Bipeds of Brookland: Susanne Horn

Bipeds of Brookland: Susanne Horn

Bipeds of Brookland:

Bipeds of Brookland: Susanne Horn

Susanne Horn came to Brookland in 1997. "One of the things I remember most was that we had a city recycling bin but the city wouldn’t actually pick it up. We used to drive our recycling out to a paper center on Blair Rd. I went to college in Vermont where it was all recycling all the time. And I was like, 'What do you mean you don’t recycle in the nation’s capital?'"

Susanne worked in the neighborhood as an AmeriCorps volunteer at Mary House that year and “I never left. I decided that Brookland was a great place to live. So I stayed and did my Masters in Social Work at The Catholic University of America."

Susanne started working at Bread for the City as an intern, and then got hired in 2001. “I run a program which helps people with chronic mental illness by managing their disability income to help make sure all of their bills get paid. We serve over 800 clients.”

“When I bought my house I always thought that this would be my starter house and that I would someday be able to move to something bigger. Now it feels like the perfect house for a family of four. I met my wife because she bought the house two doors down from me. We decided it’s a great place to raise a family. We’ve been lucky to have our kids go to Stokes and love that they are learning Spanish, because we both speak Spanish.”

“It has been interesting knowing families on my street that raised two kids in a row house like this and whose children are now adults and have children of their own and come back to visit. Now seeing this new generation of families coming here and raising their children in a row house. I think there are so many kids in the neighborhood now as compared to 15 years ago.”

Bipeds of Brookland: A weekly series introducing the people who make Brookland their home, one step at a time.  Article and photo by Tom Sabella.