The FDR Branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington sits southeast of the Potomac- or “South of the River”. Just as the name suggests, this D.C. neighborhood has seen a great share of economic hardship and isolation over the years. Over 7000 kids live within a 1.5 mile radius of the area, and reaching them all required something extraordinary from the community’s leaders. In the late 1990s, WC Smith, D.C. real estate and building powerhouse, came up with an initiative to change the face of the community. The Town Hall Education, Arts and Recreation Council, called “THE ARC” was Smith’s concept that would become a 110,000 SF, $26M building with tenants ranging from a family therapy and outreach center, to an all-girls middle school, a Washington Ballet studio and even a branch of the Children’s Hospital. Executive Skip McMahon says that what Smith envisioned was “a real community of service - a one-stop shop for outreach and education that will revolutionize the nonprofit community in D.C.”