July 23 | East River Ward 7 Community Block Party

East River Family Strengthening Collaborative Celebrates 20 Years of Service:

"WARD 7 COMMUNITY BLOCK PARTY"

WASHINGTON, DC - On Saturday, July 23, the Unity Parking Lot on Minnesota Avenue, NE will be transformed into a community village as the East River Family Strengthening Collaborative (ERFSC) stage their 20th Anniversary "Ward 7 Community Block Party." For twenty years, ERFSC, the first of the DC Collaboratives, with a mission of empowering families, youth, seniors and communities to become more self-sufficient, has provided services to at least 3,000 families annually; with a variety of services including case management, housing assistance, parenting, financial literacy, capacity building grants, and much more. The organization has grown from their very humble beginnings with a staff of less than 10 and a budget of less than $100,000 to a staff of 80 plus and a budget close to $8 million, and the Block Party is one in a series of events they are doing this year to celebrate this milestone anniversary. The day expects to bring together over 500 youths, seniors and families along with community leaders for an exciting day of fun, information sharing, food, resources, activities, and entertainment featuring a national recording artist. This year's event is expected to be even more successful than previous ones staged by ERFSC as they are going all out to celebrate 20 years of service.



Popular Hip Hop artist, iHeartMemphis, will headline the Block Party and the DMV's own Rare Essence, Main Girl, Light Show, and others will share the stage. This year's theme is "20 Years of Service: Fulfilling the Dream" and the event will also feature fitness demonstrations, cooking demonstrations, double-dutch and dance competitions, along with many other activities for children and adults.

According to Executive Director of ERFSC, Mae Best, "We are so very happy to be celebrating 20 years, but we are even more excited about serving so many families since our inception. This Block Party is our way of giving back to the community and reinforcing that we are committed to their success as we continue to grow." Leading up to the event, ERFSC will embark on an aggressive community outreach to ensure that all Ward 7 families participate to also get access to more services available to them.

The Ward 7 Community Block Party will take place from 12:00pm to 6:00pm at Unity Parking Lot, 3924 Minnesota Avenue, NE, DC and is free and open to the public. Partners for this event include DC Court Social Services and the Ward 7 & 8 DC Prevention Center.

For more information about the event, please call 202.937.7300 or visit www.erfsc.org.