Our Mission

The primary mission of the Committee is to strengthen the ability of the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) to achieve its mission of providing quality enrichment services to the District children and teens during non-school hours, weekend and summer hours in safe, well-maintained facilities and parks.

• Recreation & Sports
• Technology
• Academics

Our Core Values:

• Improve the academic average of every child
• Increase understanding of technology and its role in today’s society
• Increase understanding of the role of sports in promoting team work and understanding.
• Providing recreation as an alternative to anti-social behavior

A Message From Our Executive Director

Cora Masters Barry

Our children are to succeed we must offer new challenges beyond the competition of the television and the corner. The need for organized recreation programs is paramount in our city. It is not just tennis. It is a combination of academic and cultural enrichment programs that give children who attend our programs a chance to succeed.

A major milestone was accomplished in 2001 with the opening of the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center. It could not have happened without the support of many of you who are committed to ensuring that opportunities abound not just for a select few but for all. As you read the Annual Report you will know that we have been truly blessed to have opened a new state of the art facility.

Yet, we know the journey has only begun. We have set out to develop an infrastructure that will sustain the program and to reach further into the community to involve more people in our programs and services. We have a dedicated staff and committed board that will continue to raise the bar for the children in Southeast Washington, D.C. and all wards of the city that need a capital investment in children.

We hope that you will continue to support us in our journey of creating safe places for children to grow.

A Message from Our Chairman

Chancellor Patterson

On behalf of the Board of Directors of the Recreation Wish List, the children of the District of Columbia and the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation, I want to convey my deepest thanks and appreciation.

Since the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center opened in 2001, it has served as a positive force within our community by meeting its mission to strengthen the minds and improve the physical fitness of our children.

Cora Masters Barry, the Founder of the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center, has been a guiding force whose vision and commitment has turned a compelling concept into a reality.? Ms. Barry and her devoted staff have sculpted this center into a mecca of learning for our young people.

We are thankful for the team of professional coaches, who spend each day teaching students with a mixture of love and discipline. We know that without them our achievements would not be possible. To all the sponsors and donors, we know that your support has been critical towards providing our students the resources needed for success. To the parents, your care and guidance has created the opportunity for these children to achieve their dreams.Your continuous dedication and support of the Center has been a true blessing.

Our program focuses on a rigorous curriculum of structured academics and physical fitness. We believe this approach delivers a rewarding experience for the hundreds of children we serve.? Ultimately, we want these children to have the tools early in their life to develop into healthy young adults with a passion for personal success.

Over the past year, we have expanded our recreational and educational programs allowing for more of our city's children to access and utilize this great facility.? To further expand the reach of the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center, we will drive more fundraising to ensure that our children have adequate resources to learn.

We also want to make more people aware of the outstanding work at the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center. We all can do more to spread the word of the amazing work that takes place at our facility each day.

Together, we can enhance the fine tradition that has been established through the hard work of so many. We ask our corporate and individual sponsors to consider increasing your support of the Recreation Wish List Committee, so that we can continue to make the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center an invaluable resource for the young people of Washington, DC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Board of Directors

We thank the following people who have dedicated so much of their time to our cause:

Chance Patterson Chairman of the Board

Cora Masters Barry Founder & CEO

Nina May Vice Chairperson

Isha Price Williams Secretary

Dr. Julianne Malveaux Treasurer

Montina Anderson Assistant Treasurer

Raymone Bain, Esq. Marilyn Funderburk Amy Goldson, Esq. Judge Eugene Hamilton Dr. Monte Harris Phinis Jones Tamara Wilds Lawson Jair Lynch Kimberly Manning Kerry Pearson Kelly Swanson

Our History

The Recreation Wish List Committee (RWLC) was founded in 1995 by Cora Masters Barry, then First Lady of the District of Columbia, and is committed to providing quality athletic and learning enrichment programs for the children of the District of Columbia. Under the leadership of its Board of Directors, RWLC brings together public and private resources to support the programs and facilities of DC Department of Parks and Recreation along with other public facilities in the city.

Some of the accomplishments of the RWLC to date include completely refurbishing two public recreation centers, resurfacing public tennis and basketball courts for several recreation centers, upgrading public baseball fields, adding bleachers and lighting, building two new tennis courts and regulation boxing ring, installing a new dance studio and new computer labs, and purchasing three 15 passenger vans.

Lack of quality and quantity in community based programs that serve low income and impoverished residents of Ward 8 undercuts families’ ability to properly care for themselves and their children. “Despite a child poverty rate in excess of 30 percent, and having that 6 percent of the District’s children, Ward 8 has fewer nonprofit provider agencies than any other segment of the City. In 2000, thirty four percent of all young people in the District of Columbia lived east of the Anacostia River in Wards 6, 7 and 8 (“Organizations and Neighborhood Networks that Strengthen Families in the District of Columbia”, Urban Institute (Wash., D.C. 2000)).

Ward 8 contains a high concentration of poor people. (D.C. Office of Planning/State Data Center 2000). The median household income of Ward 8 residents in 2000 was $32,952, which is $12,000 per year below the annual median household income of all Washington residents. (District of Columbia Median Household and Per Capita Income by Ward,” D.C. Office of Planning/State Data Center Source of Data: Claritas, 2000.) Approximately, one fourth of youth in Ward 8 live below the federal poverty guidelines. Twenty one per cent of District of Columbia children live in extreme poverty (which is defined as 50% below the federal poverty guideline). The national level of children living below the federal poverty guideline is 9%.