A Monthly Speaker Series Featuring Some of Our Neighborhood’s Most Fascinating People

Tuesday Talks

January 21, 2025, 7 pm

Patricia A. Roos, Professor Emerita of Sociology, Rutgers University
Surviving Alex: A Mother’s Story of Love, Loss, and Addiction

Free and in person at the Cleveland Park Library but must register at:
 https://clevelandwoodleypark.helpfulvillage.com/events/2661 

Professor Patricia Roos’s published works have been important contributions to the ongoing
conversation about gender dynamics in the workforce. Her most recent book, however, is a more
personal one about grief and resilience: Surviving Alex. In this book, she uses skills developed in her
career to examine explanations and treatments for the growing overdose epidemic. She finds them
wanting. She integrates existing research and writing on addiction with information she gathered over
the years she lived with Alex’s mental health and substance use disorders, and with the trauma
associated with his death. She talked with important people in Alex’s life and gathered information from
the institutions in which he resided, providing a wealth of information from social workers, doctors,
psychiatrists, rehab staff, and jailers to flesh out her personal narrative and interviews.
And, she imagines a world steeped in compassionate harm reduction methods, as opposed to the
punitive approaches that currently exist. Pat’s presentation will be followed by a brief presentation on
harm reduction by DC’s Department of Behavioral Health. Free Naloxone (Narcan) will be available to
attendees.
At 6:30 pm, Pat will be available to sign books which will be available for purchase in the Library Lobby.
More information can be found at patroos.com.

February 18, 2025

Philip Esocoff and Matthew Bell, Architects

Dips, Bends, and Straightaways: The Planned and Unplanned of Connecticut Avenue

Free and in person at the Cleveland Par Library but must register at:  https://clevelandwoodleypark.helpfulvillage.com/events/2662 

Ever wonder why Connecticut Ave is the way it is, as in mostly straight, but with a few notable exceptions?  Join us for a discussion of why one of the city’s most well-known avenues is not like the rest, perhaps better for it, but all the same unique in every way, from its history to how we live on it today.

Phil Esocoff has practiced architecture, planning, and urban design in Washington, DC, for over 45 years. 
Phil’s most recent project is the Diplomatic Residence for the Embassy of the Peoples’ Republic of China, at the southern end of the Taft Bridge.  Other local projects of note include 2401 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and The Whitman Condominium at 910 M Street, NW.   He also designed several residential projects on Massachusetts Avenue, NW.  His restoration and adaptive reuse of The Historic Greyhound Terminal at 1100 NY Avenue, NW, received a twenty-five year award from the DC Preservation League. 

Matt Bell is Professor at the University of Maryland and Principal at Perkins Eastman Architects.  He teaches graduate urban design studios at Maryland, and his work in the DC region includes buildings and master plans for mixed-use, higher-ed and institutional projects, including the new Cleveland Park Library which opened in 2018 and the recently opened Reservoir District (formerly called the McMillan Site) on North Capitol Street.  Bell’s professional work has received awards from the AIA, the Congress for the New Urbanism, the USGBC, and the Urban Land Institute. He serves on DC’s Historic Preservation Review Board.