We spoke with Playtime Project Play Ranger, Brian Summers, about his experience as a volunteer and what he has gained from bringing the power of play to children experiencing housing insecurity in Washington DC and Prince George's County.

2024 marks Playtime’s third year of offering play programs in Prince George’s County. Since launching our services here, we have learned a lot about the area, our site partners, and the needs of the participants we serve. This, in large part, has been due to the work of our very first Prince George’s County Program Manager, Bryanna Beamer. Over the years, she has prospected, problem-solved, and personally walked participants home from our programs in order to ensure our children were happy and safe. Now Bryanna is embarking on a new journey, and while we are sad for Playtime, we are delighted and excited for her. Before she left, we asked her to reflect on her time at Playtime.

We sat down with Playtime’s first community-based site partners in DC, Columbia Heights Village (CHV), which became a Playtime program site in 2023-24. CHV is an affordable housing complex where Cynthia Hall leads the Columbia Heights Village Tenants Association and one of the three nonprofit organizations that co-manage the complex.