Throughout this final project, we have researched and worked with residents, advocates, and officials in connection with Regency House in Chevy Chase, NW Community Food, and numerous online studies and academic papers. Through real-life experiences and professional studies, we created this website to help members of our community in Washington, DC, better understand and advocate for positive change regarding food and housing insecurity issues we face.

Thank you to Cate Atkinson with Historic Chevy Chase DC for allowing us to learn about and participate in the "Eighty, Meet 18" initiative, and thank you to all the partners and volunteers involved at NW Community Food. It was a privilege to be a part of your mission to help fight hunger and give back to the DC community. Finally, thank you, Dr. Auslander, for spreading the word about these community engagement events and having your students get involved. This website and its contents were developed as part of the Community Research Project, developed by students in Dr. Mark Auslander’s class “Race and Racism (ANTH 210)" at American University, Fall 2025.

More information about these projects can be found here.

Please explore our website to learn more!

Sources Used:

• “Addressing Food Insecurity in Washington D.C.: Challenges, Causes, and Solutions.” United Way NCA, 18 Mar. 2025, unitedwaynca.org/food-insecurity-dc/.

• Bickel, Gary, et al. “Guide to Measuring Household Food Security Revised 2000.” Measuring Food Security in the United States, US Food and Nutrition Service, 24 Jan. 2025, fns-prod.azureedge.us/sites/default/files/FSGuide.pdf.

• Bowen, Sarah, et al. “The structural roots of food insecurity: How racism is a fundamental cause of food insecurity.” Sociology Compass, vol. 15, no. 7, 3 May 2021, https://doi.org/10.1111/soc4.12846.

• “Grocery Access.” DC Hunger Solutions, 7 May 2021, www.dchunger.org/food-policies-and-guides/grocery-access/.

• Hickey, Sebastian Martinez, and Ismael Cid-Martinez. “The Federal Minimum Wage Is Officially a Poverty Wage in 2025.” Economic Policy Institute, World Economics Blog, 25 Apr. 2025, https://www.epi.org/blog/the-federal-minimum-wage-is-officially-a-poverty-wage-in-2025/. Accessed 1 Dec. 2025.

• Jacobs, Adam. “Investigation Reveals Long-Standing ‘Sewer Service’ Practice Resulting in Countless Evictions.” Legal Aid DC, 13 Oct. 2020, www.legalaiddc.org/blogs/investigation-reveals-long-standing-sewer-service-practice-resulting-in-countless-evictions. 

• Maharawal, Manissa M. “Black lives matter, gentrification and the security state in the San Francisco Bay Area.” Anthropological Theory, vol. 17, no. 3, 27 Sept. 2017, pp. 338–364, https://doi.org/10.1177/1463499617732501. 

• Rabbitt, M. P., Reed-Jones, M., Hales, L. J., & Burke, M. P. (2024). Statistical supplement to household food security in the United States in 2023 (Report No. AP-124). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. https://ers.usda.gov/sites/default/files/_laserfiche/publications/109903/AP-124.pdf?v=21850

• “Race/Ethnicity of Total Population by Ward.” KIDS COUNT Data Center, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2023, datacenter.aecf.org/data/tables/8875-race-ethnicity-of-total-population-by-ward?loc=10&loct=21#detailed/21/1852-1859/false/2545/3498,2161,2159,2157,2663,3499,3307,2160|381/17764. 

• Richter, Felix. “Infographic: U.S. Wages Haven’t Kept up with Inflation.” Statista Daily Data, 1 Sept. 2025, www.statista.com/chart/32428/inflation-and-wage-growth-in-the-united-states/?srsltid=AfmBOoqhhszFRcLN82c3S5SXZor0tKPZVDZrS4Q5iaeOzJxOMg_cZmKU. 

• Williams, Brett. “Beyond Gentrification:  Investment and Abandonment on the Waterfront.” Capital Dilemma Growth and Inequality in Washington, D.C., 2016.