NoMa is home to thousands of people who build their lives and raise their families here. Though we are a business improvement district, working to serve our residents is critical to our neighborhood’s success.

Since 2019, the NoMa BID has been partnering with the h3 Project to deliver targeted, individualized outreach services to people who are unhoused in the neighborhood. In 2022, that partnership continued and enabled h3 to expand its staff and services.

Significantly, this year also saw the closure of the encampments that have occupied the NoMa underpasses for many years, through a District pilot program for housing encamped residents called C.A.R.E.S., enacted by the office of the Deputy Mayor for Housing and Human Services (DMHHS). The city completed the pilot project in NoMa in the first quarter of fiscal year 2022, and the results were unequivocally a success.

Progress on this initiative in 2022 included:

• Designing and installing new street pole banners throughout the neighborhood celebrating NoMa’s history of incredible wall art
• Delivering the BID’s core services, among them the daily work of our Ambassador team in ensuring the neighborhood is clean and cared for
• Refining our TrackTik system for tracking and reporting issues in the neighborhood, and coordinating with city agencies
• The C.A.R.E.S. pilot project connected nearly 90% of the residents of the NoMa underpass encampments on L Street and M Street with permanent housing
• The work of the h3 Project in NoMa led to—among many other things—38 housing matches for unhoused persons, with 17 move-ins
• The Giving Tree Project fundraiser in partnership with NoMa businesses, which raised more than $45,000
• Hosting monthly Public Safety Meetings that enable connections and collaboration between workers, residents, law enforcement agencies, and city agency representatives
• Ensuring all our events are free to attend and are marketed to all of NoMa’s residents
• Developing our partnerships with city agencies, including DPW, DDOT, DHS, DMHHS, and more to connect residents to needed services and resolve issues in the neighborhood

Targeted work on this initiative for 2023 will include:

• Growing the Giving Tree Project fundraiser goal to $75,000
• Expanding the BID’s network of outdoor security cameras
• Working with other BIDs to encourage the city on public safety, housing-first solutions to homelessness, and other initiatives
• Examining the question of public restroom access in NoMa for all residents
• Revising and rewriting our public space aesthetic guidelines for property owners and developers