Who
are we?
DC Get Involved is a private/public partnership between Capitol Services
Management, Inc, Designed Services, and Congress Heights Career Training
and Development, Corporation. Our clients include Government agencies
throughout the DC Metro area including the District Department of
Transportation Mass Transit Authority, District Department of Transportation
Infrastructure Project Management Administration, Deputy Mayor’s
Office for Planning and Economic Development and the District Office
of Planning.
What do we do?
DC Get Involved is committed to making public participation in government
a priority. We believe that public participation is more than just
a hearing or one meeting near the end of the project development
process; public involvement is a continuous and integral part of any
development project. Our methods allow for stakeholders to have an
active voice in the economic developmental activities that shape and
affect their communities. We provide strategy recommendations and
then work within the infrastructure to implement action plans. Working
within our clients’ operations,
we create positive change efficiently and economically, without disruption.
Why do we do it?
The basic tenet if our public involvement philosophy is that public
participation needs to be an early and continuing part of the project
development process. It is essential that the project sponsor knows
the community's values in order to avoid, minimize, and mitigate
impacts, as well as to narrow the field of alternatives (for planning)
and alignments (for projects).
Public participation allows the State, Metropolitan Planning Organizations,
public transportation providers and resource agencies to know the
impact from the project as viewed by the community. Early and continuing
public involvement allows the project sponsor to be aware of the
problems and impacts and to deal with these issues early. In that way,
attempts can be made to avoid the impacts minimize, or design in a manner
acceptable to all parties involved. If involved early, the public
can provide insight (directly or indirectly) on what the community finds
acceptable in the way of mitigation. Often, there are designs or
enhancements that will allow the project to fit more harmoniously into
the existing community.
How do we do it?
We believe in getting stakeholders involved from the early stages
of the process so that their voices can be heard. We host meetings
for community residents, business owners, and stakeholders; along
with survey data compilation and briefings of elected officials. The
combination of our efforts effectively allow for the citizenry to
have a legitimate voice in the policies and decisions that affect
their very communities. We strive to achieve four objectives through
our public involvement efforts:
- Identify the Public - We build an inventory of elected officials,
community leaders, businesses and community based organizations for
every project.
- Inform the Public - We produce press releases, memorandums, advertisements,
marketing materials and flyers for distribution to local officials
and throughout the community.
- To familiarize the public with the project - We publish newsletters,
FAQs, distribute emails and establish web pages for all of our projects.
Our ultimate goal is to maximize the level of awareness of the project
throughout the community.
- To involve the public - We facilitate community and steering meetings,
public hearings and workshops. Our dedicated staff participates in
established community events and community meetings to solicit feedback
from the community. We are always looking for additional opportunities
to gain community response such as phone-banking and surveying.
