We love our dogs and our neighborhood, and we want to preserve our community's green space.
Our Mission
11th & Bark is DC nonprofit organization dedicated to making the Columbia Heights Dog Park an official city off-leash dog park. We would like the District of Columbia to purchase the land, or create a lease agreement with Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), so that we can improve the park. 11th & Bark formed in 2015.
Donate to help us achieve our mission.
11th & Bark Welcomes All
The dog park isn’t just a place where our dogs play–it is a community. We strive to have an inclusive space for people of all races, nationalities, religions, sexual orientations, gender identities, abilities, and backgrounds. Diversity makes us stronger. Kindness makes us better.
We ask our park community to embrace and celebrate the diversity of our neighborhood, oppose discrimination, and maintain an inviting space where everyone is welcome.
““One of the things I love about Columbia Heights is that it is still, to a degree, a diverse neighborhood with residents of different demographics. And one of the few spaces where people are encouraged to mix is at the dog park.”
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Our Board
Maggie Garrett & Finn
Maggie Garrett, Chair
Maggie has lived in the Columbia Heights/Park View Neighborhood since 2007. A civil rights lawyer and policy advocate for a national nonprofit organization, Maggie joined 11th & Bark in 2017 to help save the park community that she and her pup, Finn, had grown to love. When she isn’t at the park, Maggie is likely playing in a DC “social sport” league, like bocce, or heading to the beach.
Finn is a rescue mutt who was saved by Homeward Trails Rescue. Maggie leads much of the 11th & Bark advocacy work and Finn oversees our website.
Cecilie Lindsay, Vice-Chair
Cecilie is a DC native and has been a resident of Columbia Heights for the past 16 years. Montego joined his family in 2014. The two enjoy going hiking, to the beach, and road trips but their go to spot in the neighborhood is 11th & Bark where Montego’s favorite activities are playing fetch and tug.
Cecilie Lindsay & Montego
Taylor Popielarz, Bonnie, & Delaney
Taylor Popielarz, Secretary
Taylor is a New Jersey native who has lived in the Columbia Heights/Park View Neighborhood since 2018. He is a Washington TV correspondent for Spectrum News, where he covers Congress, campaigns and the White House.
Taylor and his fiancée, Delaney, adopted Bonnie in March 2021 from Wolf Trap Animal Rescue when she was barely six weeks old. By that summer, Bonnie had become accustomed to two visits a day to 11th & Bark — a routine she continues to maintain. Taylor and Delaney fell in love with the park, the community that fills it, and the fun it injects into this great part of DC.
Lori Robertson, Treasurer
Lori and her husband, Eric Gronning, are founding members of 11th & Bark. Owners of former 11th Street restaurant Maple and longtime residents in the neighborhood, they wanted to save and improve the park because it is a valued community space that brings neighbors together. Lori, a journalist, has stayed on the board, with the goal of bringing the vision of a renovated and official, city off-leash park to fruition.
Lori and Eric adopted Silver from WARL (now the Humane Rescue Alliance). One of our dog park elders, Silver was a regular when the park first opened, but now stops by occasionally for events and periodic inspections.
Lori’s institutional knowledge of 11th & Bark’s founding and history is invaluable, as is Silver’s knack for costume competitions.
Lori Robertson & Silver
Eva Guenther & Luna
Eva Guenther
Eva has lived in DC since 1996 and moved to Park View in 2009 and loves the "community spirit" of the neighborhood. Eva currently works for a large non-profit in DC supporting, mostly USAID funded, projects overseas. She loves the outdoors, especially the mountains and kayaking.
Her partner in crime in all things outdoors is Luna - a black lab plus mystery. Luna found Eva through the Maryland Lab Rescue (Lab Resuce LRCP Maryland, Virginia, Washington) and has lived in the neighborhood since 2011. She loves all humans (especially those with treats), all dogs and swimming to keep cool during the summer.
Eva, who joined the Board in 2017, organizes 11th & Bark’s community outreach events and Luna oversees our quarterly clean-ups."
Eric Cuevas & Miles
Eric Cuevas
Eric and Miles actually met across the street from the park a few years ago: Miles looking for his forever home at an adoption event at Patrick’s Petcare and Eric was finishing up a pub crawl. The rest is history, and Eric and Miles are now regulars at the park.
Hailey Duncan & Luca
Hailey Duncan
Hailey has lived in the Columbia Heights neighborhood since 2020. She and her dog, Luca, are both native Texans. Hailey works at a large environmental non-profit doing policy analysis while Luca often supervises her work from his favorite window perch by her desk.
Hailey and Luca love exploring DC together, hiking, and finding the best dog-friendly patios in the city. They discovered 11th & Bark soon after Luca was adopted in November of 2021 as a way to socialize Luca and can be found there most mornings.
Partnerships
We are a partner of Green Spaces for DC, which is a nonprofit organization that advances park and green space improvements.
