repost from Washington City Paper’s Housing Complex by Lydia DePillis…
Homeless Veteran Resource Center Coming to Rhode Island Avenue NE
Posted by Lydia DePillis on Feb. 17, 2012 at 7:13 am
Revitalization? Maybe. As buzz gets louder along Rhode Island Avenue NE, the neglected commercial corridor has picked up some new enterprises: A marijuana supply store, a chocolate emporium, and now a one-stop-shop for homeless veterans.
Read the whole article HERE.
rhodeislandavene.com 
Do you know anything about the small building (formerly Enterprise car rental) adjacent to that building? It looks like they’ve been doing work there. Will that be part of the One-Stop building, or something else?
I assumed that was part of the Veteran’s resource center, but I don’t actually know for sure.
It’s really hard to be excited about this. I know it’s a feel-good story, and I should be happy it’s opening, but would we be excited if it was just called a “homeless” resource center? Take out the “veteran” and I think we might be singing a different tune.
How will this affect the impression of the street as a whole? I look at this as comparable to the family resource center or whatever it’s actually called (across from the Bank of America between 11th and 12 on RI). Would you want to invest and open a business next to a place that has lines of welfare recipients standing outside at 7am? I’m not sure the clients of this facility are going to be overly supportive of the local businesses or would be seen as great ambassadors of the neighborhood.
I’ll take the good with the bad, and I’m happy that these vets will have a nice facility to help them out. But the part of me wishes that something could have gone in that place to benefit a larger group of the population.
I share Ene’s hesitation and reluctant enthusiasm. This resource center is coming and we need to accept it as one of the many layers of the corridor.
With that being said, I’m against an over-saturation of any one type of business, whether it’s liquor stores, check-cashing stores or social service agencies. Adams Morgan has Christ House and Columbia Road Services, but also a lot of other great businesses. Hopefully we can have a diversity of businesses along RIA and hopefully residents and groups like FoRIA can engage with the new resource center so that it can be a strong partner in the corridor’s revitalization, much in the way that Art Enables has been doing.