CHATHAM COURT RESIDENTS FORM NEW TENANT ASSOCIATION
TO ADDRESS QUALITY OF LIFE ISSUES
Tenants unite in effort to improve conditions in Columbia Road building and adjacent neighborhood.

Residents of the 94-unit Chatham Court Apartments, 1707 Columbia Road, N.W., announced the incorporation of a nonprofit tenants' association organized to represent their interests in the operation of the apartment building and in the surrounding Adams Morgan neighborhood.
The District of Columbia issued a nonprofit corporate charter to the tenants' group on July 8^th.
Kala Ladenheim, Ty Harris, Imani Haidara, and Wallace Dickson residents and the organizing board of directors announced plans to hold a general membership meeting to adopt by-laws and elect a board of directors on Thursday, September 18^th at 7:30pm in the main lobby of the building at a time when most tenants will have returned from summer travels.

The organizers were unanimous in insisting on a "no dues" policy for membership. Every resident over age 16 would be a voting member without payment of any dues. (Please turn to page 2.)

New Resident Manager Acts To Clean Up Chatham Court Entranceways

John Martin to be hosted at reception following September 18^th General Membership Meeting.

Immediately following the business portion of the organizational meeting on September 18th, the Chatham Court Tenant Association will hold a special reception to introduce our new resident manager, John Martin, and his fiancee who moved into the building in mid-August. The meeting and reception will convene promptly at 7:30pm in the lobby at 1707 Columbia Road, N.W. Members are requested
to bring their own chairs for seating.

A Bit Of Chatham Court History ….

The Chatham Court Apartments were designed and built as luxury apartments in 1926 by Harry Wardman, a noted D.C. architect who designed elegant apartments and other buildings through-out downtown Washington in the early part of this century. When Chatham Court was completed, it was sold to Dr. Bliss, a distinguished Washington surgeon.

Today the building remains in the hands of the Bliss family and is managed by William C. Smith Company, Inc., one of D.C.'s premier property management firms.

William C. Smith Co.'s maintenance division leases space in the basement of the Chatham Court building as headquarters for its city-wide building maintenance division.

Please do not park your automobile in their alley spaces during the hours of 6:00 am to 7:00 pm Monday through Saturday.

"Chatam Chat" Newsletter Launched

Association Web Site Planned

Members of the Chatham Court Tenant Association will publish a regular newsletter, commencing with this charter edition, to keep fellow tenants informed on events and issues important to the neighborhood, as well as information of special interest to the tenants.

"Chatham Chat" will be available in hard copy and email editions, as well as Spanish and English language versions. All tenants, will be invited to contribute articles of interest for the publication. A special column will be reserved for articles, poems, and features written by young children in the building.

In addition, the tenants plan to build and maintain a World Wide Web site on the Internet, to provide an interactive online community for Chatham Court tenants connected to the internet at home or work.

The Web site will also offer help and advice to other groups interested in organizing a tenants' association in buildings around the nation.

Tenants See Unity As Path To Cleaner, Safer Neighborhood

According to board member Imani Haidara, the Association will focus initially on urgent concerns of residents such as a safe, clean building and safe,clean streets.

The Association will organize Committees to take action against drug and prostitution markets that have been openly conducting business in broad daylight on streets and sidewalks near the building entrance and in the back alley.

Other committees will be organized to plan efforts to assist elderly or infirm tenants who may need help shopping and with other daily activities.

The CCTA will also organize social activities to provide an environment in which tenants will meet and get to know their neighbors. A building where tenants have established friendships and know their neighbors well is usually a safer community to live in.

A hospitality committee will be formed to greet and assist new move-ins as they enter the building to give them information about association activities and about resources available in the community.

The group will raise funds for association activities by organizing bake sales, yard sales, and other "fundraiser events," according to Imani Haidara.

"This way everyone who lives in the building can participate regardless of their ability to pay," she said.

Upon learning of the organizing efforts being made in their behalf, many tenants expressed enthusiasm and agreed that an association was a "good idea;" and a way to begin improving living conditions in the Adams Morgan area.

New Resident Manager Takes Helm At Chatham Court In August

Showy flowers add color and warmth at entranceway demonstrating John Martin's personal style

The William C. Smith Company Inc. appointed John Martin as Chatham Court's new resident manager August 1 replacing Joanne Patterson, who departed the building in July.

Upon assuming his new position, Martin demonstrated a talent for "hands on" management. With tools in hand, he could be found in early morning hours planting flowers in the front yard and arranging colorful blooming plants at lobby windows a welcome display of care and attention to detail by a resident manager who takes pride in his space.

John Martin was born in the small town of Holly Hill, S.C. in 1948, and attended high school there. After a two-year hitch in the United States Navy, he came to Washington in 1971 enrolling at Blackwell College to study business and real estate management.

After 11 years as Building Maintenance Supervisor at the U.S. Treasury Department, he signed on at the William C. Smith Company, Inc., where he has been employed for the last 15 years.

Martin views his resident management role as one of service. He is "fond of people," he says, and "looks forward to meeting all the residents who make Chatham Court the nice apartment community that it is today." He will live in the building with his fiancee, Diane, pictured together on this page.

You may meet John and Diane at a welcoming reception to be held following the membership meeting in the lobby on Thursday, September 18, promptly at 7:30 pm. The business portion of the meeting should take no more than one hour, and the reception is expected to begin at about 8:45 pm.

All residents are invited and encouraged to attend this organizational meeting and participate in the voting on adoption of by-laws and to elect a permanent board. The newly elected board members will set association policy for the ensuing year.

The organizational meeting will be the formative event marking the official launching of our new Chatham Court Tenant Association. All residents are urged to attend this landmark event.

A Commentary

Chatham Court our community.

Here is my dream: that our home becomes a community. Chatham Court houses a diverse and interesting collection of people. Some of us have lived here for a decade and more; new tenants arrive every month.

The Chatham Court Tenant Association (CCTA) is a way for us to come together.

Community, to me, means the village that it takes to raise a child. It means neighbors watching out for one another, respecting privacy but sharing concern. It means working together to accomplish things that are too much for any one of us to do alone. Knowing and cheering the joys and victories of our neighbors, or reaching out to one another during times of trial. Having a time and place to come together to discuss problems and plans that affect all of us. Celebrating together.

Nice words. But what does that mean our tenants' association will do?

Let's learn about one another's talents and needs. CCTA can develop a directory of residents, and information for an exchange bank. People joined together are powerful.

CCTA gives us a way to meet and combine our energies to tackle problems that affect us all--from peeling paint to drug dealers at our doorstep. That's my dream for this, our home.

The CCTA was formed in response to a crisis, but I hope we'll mostly be about neighborliness and celebration. This newsletter is a start.

Come to the organizing meeting at 7:30pm on Thursday, September 18th and take the first step to meet your neighbor.

Complete the enclosed survey questionnaire and we're on our way with the rest of the list. Better yet, pick something to do in the CCTA to make your dream of a community come true. K.L.

Chatham Chat will publish letters from tenants representing all points of view. Letters should be signed and must include the author's apartment and home telephone number. Because of space limitations, letters should be no more than 300 words and may be edited to fit available space. They may be e-mailed to Kala Ladenheim

Children are encouraged to submit copy for a Chatham Chat children's' section featuring stories, poems, and other compositions written by children, grandchildren and young relatives of CCTA members.

Adams Morgan Day - September 14^th!

18^th Street, from Kalorama to Columbia Road

Music, Ethnic Foods, Dancing in the Street!

Please forward your response to the enclosed Survey Wallace Dickson, CCTA Secretary, Apt #314. And please also include a generous contribution to help cover costs of organizing CCTA and publishing this newsletter. You can consider your contribution of $5, $10, $25 (or more if possible) a very good investment. It will be going to a good cause … to you and your neighbors who will be the beneficiaries of a strong and active Chatham Court Tenant Association!

Chatham Chat© is a newsletter published every other month by and for members of the Chatham Court Tenant Association to inform residents about events and issues of interest. Chatham Chat© will be published in Spanish and English editions. Tenants may subscribe to their choice of language as well as online or paper editions. Contributors may submit copy on paper, floppy disk (MS Word 7 format), by email: wdickson@mail.wdn.com, or by FAX: (202) 265-0592 to Chatham Chat©, c/o Wallace Dickson, Apt. #314; or to any CCTA board member.

Return to the CCTA home page.