In keeping with the spirit of President Obama’s national call for service on this day of commemoration in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, the Hyattsville Community Development Corporation (CDC) is proud to announce its participation in the 2011 Christmas in April event.  The Hyattsville CDC has partnered with Christmas in April in the past, to the benefit of our community, and is pleased and eager to do so again. The Christmas in April organization identifies low income and physically challenged residents or senior citizens in need of assistance with repairing and maintaining their homes and connects them with a team of volunteers: so that at the end of the day, the homeowners may live in warmth, safety, and independence.  The Hyattsville CDC is joining with Christmas in April * Prince George's County to assist a senior resident of Hyattsville and her disabled daughter to repair and adapt their home to meet the needs of her daughter, a recent amputee. 

We are seeking both skilled and unskilled volunteers for the build day, Saturday, April 30, 2011 for a day long commitment.  If you are interested in volunteering with us, please call 301 779-1426, or send us an email at eisenberg@hyattsvillecdc.org and please let us know that you can help out your neighbor. Prior to the build day we can especially use the guidance and advice of an architect, in order to improve the home’s accessibility; as well as the consultation of a plumber and an electrician.

This is a wonderful program that we are proud to support and we always have a good time, so we hope you will come out and join us.  If you are unable to attend or commit to the build day, but want to support our endeavor in other ways, such as a monetary or material donation or providing drinks or food for our volunteers on build day, we would gladly welcome the assistance.

Joining us for this Christmas in April event is one way, and a great one at that, for the Hyattsville community to respond to the President’s call to action. Thanks for your thoughtful consideration.

The City of Hyattsville’s Community Legacy Planning team lead by Hyattsville CDC and the City of Hyattsville’s Office of Community Development; and featuring ACP Visioning & Planning delivered the 2010 Hyattsville Community Legacy Revitalization and Strategic Plan to the Mayor and City Council on the evening of November 15th.  The completion of the Legacy Plan is the culmination of a ten month long community wide effort beginning last February with a series of stakeholder meetings and assessment discussions. The Council may take up a discussion to adopt the Plan as soon as December 6th.

The community's participation in the City’s Visioning and Planning process was a critical component in the substance and development of the plans.  The final document is available here.  Additionally the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) Analysis of current conditions is available here.  Please give us your feedback.

From time to time questions and dialogue about the Arcade renovation project at 4318 Gallatin Street, right next door to the Municipal Building, hit this listserv. Hyattsville CDC has been working with the City to develop this building for a variety of community-oriented uses and purposes.

Thus far this City-owned building has been undergoing rehabilitation in phases tied to the availability of limited external funding sources and it is now undergoing the 4^th phase of its reconstruction: Façade Improvements. Earlier phases include Limited Demolition & Environmental Remediation; Roof Replacement; and Floor Replacements. Many, but not all of the building’s uses have been planned for to date. You can find further information here.  

Please be advised that last Monday evening, the City Council authorized Staff and the Hyattsville CDC to schedule a meeting to discuss the project and consider the final planned uses and programming for the Arcade at 4318 Gallatin Street.   This programming exercise is necessary before we proceed with final architecture and engineering design, prior to submitting the drawings for permit review.

We are tentatively planning the meeting for the evening of Wednesday, December 8^th at 7:30 p.m, at City Hall: 4310 Gallatin Street.  I am hopeful that you all will be able to attend this meeting.  The meeting will be for Residents, the City Council, City Staff, the Planning Committee, the Hyattsville CDC and any other interested parties: all are welcome to attend.  We will provide additional meeting details early next week.