(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – Mayor Vincent C. Gray, Interim Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development M. Jeffrey Miller, Department of General Services Director Brian Hanlon, and D.C. Office of Planning Director Ellen McCarthy joined with community members today to cut the ribbon on the R.I.S.E. Demonstration Center, formerly the chapel on the St. Elizabeths East Campus in Ward 8. The R.I.S.E. Demonstration Center, a name selected by the community, stands for Relate, Innovate, Stimulate and Elevate (Rela8, Innov8, Stimul8 and Elev8).

The District of Columbia Housing Authority received four proposals to redevelop Park Morton, one of the four properties designated for revitalization under the District of Columbia’s New Communities Initiative, a comprehensive public-private partnership that began in 2005 and aims to address the physical and human architecture of neighborhoods troubled by concentrations of poverty, unemployment, blight, and the deterioration of the housing stock.