Hello, Friend!

Every year around this time, I find myself looking out at our city with a kind of winter clarity. The leaves are thinner, the air is sharper—everything feels a little more exposed. It’s in these moments that I’m reminded how much strength and vulnerability can exist side by side—how a city dotted with cranes and new developments, surrounded by thriving neighborhoods with soaring home prices, can also be a place where far too many of our neighbors are struggling just to stay warm.

And while Washington, DC doesn’t have the towering skyscrapers many cities do, we still have long shadows—cast not by buildings, but by inequities that deepen when the safety nets meant to hold people up begin to fray.

This year, those shadows deepened.

Throughout 2025, we have watched decades of progress in housing and human services threatened—not only by deep and painful funding cuts, but by rhetoric and policy shifts that have left many in our community feeling anxious, unsafe, and devalued. Programs that kept families stably housed have been scaled back. The programs that help people move off the streets and into permanent housing are under-resourced, and the social safety net we’ve spent years strengthening is unraveling—thread by thread—leaving those living outside or in shelters with limited options and perpetual uncertainty.

And this year, our supporters and donors have not been spared. Many of you have lost vocations you spent a lifetime pouring yourselves into—roles that weren’t just jobs, but sources of purpose, service, and identity—along with a sense of financial security and stability. You’ve also witnessed deeply unsettling scenes in our city—from armed troops on sidewalks and Metro platforms to neighbors taken away without warning—that have left many feeling fearful and uncertain about what may come next. And because you are people of deep conscience, the suffering of those around you has been impossible to hold at a distance.

At Everyone Home DC, we’ve felt our share of pain this year, too. We’ve had to make difficult choices, stretch every dollar, and carry the weight of knowing that the people who will bear the consequences of program cuts and regressive policy choices most acutely are those who already have the least. And yet—through it all—we have been buoyed by you, our community, that has met this moment with courage, creativity, and compassion.

This year, despite facing significant challenges and anxieties of your own, you have:

• increased your financial contributions, helping to sustain critical programs and meet urgent needs,
  
• organized supply drives throughout the year that delivered thousands of bottles of water, snacks, and hygiene kits to our unhoused neighbors,
• turned birthdays, community gatherings, and other events into fundraisers for our programs in record numbers, and
• And when key decisions threatened housing access and support for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness, you spoke up—sending letters, making calls, and advocating for the care, dignity, and resources our neighbors deserve.

In the face of adversity, our community leans powerfully into its values of compassion, equity, and shared responsibility for our collective well-being. This year has been hard. However, I take heart in knowing that when public systems fail to protect people, our community steps forward.

When systems fail, neighbors step in to help. When safety nets fray, we become the net.

As we settle into the final weeks of 2025, I hope you find moments to connect with traditions that bring you comfort, joy, and ease. May this time of rest and reflection give us the energy and tenacity to continue the fight ahead in the new year. I hope you know how much your partnership means to me, our staff, and our Board—and to every person whose life has been touched by your generosity and care. Together, we’ll continue to demonstrate what’s possible when a city decides that everyone deserves a home.

With love and gratitude,
Karen Cunningham
Everyone Home DC
Executive Director

When we met James, he lived under an overpass on Capitol Hill, steps from our drop-in Day Center, for almost two years. It wasn’t home, but it was a place where he knew his neighbors, where they looked out for one another, and where he could access services that helped him manage his health. This spring, Everyone Home DC supported James in moving into his own permanent home—a space where he can lock the door, cook his own meals, and sleep soundly at night.

That’s the solution to homelessness—housing.

This week, the federal government announced plans to take control of certain DC public safety operations, deploy the National Guard, and “clean up” homeless encampments. These actions are being framed as a public safety measure, but no plan has been shared to house the people who will be displaced. The only options on the table are threats of involuntary hospitalization or incarceration—indicating that force, not support, is the approach being prioritized.

We know how to end homelessness, and it isn’t with force. It isn’t moving people from one sidewalk to another. It’s stable, safe, and permanent housing—paired with the supportive services each person needs to thrive. DC already knows what works—permanent supportive and affordable housing, flexible financial assistance, robust street outreach programs, service-rich drop-in centers, and shelters—but these solutions require sustained investment. Yet federal actions are holding $1.1 billion in DC taxpayer dollars hostage while simultaneously disinvesting in the very programs that can prevent and end homelessness, revealing the disingenuousness of these efforts. 

True solutions to ending homelessness are grounded in deep knowledge of our neighbors’ needs and the realities of the city. Protecting and investing in these community-led approaches is essential, especially as federal actions and funding cuts threaten to undermine the progress we’ve made. 

Our city is home to far too many neighbors experiencing homelessness. Many live in encampments because decades of underinvestment have left them no other option. These communities often provide safety, connection, and mutual support. Sweeping them away without providing permanent housing will only deepen trauma, break apart relationships, and push people further from stability.

Everyone Home DC exists to change that. We connect neighbors to homes and walk alongside them as they build stability, community, and opportunity. We will not be distracted by harmful rhetoric or short-term “clean-up” efforts that do nothing to solve the problem.

Everyone Home DC is  committed to a future where:

• Housing is the first and most essential step to ending homelessness.
• People are treated with dignity and choice in where and how they live.
• Solutions are built for the long term, not the news cycle.
• Adequate funding and resources are prioritized so proven solutions can succeed.

Now, more than ever, we need your voice, advocacy, and partnership to ensure DC’s response is rooted in housing, dignity, and compassion — not displacement and force. Here’s how you can help today:

• 🌱 Invest in your neighbors: Give a personally meaningful gift today—or commit monthly through the GoodNeighbor Circle to help all people in our city access homes, stability, and lasting support. Your investment creates real change.
• 📣 Speak up: Share this message with your communities and advocate for housing-first solutions.
• 💪Take action: Contact local leaders to demand funding for proven housing-centered solutions. Want to do more? Join our Community Connectors and help amplify our impact locally.

We know you believe, as we do, that our neighbors deserve more than being moved from place to place. They deserve the chance to heal, rebuild, and belong in a city that refuses to leave them behind.

Thank you for standing with us,
Karen Cunningham
Executive Director

*Names and identifying details have been altered to protect privacy.