Central American Resource Center's Capital Campaign

Building a Permanent Home for CARECEN and Members of the Community

CARECEN is working on a capital campaign to raise one million dollars to pay for its offices in a vacant property located at 1460 Columbia Road, NW. The property was acquired in 2001 through the DC Department of Housing and Community Development's Homestead Program.  CARECEN has proposed to renovate the building as a mixed development project to include the offices and nine apartment units to be sold to low to moderate income DC residents.

The successful completion of the capital campaign and renovations to this mixed-use facility will allow the organization to achieve its dual goals of providing long-term stability for its programs and services and preserving safe and affordable housing for low-income Latino residents of the Columbia Heights and Mt. Pleasant neighborhoods.

CARECEN's clients and potential owners of the condominium units have been directly involved in this initiative from the beginning.  CARECEN joined with the former residents of the 1460 Columbia Road, NW building and created the Monsignor Oscar A. Romero Tenants Association.

Together, CARECEN and the association submitted an application to the DC Department of Housing and Community Development's Homestead Program, and secured the building with a $7,000 payment.  CARECEN has led the negotiation of the design, construction, and financing of the project.

The Organization will develop a community resource center, which will be modeled on the Latin American concept of the "Casa Comunal," providing much-needed space for citizenship classes, legal and social services, leadership development initiatives, community celebrations, and cultural preservation activities.

The total cost of the development project - including building acquisition, construction and rehabilitation of the nine apartment units and the CARECEN community resource center - is stimated at $1.97 million. The Bank of America and the Hope Development Fund of the National Council of La Raza will provide construction loans, which will be paid with the proceeds from apartment sales and money raised through CARECEN's capital campaign for the renovation of CARECEN's office space.  The project's development team members include Mobius Design, Architect, DEKO Construction, Contractor, and other Financial and construction consultants.  The National Council of La Raza and Mi Casa have provided technical support throughout the initiative.

To date, CARECEN has secured $272,200, which is 27.2% of its $1 million capital campaign goal.  One early fundraising success was the receipt of a Homestead Housing Preservation Award to which CARECEN added a public Welfare Foundation grant of $50,000.  In June 2001, the Eugene and Agnes Meyer Foundation committed $100,000 to the campaign in addition to their program grant.  The Citicorp and Philip Gfaham Foundations made grants in July 2001.  The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation has provided funds to buy equipment for the new building.  In addition, individual and staff/board donations to date total $6,000 and CARECEN has given $15,000 of its own resources for the purchase of the building and the launch of the capital campaign.

Would you like to contribute to the Capital Campaign? yes, please go to the membership page or call 202-328-9799.