🎉Happy Birthday to my friend and mentor, Duane Gautier of ARCH Development

Family are the people that love you.

Please join me in wishing a very Happy Birthday to Duane Gautier, President of Ward 8 nonprofit, ARCH Development. Duane has been a pivotal force in the revitalization of Historic Anacostia by supporting Anacostia’s art and small business community and providing learning opportunities for Ward 8 youth via the ARCH Training Center (now the Anacostia Arts Center).

It takes a village, and I am happy and proud that Duane is part of that village. He doesn’t like publicizing what he does, feeling that service is one of those things best done quietly, but for those of us who have worked with him, he does deserve the honor of acknowledgment. Many people can point to his efforts, support, and resources as the jump start in getting their dreams off the ground, and when the pandemic hit and the Arts Center had to close, he waived the rents of the small businesses located there. It takes a special kind of person to do that, a person who understands the importance of Black and Brown enterprises in a community’s success. He has literally put his money, time, and reputation on the line to advocate for Ward 8 small businesses, artists, creatives, and residents.

Duane not only gave me my first shot as a small business owner, but he always supported my crazy ideas and always had my back when I needed him. When I was going through the peak of my traumatic experience at Building Bridges Across the River at THEARC, he gave me support and the best advice, “Come home.”

If “home” is where you feel safe, valued, and supported, Duane and my family at ARCH will always be that home.

There is so much I could say about this amazing man, but I will start with “Thank You” and “Happy Birthday!”