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Washington nonprofit chases ‘dream’ of headquarters building

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Holly Tonini/For the Observer-Reporter

In this file photo, Aaron Miller stands in one of the rooms inside the building that will be used as a headquarters for the Dreamers Co.

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Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter

Holly Tonini/Observer-Reporter

Plans for a rooftop garden and patio are in the works for the Dreamers Co. building, shown in this file photo.

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Holly Tonini/For the Observer-Reporter

This file photo shows a soon-to-be multipurpose room inside the Dreamers Co. building on North Franklin Street in Washington and an enclosed outdoor courtyard will be available for meetings and classes once construction is complete.

The Dreamers Company, which partnered with other community groups and activists to clean up the Seventh and Eighth Ward playgrounds, plans to apply for Local Share Account funds to renovate a vacant Washington building into a community center.

Life Church purchased the former Immaculate Conception Church convent at 130 North Franklin St. last fall, with the intent to make the Dreamers Company its main tenant, according to Aaron Miller, an assistant pastor at the church and director for the Dreamers. They’ve already begun renovating.

“We’re really excited about it,” Miller said. “The LSA funds would be for renovation and brick-and-mortar-type things to enhance programming.”

He said the building, built in the early 1960s, is about 15,000 square feet, which will give the community group room to run its Play Washington program, which involves work being done at the city’s playgrounds and parks, as well as its Block by Block Home Repair program, operated in conjunction with the city’s Community Development Corp.

The plan is to have an outdoor courtyard space for youth activities, as well as a kitchen, reception area, offices and a rooftop garden and patio.

“We want to keep it green, but also want to be able to use it for multiple purposes,” Miller said. “We’d like to bring the initiatives that we have and enhance our work in the community.”

While Miller said the Dreamers have not decided on an amount of LSA funds to request, he asked the city council for a letter of support, which the city agreed to Thursday. The deadline for the LSA applications is Oct. 3.

Until the building is completed, the Dreamers, which began as a partnership among Life Church, Washington Alliance Church and Church of the Covenant, will continue working out of Life Church, Miller said.

The Dreamers organized a “stakeholders” meeting earlier this month to discuss improvements to the Seventh Ward playground, which was closed in July under a nuisance ordinance due to neighborhood children allegedly wrecking the equipment and trashing the property.

The meeting included several organizations, Washington police Chief Robert Wilson, Councilman Matthew Staniszewski, representatives of Washington School District and community activists.

Out of that meeting came an idea for a “We Care” program, which would “create a network of community members who would represent a common set of values that would act as a group who could bring a sense of care and accountability to our community, in particularly the areas where our playgrounds are,” Miller said.

Members of the “We Care” program would hypothetically have a sticker or plaque in their yard, letting community members in need know that they are people who are safe to talk to and want to help.

“There’s a lot of legwork that needs to go into solidifying the program,” Miller said.

Councilwoman Monda Williams asked during a council meeting Monday that the program have a “strong component for an engagement of youth.”

After-school programs at the playground were also discussed, as well as creating a network of volunteers to help run them.

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