Founded in 1981 by lawyers Patricia Perillies and Joaquin Dominguez Parada, the Central American Refugee Center (CARECEN) got its start defending the legal rights of Central American immigrants in the United States. With a tight budget and small…

In 1982, a joint venture between Plenty International (a commune on 16th St NW) and CARECEN (Central American Refugee Center) launched a joint venture to provide bilingual medical care to the undocumented immigrants who were pouring into DC (for…

Constructed over a period of decades at the turn of the 20th century, the McMillan Park Reservoir’s original slow sand filtration system was DC’s first water purification facility. Connected to the Washington Aqueduct, the reservoir treated the…