*Names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals staying outside that Everyone Home DC works with.

Sue and Moe were in deep discussion when Brett and I approached the park bench. We were on an afternoon outreach walk handing out waters and snacks to people staying outside. “Can you settle something for us?” Sue said, after we had exchanged greetings, “Who sings Remember When?” Brett pulled up the song on her phone. “It’s Alan Jackson,” I told her, looking over Brett’s shoulder. Moe did a small celebration interspersed with a bit of gloating. “Okay, okay,” Sue said, “I can admit when I’m wrong.” To us, she explained, “I thought it was George Strait.” To Moe, “I guess I owe you 25 cents.”

We played that song for them, then another and another. As Moe danced with the music, Sue started talking about her life, growing up in Florida, the family she had there, her mother’s health, her constant fight with addiction and the toll it has taken on her life. She looked sometimes at me, sometimes off down the street as she told me about her missteps and mistakes and all the effort she has put in to get back to where she wants to be. Her eyes filled with tears at some parts, at others, she chuckled with the memory. I was acutely aware in that moment that the relationship we fostered in the easy times was the foundation for assistance and support in the harder times. 

I don’t think I could have imagined earning such trust and camaraderie when I accepted a position on Everyone Home DC’s street outreach team. I have worked at Everyone Home DC for the past year through the Avodah Jewish Service Corps. Avodah offers young Jewish adults the opportunity to learn and grow as Jewish social justice leaders through living in an intentional community, learning with social justice experts, and engaging in direct service work at a local anti-poverty organization.

Every day, I work with people who are experiencing homelessness to help with food, clothing, applying for IDs or Medicaid or food stamps, discussing employment opportunities, and generally supporting them in removing barriers to obtaining housing. In the evening, I go home to my housemates, who have spent their days renewing DACA applications, delivering food to people with chronic illnesses, advocating for Medicaid patients, organizing local Jewish institutions around social justice issues, teaching tech skills to low-income residents. We share successes and hardships, offering emotional support and resources our organizations can provide for each other’s clients. A couple times a week, we have programs where we discuss foundational issues of racism, privilege, and the Jewish connection to social justice that directly impact our work and relationships with clients. For me, the weekly learning and discussion combined with the daily confrontation of the real-world consequences developed a profound understanding of issues of homelessness and housing insecurity.

I wanted to work at Everyone Home DC because I thought homelessness was, at its core, an easy problem with an easy solution. Since I believe there is enough physical space for everyone to have a place to live, I thought it was just a matter of organizing a system to put people in that space. As I learned from attending advocacy events with The Way Home Campaign, housing is the solution. Housing ends homelessness. But homelessness is not just about whether or not you have a place to stay. I have learned about the barriers of mental health and addiction and employment and systemic oppression that makes it harder for some to achieve their goals than others. So many times this year, I have heard clients imagine how job interviews would be different if they could get a full night’s sleep, take a shower, and put on clean clothes before meeting with a potential employer. Doctors, nurses, and clients have all told me how hard it is to maintain a rigid schedule of taking medicine when they have nowhere secure to store their meds, they don’t know if they will be able to get a meal beforehand, or they have no way of setting a daily timer to remind them.

I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to learn from and be inspired by my clients, my coworkers, my housemates, and the larger DC community. Everyone should, at some point in their life, engage in direct service. It fosters such a deep sense of empathy. It is a reminder that everyone has a story that goes beyond their current circumstances, a past, a family (biological or chosen), skills and expertise, motivations and desires, and obstacles they have overcome or are still working to overcome. As a resident of my neighborhood, my city, my country, the world, I am a part of the community. The whole community. And as a community member, I have a responsibility to treat my neighbors well and stand up for their rights. Thank you for this opportunity and this experience to be part of your community.

By Orli Hendler – Orli participated in  AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps 2018-2019 and worked with Everyone Home DC’s Street Outreach program during her Avodah year. Orli Hendler grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and graduated from Emory University. In college, Orli witnessed diversity and inequality in her community and in the world at large, through her experiences as a Resident Advisor as well as an Emory delegate to the UN climate change conference. After studying linguistics and environmental science, she decided to dedicate her year to directly address inequalities by serving others. Avodah not only offered this opportunity but provided a wonderful Jewish community with which to live. In her free time, Orli enjoys playing soccer, practicing circus arts, and road tripping around the country.

Dear Friends,

According to DC’s 2018 Point in Time homelessness count, there are approximately 7,000 of our neighboring families and fellow residents experiencing homelessness on any given night. Some may see this as a welcome decrease from the prior year—and I’m proud of our efforts that contributed to securing homes for many people in 2018—but our work is far from complete.

In fact, I’d say we’re just getting started.

For more than 50 years, Capitol Hill Group Ministry has partnered with people experiencing homelessness, and we’ve partnered with caring neighbors, fellow advocates, and city officials to end homelessness in the District. However, much has changed since our founding by a coalition of churches on Capitol Hill 50 years ago. In this milestone of our 50^th anniversary, it was time to adopt a name that was truer to our mission, more reflective of our community, and more in line with our vision for our city as a thriving and diverse community, where all people can obtain and remain in safe, affordable, and comfortable homes.

And so, I am proud to announce that today, Capitol Hill Group Ministry becomes Everyone Home DC.

Our new name is a name and a mission statement in one. It is more welcoming of the diverse range of supporters it will take to achieve our vision and it gives our work a clear and recognizable descriptor. And one need not look further than our wide-ranging efforts in 2018 to see that our services and solutions reach far beyond the Capitol Hill community.

Our new name, however, will not impact our purpose, our programs, nor our special relationships with faith communities and Capitol Hill area partners. Our focused commitment continues, with a rigorous set of solutions for families and individuals experiencing homelessness in the Capitol Hill area and beyond.

The reality is, we’ve known a new name was needed for the past several years. So, about a year ago, with the support of our extended network, we began reflecting on the words we use to describe our beliefs, values, and impact. We refined our vision, mission, and strategic priorities, and then began considering how we communicate externally. Our process included conversations with staff, board, community members, and faith leaders, to ensure that our story was authentic and anchored by our core values and beliefs.

• The New Name: Our new name – Everyone Home DC – gives our work a clear and recognizable descriptor, something we did not have previously. And it reduces the confusion that many people had about our previous name. Our services and solutions are no longer limited to the Capitol Hill community, and while we maintain strong alliances with DC’s faith community, we are not a religiously-affiliated organization.

• Our New Logo and Visual Identity: Our new logo incorporates warm colors and connected row homes—an iconic DC visual that represents our unwavering commitment to this community. The gradient of a rising sun represents hope, optimism, and our belief in the self-determination and resilience of all people. We often heard that our prior mark felt dated and traditional—not at all like the work we do every day. The main focus of our rebrand, which includes a new website (everyonehomedc.org), was to bring clarity and connectivity to our work, and to help our current and future partners and colleagues better understand our work and our mission to end homelessness.

We are proud of the new brand we’ve built together at Everyone Home DC. We believe it’s a powerful reflection of who we are and what we stand for—something we’ve long known but not always expressed with such clarity.

We invite you to learn more and join us in this next phase of our journey. As I said above, we’re just getting started, and I look forward to all that we’ll be able to achieve, together.

In the spirit of service,

Karen E. Cunningham
Executive Director