The ONE DC Black Workers & Wellness Center is located at 2500 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE, Washington, DC 20020. To contact us, email [email protected] or call 202.232.2915.

In 2018, ONE DC’s Black Workers and Wellness Center (BWWC) in Anacostia officially opened. The BWWC is part of a national consortium of Black Worker Centers and is a project of ONE DC. The BWWC is a resident-led space that creates and maintains racial and economic justice through popular education, direct action, and the creation of worker-owned alternatives. The BWWC strives to transform and subvert the capitalist system which exploits and under-employs, through its emphasis on dignified and sustainable work. ONE DC has held multiple events to raise money to continue renovations of the BWWC to improve the community organizing space for long time, low income, communities of color in the area. Donate to our Capital Fundraising Campaign by clicking here.

What is a Black Workers Center?

• A center for finding and creating positive, dignified Black work and training.
• An incubation space for alternatives to low-wage work, such as worker cooperatives, collectives, and small businesses created, owned, and operated by Black workers.
• A place to openly discuss the intersection of race and work, particularly what it means to be "working while Black," as well as a place for Black workers to positively recognize their Blackness.
• An environment to challenge bad employers who exploit, cheat, & steal from their workers.
• An educational space to talk about ways to work safer and for more money and benefits.

A Community Space: Our 2018 Vision

• Cooperation DC:  Cooperation DC is a project of ONE DC that works with residents to expand employment opportunities in low-income communities of color by developing worker-owned cooperative businesses and other alternatives to the current system. We are currently partnered with Co-Familia Childcare Cooperative and Dulce Hogar Cleaning Service Cooperative to work towards official incorporation as worker-owned cooperatives. Cooperation DC is beginning outreach in Southeast DC to assess community needs for cooperative businesses and to then begin organizing new cooperative capacity. Cooperation DC is working to increase funding from grants and foundations and overall capacity building. We are also part of the DC Cooperative Stakeholders, which you can out more info about here.
  
• Black Workers Center Chorus: With 26 current members, the BWWC Chorus continues to grow and broaden their musical talent! The group practices two to three times a month in public housing spaces and libraries. In late June, seven members attended a three day activist musicians conference at the Great Labor Arts Exchange.
• Code on the Block: The year long free coding program is conducted by members for DC Ward 8 residents. To counter the Black jobs crisis, it will remove barriers for entry to this technological training and aims to increase dignified and sustainable employment opportunities for Black DC residents. The different aspects of the program consists of: team and logistics, program development, tech curriculum, holistic education, fundraising, communications, and partnerships and outreach. For more info and to get involved, email Nawal at [email protected]
  
• Time Banking: ONE DC is a member of the DC Time Bank. Timebanking creates communities of generosity and mutual aid where everyone’s time is valued equally. Examples of exchanges include car rides, child and pet care, and music, language, and art lessons.
• Laborer’s International Union of North America (LiUna) is one of the most progressive union of construction workers and diverse representing public service employees. ONE DC, in partnership with LiUna, will continue to offer jobs and apprenticeships primarily in demolition and concrete with intakes once a month and build collective power through the Black Workers Center.
• Fundraising: After a year of 10th Anniversary and Capital Campaign fundraising, ONE DC successfully raised $1.2 million to purchase the building at 2500 MLK Jr Ave SE owned by the United Black Fund. Now, we've moved into the second phase of fundraising $2 million for renovations. Click here to donate to our campaign. If you are interested in joining the fundraising team, email Dominic at [email protected].

• Hosting Events: The BWWC not only exists as a space for ONE DC programs, but also to host various community events and coalition meetings. This year, we've hosted events for the DC Paid Family Leave campaing, DC Jobs with Justice Steering Committee, and Cure the Violence, and a volunteer clean up day with the William Penn House. If you are interested in using the space, email Claire at [email protected].
  
  
• Workers Rights Clinics: On every first and third Friday of the month starting in September, the BWWC will host the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs Workers Rights Clinics, where low-wage workers can receive free legal advice on employment matters, such as unpaid wages/overtime, discrimination, sexual harassment, illegal termination, and more. By appointment only. Call 202-319-1000 x138 to make an appointment.
  

When is the next meeting?

Check out our Upcoming Events page for Black Workers Center meeting dates.

Sounds great! How can I get involved?

Fill out the form below. Email [email protected] or call 202.232.2915 to schedule a visit at our new office space in Anacostia, located at 2500 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SE.