2023 Executive Director Reflection

Dear Friend,

Last month, I celebrated my 10-year anniversary with Everyone Home DC. I can hardly believe how the time has flown by. In some ways, it feels impossible that a full decade has passed. But when I pause and reflect on the organization I joined and the one I lead today, it feels like it can hardly be the same organization. 

Everyone Home DC has changed so much in my decade with the organization:

• We moved our growing staff that had spread into two churches, one public housing community, and a shared workspace into one main office where we all fit comfortably together
• We launched two new programs–Family Homelessness Prevention and Permanent Supportive Housing
• We changed our name and branding to reflect our mission better and be more welcoming to everyone who needs our services or wants to support our work to end homelessness
• We hired our first development staff person, grew the department to a three-person team, and created an operations department with two full-time staff
• Our team grew from about a dozen staff to more than 40 and now includes well-established manager and director-level leadership teams
• Our budget of less than one million dollars in 2013 will be well over five million dollars in 2024
• We survived a global pandemic and transitioned to a hybrid work environment that offers greater flexibility to both our clients and our staff, and
• We have grown as leaders and advocates within the homelessness continuum of care and our city 

Indeed, Everyone Home DC has grown and matured a LOT as an organization during my tenure, but what has not changed is just as important:

• Our steadfast commitment to ending homelessness and treating our unhoused neighbors with dignity, respect, and love
• The generous and loyal support of our extended community who reach  out to ask how they can support an unhoused neighbor they worry about; to our faith community founders and growing number of partners who provide volunteers and board members, in-kind supply drives, and financial support; to the community foundation and local business who support our programs and sponsor our events
• The strength of our staff, including several of our managers and directors who were already here when I arrived and have grown alongside me and been key to our continued success

I am so proud and honored to be a part of Everyone Home DC and to have had the opportunity to grow with it these last ten years. I am also deeply grateful to each of you who have played a role in our success. We are a community organization, and you–our community–have always been and always will be essential to our ability to achieve our vision of the District of Columbia as a thriving and diverse community where all people can obtain and remain in safe, affordable, and comfortable homes. As the economic future of our beloved city feels terribly uncertain, and the support of our social safety net is at extreme risk with planned budget cuts this year, and next, we know we can rely upon you to see us through to better times. Thank you! 

With gratitude,
Karen Cunningham
Everyone Home DC
Executive Director