OCC Volunteers Help Improve Transitional Housing In Northeast DC during NeighborWorks® Week Event

WASHINGTON—Comptroller of the Currency John C. Dugan led OCC volunteers Saturday in preparing transitional housing units for families participating in a Northeast Washington D.C. housing program.

Employees from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and their families worked alongside community residents to spruce up apartments, owned and operated by the Marshall Heights Community Development Organization, Inc., as part of NeighborWorks® Week 2006.

During the event, Comptroller Dugan praised the Marshall Heights Community Development Organization for 27 years of dedicated service resulting in hundreds of homes for families in need, tens of thousands of square feet of warehouse and industrial space to provide employment, and hundreds of thousands of square feet of retail and office space to make the community more vibrant.

"The people here at Marshall Heights have achieved great things the old fashioned way," the Comptroller said. "You’ve done it with hard work and personal commitment. You’ve done it with a stable, caring, charismatic leadership, genuinely reflective of the whole community."

"The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is especially proud of the fruitful and innovative partnerships that have been established with the national banks we supervise—partnerships that have generated millions of dollars in equity financing to support so many of your projects," Comptroller Dugan said.

The Marshall Heights Community Development Organization’s Transitional Housing Program combines affordable housing and human service programs for families who are homeless, at risk of becoming homeless, working toward self sufficiency, or who need support not ordinarily available through conventional, market-rate housing.

National NeighborWorks'® Week is an annual, national observance sponsored by NeighborWorks® America (NWA), a national network of more than 245 local community organizations, that brings together residents, business leaders, financial institutions, government officials and volunteers in support of community revitalization projects undertaken by local organizations. The Comptroller as well as the Secretary of Department of Housing and Urban Development and other federal regulatory agency leaders serves on NWA’s board of directors.

Related Links

• John C. Dugan
• Comptroller Dugan's Remarks (PDF)
• OCC Community Affairs