OUR DC
Society · Public Life · Shared Presence
OUR DC is a shared public space where residents build connection, presence, and trust across the District.
On the block.
In the building.
Across wards.
Inside institutions.
It brings people together in shared spaces—neighbors, resident leaders, and partners—so togetherness can be experienced, not assumed. This is about how we reside together in a city.
Common Sense Rhythm Checks in Society
When reviewing lived conditions, four shared questions help orient reflection:
1) Is it healthy to be here?
The steadiness of body, home, and daily environment.
2) Can this continue?
Whether current patterns can be carried over time.
3) Are we together?
The strength of support systems and shared presence.
4) Do we know how this works?
Understanding of systems, rights, responsibilities, and next steps.
The 360 Wellness Wheel
The 360 Wellness Wheel organizes life into eight connected domains of lived experience that residents are already navigating every day.
-
Physical
Body · Energy · Rest
Physical health includes sleep, mobility, nutrition, chronic conditions, and daily energy. It affects how a resident moves through work, family responsibilities, and housing demands.
-
Emotional
Feelings · Stress · Balance
Emotional health includes stress levels, mood, resilience, and sense of balance. It influences communication, decision-making, and the ability to manage pressure.
-
Surroundings
Home · Safety · Conditions
Surroundings include housing quality, safety, cleanliness, noise levels, and environmental stability. The condition of home directly affects comfort, dignity, and security.
-
Learning
Growth · Curiosity · Skills
Learning includes education, skill development, curiosity, and access to information. It shapes opportunity, adaptability, and long-term growth.
-
Social
Relationships · Support · Belonging
Social life includes family relationships, friendships, neighbors, and community ties. Support systems strengthen resilience and reduce isolation.
-
Spiritual
Meaning · Purpose · Faith
Spiritual life includes meaning, purpose, reflection, and faith traditions. It provides direction and grounding during change or uncertainty.
-
Financial
Income · Expenses · Stability
Financial conditions include income sources, expenses, savings, debt, and economic stability. Financial awareness helps with planning and housing stability.
-
Work
Job · Role · Contribution
Work includes employment, caregiving, volunteer roles, and contribution to household or community. It shapes time, identity, and financial stability.
HOUR Sessions support Resident Rhythms
These sessions help residents, households, buildings, and institutions move from lived experience into shared agreements and durable coordination with care and clarity.
There are five types and each one has a distinct purpose.
-
Resident Reality Reviews
These sessions create dedicated space and time to surface what is real.
Using the 360 Wellness Wheel, participants reflect on lived conditions across domains such as:
Physical
Emotional
Financial
Work
Learning
Social
Surroundings
Spiritual
The purpose of Resident Reality Reviews is to recognize patterns and connections before structure is imposed. It’s not to decide or fix anything first.
“Through HOUR Sessions, health and safety stopped feeling abstract. It became something we checked, not something we assumed.” Resident Leader Member – Ward 5
Resident Reality Reviews may be individual, household-level, neighbor-level, or organizational.
-
Sensing Coordinating Conditions
Recognizing Rhythm Sessions move from lived conditions into shared sensing.
Participants move through four stabilizing questions:
Is it healthy to be here?
Can this continue?
Are we together?
Do we know how this works
Recognition Sessions clarifies coordination strain without forcing premature agreement.
“During HOUR Session, practicing Recognition exposed burnout before it became a crisis. It created space for us to pause instead of push.” Resident Leader - Ward 5
It helps participants understand whether Care, Pacing, Social or Structural conditions require attention.
Recognizing Sessions may stand alone or be included within other sessions.
-
Translating Strain into Structured Options
When coordination strain becomes clear, Rhythm Recommendations help translate that clarity into practical options.
Using the Resolution Library, participants review structured pathways related to:
Emotional safety and care
Trust and neighbor connection
Communication systems
Meeting rhythms
Documentation practices
Decision pathways
Leadership roles
Repair tracking
Language access
Shared priorities
Rhythm Recommendations clarify what could be activated or formalized.
“During HOUR Session, I realized I was participating out of obligation, not belonging. Naming that changed how I showed up and how I welcomed others.” Resident Association Member – Ward 8
-
Item description
-
Item description
-
Item description
About Realest State
To make this durable, we built infrastructure.
We operate as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Washington, DC.
Our role is to help activate and maintain steady resident-led structures that hold stewardship over time.
We operate with the following commitments:
-
Resident authority is carried through documented stewardship roles rather than traditional nonprofit staffing structures.
Governance responsibility is distributed, time-held, and recorded.
Authority is practiced, supported, and sustained by stewards. -
80% of funding supports direct stewardship labor.
20% sustains shared infrastructure, coordination, and compliance.
This ensures that capital follows documented governance work rather than overhead expansion.
-
All resolutions include a clear start point, defined holding period, and scheduled return.
Authority is not permanent.
It is held, reviewed, renewed, or released. -
Stipend activation follows stewardship. Legitimacy is grounded in real engagement.
-
Roles, agreements, and decisions are recorded in a shared system.
This protects continuity, prevents authority drift, and maintains clarity across transitions. Structure protects the rhythm. Rhythm protects resident authority.
Realest State
Natural Intelligence has always lived in us. HOUR simply gives us a place to practice it together — through rhythm, shared work, and community wisdom.
Your rhythm belongs here.
Your pace belongs here.