Celebrating the Diversity and Community of Columbia Heights

The Columbia Heights Initiative is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Our mission is to enrich the quality of life in our community by creating unique local events and programming where residents and visitors can connect and celebrate our neighborhood. We strive to promote values of diversity, service, character, compassion, and unity in Columbia Heights.

People are the center of our mission. We want to help people in our neighborhood connect their stories, history, perspective, struggles, and passions. We believe communities thrive when they are connected. We are committed to working with our neighborhood partners to ensure that every resident in Columbia Heights is able to thrive and find true community. We believe that by developing our networks and creating opportunities for residents, local businesses, nonprofits, schools, government agencies, and civic organizations to connect and build relationships we can find solutions to our community’s greatest needs.

2016 Events

Our organization got its start when the first Columbia Heights Day was first held over 10 years ago. This year we will be hosting 8 signature events throughout the year. Our events aim to reflect the unique and diverse culture that makes Columbia Heights the neighborhood it is.

We have something for everyone. Whether you are looking to meet new friends in the neighborhood, volunteer your time, promote your business or organization, or just explore what this neighborhood has to offer we have something for you. Come and join the fun!

Become A Partner

In June, we plan to launch our membership-based nonprofit and business networks made up of partners from around the neighborhood. We believe this not only benefits our businesses and organizations, but our residents and neighbors. The goal of these networks is to help local businesses and nonprofits stay, grow, and thrive in our neighborhood. We do this by facilitating opportunities for those in our community to connect and collaborate.

In the first quarter of 2016 we will survey area residents, businesses, and organizations to further build out our membership benefits and create a network that serves our members and helps us achieve our mission. We want to understand our neighborhood’s needs in order to help businesses and organizations better serve their customers and clients. We believe a data driven model is essential to building a powerful and effective network.

For more information or to become a partner please contact Brianne Dornbush at brianne@cohidc.org.

Join Our Volunteer Network

Because people are the core of our mission we are launching a volunteer network. This network will consist of people from and around our neighborhood who share our values of diversity, service, character, compassion, and unity. By creating opportunities for people to connect and get to know their neighbors and neighborhood better we believe we will be able to better serve our community and support our local businesses.