foot building, scheduled to open in the middle of 2023, will be Whitman-Walker’s largest-ever healthcare facility and will expand the health services currently provided in Ward 8 by Whitman-Walker’s Max Robinson Center in nearby Anacostia, according to a Whitman-Walker statement.
“This new health care home will reflect the vibrancy of the community and will give us an opportunity to expand care in ways we have been dreaming of for decades,” said Whitman-Walker CEO Naseema Shafi. “We are humbled to be working with Mayor Bowser and her team on this project,” Shafi told participants in the groundbreaking event.
Whitman-Walker describes itself as a non-profit community health center serving the D.C. metropolitan area with a special expertise in HIV/AIDS healthcare and LGBTQ healthcare. It says it currently provides services and care to more than 20,000 people annually.
In a statement released on the day of the groundbreaking event, Whitman-Walker said the new building will provide, among other services, primary, behavioral, dental, and “substance misuse” treatment services. Shafi said the new facility, similar to Whitman-Walker’s other facilities in Northwest D.C., will provide HIV-related care and care for transgender people and LGBTQ people in general.
According to the statement, the new facility will also include a ground-floor pharmacy and increased care for young people. In addition, it will provide administrative office space for over 100 Whitman-Walker staff, the statement says.
“This expansion will also allow Whitman-Walker to diversify and expand its research portfolio,” said Whitman-Walker spokesperson Jewel Addy. “Whitman-Walker has conducted research since 1987, studying nearly every HIV and Hepatitis C treatment on the market today,” Addy said.
“It’s difficult to say how important Whitman-Walker has been to D.C. residents,” Mayor Bowser told close to 100 people who turned out for the groundbreaking. “You’ve been part of the community for almost 50 years,” the mayor said. “And as you have grown and expanded, you have always prioritized the needs of the community. And because of that, Whitman-Walker has earned the trust of D.C. residents,” she said. “And we can’t wait to welcome you to St. Elizabeth Campus.”
White said he was pleased that Ward 8, which he represents on the D.C. Council, will be the host to the new Whitman-Walker facility. He and Gray, who represents nearby Ward 7, said they were looking forward to the expanded healthcare services the new facility will provide for people in need who live in the eastern section of the city, which historically has been underserved in healthcare.
John Falcicchio, the D.C. Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, told the gathering that the new Whitman-Walker building will be one of several public and commercial buildings and facilities that either have already opened or will soon open at the St. Elizabeth’s East Campus.
He noted that the campus is home to the already operating St. Elizabeth’s East Sports and Entertainment Arena, which is home to the world champion Washington Mystics women’s basketball team. He said the campus will soon become home to a 252-unit housing facility, about 80 new townhomes, a new parking garage, a new city library, and a new hospital.
The Whitman-Walker statement says the D.C. development companies Redbrick LMC and Gragg Cardona Partners are working with Whitman-Walker to arrange for the construction of the new building.
“This groundbreaking represents the beginning of the realization of a bold vision shared by our partners at Whitman-Walker, Gragg Cardona Partners, District leadership and members of the community to build a new engine for economic vitality and quality healthcare,” said Louis Dubin, managing partner at Redbrick LMD.
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Congratulations to Yadiel Meléndez, on their new role as Community Associate, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Meléndez is piloting a new role as a Community Associate at the Wanda Alston Foundation, where they support queer and trans young people in finding their footing, building independence, and experiencing a housing community where they are seen, valued, and affirmed. They are coming into this role with more than a decade of experience as a community organizer and operations specialist, supporting diverse communities through service, advocacy, and program coordination.
Previously they worked for Right Proper Brewing Shaw as a server and bartender and at Sephora, Washington, DC, and at FreshFarm, DC, in bilingual food access. They also worked freelance to build foundational structures for local queer BIPOC performance art coalitions, producing variety shows to curate space for marginalized performance artists in the community. They were a production manager for Haus of Hart Productions, a BIPOC centric performance art production. They also worked as field staff with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Stafford, Va.
Meléndez is bilingual, Spanish and English. Their work is guided by a commitment to dignity, safety, and trauma-informed engagement, particularly within LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.
Congratulations also to Ben Rosen LICSW, on his new role as program director, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Rosen previously worked with Fountain House’s OnRamps program, helping to build a new, innovative outreach program for individuals considered chronically homeless, and living with serious mental illness, in the Times Square area of New York. Rosen is a Psychotherapist, having worked with SG Psychotherapy, and as the psychotherapist with the Nest Community Health Center (URAM).
Rosen has a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Musical Theatre, Minor in Psychology (Cum Laude) from Malloy University Conservatory; and his M.S.W. in Clinical Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups, from The Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, N.Y. He is independently licensed in New York and Washington, D.C.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
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