Woodridge Library honored both GBIV and Board Member and Program Committee Chair Laura Worby as Ward 5 Heroes on May 18, 2025. 

On May 18, 2025, Woodridge Library honored both GBIV and Board Member and Program Committee Chair Laura Worby as Ward 5 Heroes. On behalf of GBIV, Laura has been working closely with Woodridge Librarian Eric White on a number of projects over the past several years. These include bringing local DC authors to the library to meet with our Local Authors Book Club, supporting ANC Commissioner and former GBIV Board Member Ra Amin to bring authors to the library to discuss their books on DC history, and teaming up with Ra, Woodridge Library, and the University of Maryland GARD Lab for the Our Neighbors, Our Stories project. Through that project, the above mentioned held a series of Community Art Tiles workshops, dedicated to amplifying community voices through art, conversation, and reflection, about our neighborhoods at multiple locations around Greater Brookland. We now have nearly 100 completed tiles, which will be joined to create several collective art pieces to be shown at the library and other community spaces. GBIV has also brought several other GBIV programs to the library, including the monthly knitting group, and a local artist's Fabric Art Memory Project. At the Ward 5 Heroes event, which included a luncheon and jazz concert by Marcus Johnson and Friends, the Library honored several individuals and groups, including Ra Amin, for making outstanding contributions to Ward 5. GBIV will continue to work closely with the Woodridge Library to pursue our mission: To connect neighbors across generations to develop relationships and access tools to age successfully in our community.