As the eighth child of nine, Kivette Abraham recalls that her family was the first to move into the brand new Arthur Capper/Carrollsburg Dwellings when they were first constructed back in the 1950s.
“I was born in this neighborhood, and all of my siblings were raised here,” says Kivette. “I loved my
neighborhood and I didn’t want to leave. It was a good family-based community when I was growing up, but the sense of community was lost over the years as people moved away. Even still, it was always home for me and my family,” she recalls.
Kivette never left the Dwellings. She lived there with her mother and her two daughters until her
mother passed away in 2001. That event made her head of household and Kivette took her role
seriously. So much so that she and her two daughters, Aisa and Kevaughna, were one of the last two families to move out of the 707-unit Dwellings just before demolition was to begin. Kivette recounted how she learned of the plan to rebuild her community, “Aisa had a 5th-grade class assignment to go to Union Station to see a model of a rebuilt DC. As we looked at the replica, we were shocked to see a park in the place where our house was located.”
Today, the Abrahams look forward to the day they will move into a newly built home, the first the family has owned, in the new Capitol Quarter project. In the meantime, she continues to keep her daughters grounded as she puts Aisa through North Carolina Central University and helps Kevaughna adjust to her new life at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts.
To learn more about District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency please visit their website.
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