One Big Family
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We Mean Business!

One Big Family, also, We Mean Business!. Lift Up Your Hearts!. , One Big Family , A townhouse community called Sursum Corda once stood here. Its name, Latin for "Lift up your hearts," evoked hope. Its story is one of perseverance, endurance, and connection., In the 1960s, all of this area was slated for urban renewal. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development created a special loan program to help religious organizations build affordable housing. Father Horace McKenna of St. Aloysius parish led the effort to form a nonprofit corporation to build Sursum Corda. It would replace several blocks of small 19th century rowhouses, some without indoor plumbing., Unlike in Southwest DC, where the government razed everything and built upscale housing, many residents here successfully fought to stay in their old homes until new ones were ready. They also took part in the design process. When Sursum Corda opened in 1969, its 199 units boasted some amenities, unusual for the time, as central air conditioning, washers and dryers, and as many as six bedrooms. The complex also had a community center, a library, daycare, and playgrounds., Half of the units were priced for working families. The other half were subsidized. The first tenants included several nuns from the Order of the Religious of the Sacred Heart. Their mission: to support the community. One of them, Sister Diane Roche, would eventually manage the property. , ,br> The community coalesced around a variety of committees and activities including a junior garden club, a Labor Day parade and celebration, a basketball team, dances, and block parties. "Sursum Corda was like one big family," former residents recall., We Mean Business! , Not long after Sursum Corda opened in 1969, reality set in. With five large housing projects, this area had too few schools, businesses, and services. Sursum Corda's low rents didn't cover operating costs, which proved higher than expected. Growing inflation worsened the situation. Rather than raise rents, the nonprofit owner partnered with a for-profit company, which poured in money in exchange for tax breaks. But the fix was only temporary., As in other DC neighborhoods, drug dealing and gang activity plagued this community. One management company after another failed to keep up the complex, which suffered from broken pipes, sewage backups, and myriad other miseries. The problems drove some people to move away and strengthened the resolve of others to stay and make things better. In June 1983 the Tenant Association re-incorporated as the Sursum Corda Cooperative Association and prepared to buy the complex., "Let's show everyone that we mean business and that we intend to survive, in spite of!!!!!" exhorted the Sursum Corda newsletter. The purchase process took years, but finally, in late 1992, Sursum Corda Cooperative was born., By about 2005, though, the city had decided to redevelop this area again. Due to low-density zoning, the Cooperative had trouble finding a buyer who would pay an acceptable price. The city threatened to take the property by eminent domain, while the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) threatened to foreclose., Increasingly concerned about losing their property and being displaced, Cooperative members switched course in 2008 and chose a new Board of Directors. Lonnie Duren, a lifelong resident of Sursum Corda, was elected Chairman. Under his leadership, the Board engaged a financial consultant, attorney, and architect/engineer to represent the Cooperative and to develop and execute a redevelopment plan. Duren, the Board, and Cooperative members worked intensively with the team of professionals to ensure DC government and HUD did not take their homes. They attended countless planning, zoning, and DC Council hearings. They achieved significant milestones: inclusion of Sursum Corda in the Mid City East Small Area Plan (SAP); approval of the SAP by the DC Office of Planning; unanimous approval of the Planned Unit Development Zoning Order by the DC Zoning Commission; and unanimous approval of the redevelopment plan by the DC Council., Sursum Corda was sold and razed by 2019, and a new apartment community called Banner Lane opened here in 2023. Former Sursum Corda residents were guaranteed the right to return, and about 60 families planned to do so, eager to "get back to the community we had, the love we had for each other," according to one former resident.