In a time when Washington, D.C.'s Ward 7 faced some of its toughest challenges, one recreation center staff member quietly became a lifeline for hundreds of young people searching for safety, guidance and hope. Woody Ward was a mentor, protector and consistent presence for young people during the 1980s and 1990s, when many communities across Southeast D.C. were grappling with rising violence, poverty, and limited opportunities for youth. Raymond Beale, who grew up going to the recreation center during that era, said it was a place where people gathered to survive, to learn and to be seen. Ward was a father figure for a lot of kids who didn't have a father figure around. Community advocate Ebbon A. Allen grew up blocks away from the recreation center, where he spent his youth.