About CKAR CDC
Grow Green
CKAR has partnered with Chesapeake Bay Trust, The Neighborhood Design Center, the Prince George’s County Department of the Environment, and Mid-Atlantic AmeriCorps VISTA in an effort to create a more healthy environment for all of our communities. Large shade and small understory trees, as well as shrubs [including fruit bushes] are available for free. This includes planting in designated location(s) on your property.
Residents and businesses in and around Riverdale, Riverdale Park, Eastpines, Templeton Knolls, Beacon Heights, Bladensburg, the Port Towns, Woodlawn, and Lanham communities are eligible to receive these free trees.
Benefits of trees include:
- Improved air quality
- Increased property value
- Increased business traffic and value
- Decreased stormwater runoff
- Cooler community
- Increased immunity
- More physical activity by residents
- Better mental health and lower stress
- Improved cognitive performance in children
To view our Tree Selection Guide, click on this link
.To request up to 3 free trees, click on this link
.CKAR Grow Green Program Tree Care Guide English
CKAR Grow Green Program Tree Care Guide Spanish
Edmonston Road Rain Garden
Health Outreach
CKAR is excited to be working with Luminis Health to provide COVID vaccinations and other health services to the community. Doctors from Luminis are providing information sessions on the COVID vaccine to address questions and we are partnering to bring mobile clinic events to different parts of Greater Riverdale.
On March 23rd, we successfully vaccinated 100 seniors 65 and our first mobile vaccination event held at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church in Riverdale Park, Maryland. Participants completed our COVID Vaccine Pre-Registration form online and were given an appointment. There is currently a wait list of 100 other seniors desiring to be vaccinated.
Seniors were willing to display signs after being vaccinated telling why they received the vaccinated.
Plans are currently being made for another clinic in April or May.
Map of Vaccination Locations in Maryland
COVID Information
Taste of Greater Riverdale
Greater Riverdale Cares Restaurant Meal Program
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many families are going hungry. Several of our locally owned restaurants are also struggling to stay open and in many cases have had to lay off their employees. In partnership with Route 1 Communities Care and District 3, CKAR has created Greater Riverdale Cares. We provide small, locally-owned restaurants with a stipend to cook nutritious meals that are then distributed to residents at sites serving our local communities.
Sites served: SEED, St. Jerome’s, St. Mark’s, LAYC, United Methodist Church, Attick Towers, Parkview Gardens, Oak Ridge Apartments.
Restaurants served: Denizens, Dumm’s, Riviera Tapas, Banana Blossom, Shortcake Bakery, Hanami, Emerita’s, Marathon Deli, Pizza Roma, Krazi Kebob
Business Empowerment
Since late 2020 CKAR has partnered with PLCC and LEDC to inform and register businesses along Greater Riverdale on grant and loan opportunities offered by the federal and local government during the COVID crisis.
From late January to mid-February CKAR’s Business Development Specialist, Imari Alvarez, and Manuel Ocho from PLCC walked along Kenilworth Avenue to inform businesses about registering for the second PPP Loan. With our efforts, 20 businesses were able to register for the PPP loan through our partner LEDC. If you are interested in registering your business through LEDC go to ledcmetro.org or email jrivas@ledcmetro.org. LEDC closes their registration on March 23, however, if you already have a lender the federal loan closes on March 31.
With CKAR’s interest in keeping our businesses in Greater Riverdale, we have been in continuous meetings with PLCC Small Business Action Team. From these meetings, CKAR was appointed as one of the lead Co-chair of the Placed-Based Management team. Our work in the team is to assist in creating an action plan that illustrates the framework of a Main Street in the Riverdale community as well as initiating a plan to have our businesses develop an online presence if they are absent of one or a stronger one if they do.
Making Place Visioning for Greater Riverdale
CKAR has partnered with students at the University of Maryland, Department of Architecture. Professor Ronit Eisenbach and her students at the “Making Place Studio”, are canvassing the area and assisting with reaching businesses to provide valuable information that could improve their business processes. In May 2020 the students were able to create and present mobile resource hubs that would be placed in pop-up areas in the community. These mobile hubs were created to address the goals of kinship, stable futures, safety, and streets that were presented in The Neighborhood Design Center’s Greater Riverdale Place-Based Initiative, Visioning, and Outreach Report. A copy of what the students presented is noted below as “UMD Architecture Students Resource Hub Booklet”. CKAR is actively pursuing grant opportunities to bring these mobile vans to fruition.
This spring the Making Place Studio will continue its work in helping CKAR and the Purple Line Corridor Coalition, by developing creative ideas to help small businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, while safely building the community along Kenilworth Avenue. These ideas all circle the concept of creating a virtual and physical map that highlights all the businesses along the corridor. This map will showcase the progression of the corridor by presenting graphics of the past, present, and possible future. They will also design structures that will allow more people to visit restaurants in the area and create signage that will allow people to share these businesses through Instagram and other social media outlets.
More information about this project is coming soon.