You Did It | September Challenge Goal Reached

Thank you for making this year’s September Challenge a success! For the third year in a row, you showed up for individuals and families at risk of or experiencing homelessness in DC. Together, we raised nearly $70,000, with more than 180 donations made throughout the Challenge. 

We reached this successful milestone thanks to our AMAZING September Challenge Sponsors, Benefactor Circle, and Committee members; our staff, volunteers, donors, event hosts & participants, fundraisers, online auction partners & participants, and many social media ambassadors. We know the need to raise critical funds to support people facing homelessness is more urgent than ever. Everyone played a vital role in ensuring this campaign’s success. Thank you.

In addition to the funds raised, check out some of the other highlights of Everyone Home DC’s September Challenge:

  • We are incredibly excited to share that Christ Church + Washington Parish on Capitol Hill has joined The Jeanne Phil Meg Team at Compass and National Capital Bank as a Lead Sponsor for this year’s September Challenge.
  • We welcomed five new supporters at the Benefactor Circle and Sponsor level in the final week, raising an additional $3,000. Thanks to Egbert Souse, Emily Guthrie & Michael Lindner, Anne & Marc Mayerson, Oanh Vuong, Suzanne Wells & Mike Godec.
  • The September Challenge Leaderboard had eight active fundraisers that raised more than $12,000. This year’s top fundraisers were Alison Harwood & Chuck Rohe, Adolfo Gatti & DiCristoforo, Edith and Mark Sherman, Pat Joseph, Angela Beckham & Jason Johnson, AND Martha and Matt Huizenga. Huge thanks to ALL for sharing your time and enthusiasm with this year’s September Challenge!
  • Everyone Home DC’s online auction was its most successful to date, raising nearly $9,000.

It is the responsibility of each of us to end homelessness in Washington, DC, and build the welcoming and inclusive community we believe is possible. Thank you for joining Everyone Home DC as we continue the work of ensuring all people have access to safe, affordable, and comfortable homes in Washington, DC. We are so glad you are here!

Join the Challenge | Start a Fundraiser

SEPTEMBER CHALLENGE IS BACK FOR ANOTHER YEAR! A MONTH-LONG DIGITAL CAMPAIGN (& MORE!)

The need to raise critical funds to support people facing homelessness is more urgent than ever. The individuals and families Everyone Home DC works with daily struggled with crises and instability long before this global health pandemic and are now disproportionately bearing its impact. Please help by joining Everyone Home DC in a month-long digital campaign. With a variety of fundraising experiences, to raise $65,000 for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness in our city!

One way to support Everyone Home DC in reaching its September Challenge goals is to join the Challenge and set up your own personal fundraiser. It only takes a minute to set up a campaign. A September Challenge template already exists, and you are welcome to use it. OR you can enhance your page with a unique photo, title, and more! And just like that, you’ll be ready to raise money to end homelessness in Washington, DC.

Once your campaign is set up, tell everyone about it. The more people you tell, the quicker you’ll reach your goal. Then sit back and watch the donations roll in. 100% of what you raise be put to work immediately in support of Everyone Home DC’s critical programs for people at risk of and experiencing homelessness in Washington, DC.

Getting started is easy. 

If you have any questions, please contact Kate at akalonu@everyonehomedc.org. 

 

Back-to-School at Everyone Home DC

Support Everyone Home DC’s 2022/23 Back to School Initiative to Distribute 200 $50 Gift Cards to Rising Scholars

It is hard to believe, but the 2022/23 school year is right around the corner! Each year we begin planning around this time so that when our families start to think about the new school year, Everyone Home DC is ready to provide support with any back-to-school needs. 

For the last two years, Everyone Home DC has prioritized providing families with flexible monetary support so they can go shopping together in anticipation of the new school year. This approach is appreciated by our families, who value the process’s efficiency and ability to go shopping as a family.

For the 2022/2023 school year, we will collect funds to distribute gift cards to our families’ back-to-school shopping. Everyone Home DC’s goal is to distribute a $50 gift card to each Everyone Home DC scholar, which means this year, we need 200 $50 gift cards. AND we need YOUR help to reach our goal. 

Please consider hosting a drive to collect gift cards (Visa, Mastercard, Target, Walmart, and Amazon) at your work, place of worship, or with your favorite people. You can also sponsor a scholar or two individually. You can also support our efforts by sharing the need with your friends and family by sending a quick email or posting on your favorite social media platform. If you want to create a fundraising page to share with your friends, we can help you with that too! Every little bit helps. Below is more information on how to get started and how to get the gift cards or cash gifts to Everyone Home DC. 

Everyone Home DC plans to begin distributing gift cards to families by mid-August.

GETTING STARTED

  • We want to hear from you if you plan to run a drive or collection! This will support Everyone Home DC’s planning (and budgeting) efforts. Contact Kate Akalonu at akalonu@everyonehomedc.org to discuss what types of gift cards to focus on collecting and to share how many gift cards you plan to contribute. We can also provide any brainstorming support to get the word out to your community if you are running a drive.
  • You can also make a monetary donation, and program staff will purchase gift cards and send them electronically to families. Please note, families have openly expressed how much they appreciate the convenience of receiving gift cards electronically. Consider making a donation in $50 increments (or any amount) today!
  • Everyone Home DC families expressed most appreciating Visa, Mastercard, Target, Walmart, and Amazon gift cards.
  • Are you interested in setting up a personal fundraising page? Email Kate Akalonu at akalonu@everyonehomedc.org. She is on standby to help you get started!

GETTING CARDS TO EVERYONE HOME DC

  • You are welcome to skip the process of purchasing cards and make a donation on our Back to School Collection donation page. Program staff will then purchase gift cards and send them electronically to families. Consider making a donation in $50 increments (or any amount) today!
  • If purchasing gift cards at a store or online, you are welcome to mail them directly to Everyone Home DC’s main headquarters address. Please contact Kate at akalonu@everyonehomedc.org if you have any questions or to discuss dropping the gift cards off.

Mail Gift Cards to:
Everyone Home DC
Attn: Back-to-School
415 2nd Street NE, 3rd Floor
Washington DC 20002

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out! Thank you for standing with Everyone Home DC now and always. We are so glad you are here.

 

New Partnership with NFL Defensive End Yannick Ngakoue

Having grown up in a single-mother household in the Washington DC area, Yannick Ngakoue knew he wanted to give back to families in similar circumstances to his. Yannick identified Everyone Home DC, a DC-based organization that supports the holistic needs of individuals and families at risk of or experiencing homelessness, as the recipient of a donation that would help families Everyone Home DC serves in a few different ways.

Yannick’s generous gift will support families living in Ward 7 and Ward 8 with expenses due to domestic violence and the need to access safety quickly, including hotel fees, first and last month’s rent, security deposits, moving expenses, and replacing items that had to be left behind. Other families will be able to access the funds to cover moving expenses related to relocation from unsafe and unhealthy living environments or purchasing a new home. Funds will also provide summer camp experiences to the children of a few families, providing critical summer learning and development opportunities.

In a recent video posted on Yannick’s social media, Yannick shared:

“It’s a special time in our world today to give back to one another and I feel like it’s my calling to be able to help out single moms, especially from my city.”

Yannick “tore up the DC football scene during his high school years.” He played football for Friendship Collegiate Academy Public Charter School, located in Ward 7, receiving the Gatorade Football Player of the Year his senior season. Yannick went on to play at the University of Maryland before joining the NFL. This upcoming season, Yannick will be playing for the Indianapolis Colts. You can learn more about Yannick’s journey in football journalist Tyler Dunne’s Go Long piece.

Everyone Home DC is so incredibly excited to share this new and extremely thoughtful partnership with Yannick Ngakoue in support of single mothers in our city. We are so proud of all that Yannick has accomplished and humbled to be able to share these critical funds with the families we work alongside.

Our Community is Better United for Do More 24

Over the last two years, our city has seen small businesses, families, and loved ones devastated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Everyone Home DC needs you. And we need you to help us continue our housing solutions and services to individuals and families experiencing homelessness.

Now in its 10th year, the Do More 24 movement, powered by United Way of the National Capital Area, brings together area nonprofits in a focused effort to boost the nonprofit economy throughout the region. This year Do More 24 is centered around lifting up our neighbors in need as we recover from the pandemic and reducing disparities to create a more equitable future for all.

Please join Everyone Home DC on Wednesday, May 18, for Do More 24. All you have to do is click this link and give!

We’re #BetterUnited. Together, we can build stronger communities.

Your 2021 Annual Report

On behalf of our Board of Directors, staff, and clients, Everyone Home DC is proud to present your 2021 Everyone Home DC Annual Report

It is hard to believe that Everyone Home DC has been providing its life-changing programs and services in the face of a pandemic for two whole years! Thank you for standing with us yet again this year.

Within these pages, we reflect on shared experiences and share our vision for the path ahead. We invite you to scroll through a few of the highlights you have made possible. You can view your full 2021 Everyone Home DC Annual Report here.

As we look forward, Everyone Home DC remains committed to working with our community to put the needs of people at risk of or experiencing homelessness at the center of a just recovery. We cannot do this work without you. We are grateful for your unwavering support. 

EHDC-Annual-Report-2021-pages

Won’t You Join Our GoodNeighbor Circle?

As we all continue to settle into 2022, we wanted to invite you to invest monthly in ending homelessness by joining Everyone Home DC’s GoodNeighbor Circle. With your monthly gift, you will join some of Everyone Home DC’s most committed partners dedicated to ending homelessness in the District of Columbia. 

Members of Everyone Home DC’s GoodNeighbor Circle make small, automatic donations each month, which makes it easier for Everyone Home DC to plan long-term, budget more efficiently, and create more life-changing opportunities for individuals and families in our city. You choose how much to give, for how long, and you can change your amount or cancel at any time.

Become a GoodNeighbor with your monthly gift today and ensure all people in our city have access to safe, affordable, and comfortable homes. Yes! I want to become a GoodNeighbor today!

 

We are GoodNeighbors. We are Everyone Home DC.
GoodNeighbors make a difference every month—all year long— and they provide a strong foundation by building a consistent and reliable source of support for Everyone Home DC. Read why these generous people give—and why you should consider becoming a GoodNeighbor today.

 

“I participate in the monthly giving program because, as a former employee of a non-profit organization, I know how important it is to be able to depend and budget based on a sustained level of income.  Unexpected gifts are nice, but making and executing budgets requires consistent monthly funding.  Furthermore, monthly donations enable supporters to give more annually than they could otherwise afford.

I specifically support Everyone Home DC because it is doing the difficult hands-on work of helping individuals and families in my neighborhood find and keep safe housing essential for their health and well-being. This is important and necessary work toward our goal of achieving a just and equitable society.” — Lisa

 

 

“After moving to DC, we were on a mission to support our community at a local level. We soon found the answer right in our new neighborhood: Everyone Home DC’s Homeless Assistance Response Team (HART). Since getting involved, we have been impressed by Everyone Home DC’s caring and passionate team, who made it easy to feel connected to our now beloved Capitol Hill community. 

When the pandemic began, we could no longer support Everyone Home DC as volunteers and still felt like we wanted to do SOMETHING. That was when we received an email asking for donations and thought, ah yes, this is how we can help. Though small, our first donation introduced us to other wonderful people connected with Everyone Home DC, who made feeling involved in the community possible during a pandemic. Soon after, we became recurring donors for the first time in our lives. We are proud to support an organization whose mission we wholeheartedly believe in that fills us with hope for a stronger, safer, and entirely housed DC.” — Valerie & Adolfo

 

 

 

 

Voices of Shirley’s Place

Collectively, we continue to find ourselves amid extraordinary challenges. This is especially true for Everyone Home DC and the people we work alongside. We are so profoundly grateful to you for standing with us yet again this year. Your dependable support has ensured that all of Everyone Home DC’s front line and essential services have continued uninterrupted. That includes our drop-in Day Center, Shirley’s Place, which continues to keep its doors open and services accessible—although in a re-imagined way—over the last year and a half. Shirley’s Place, located near the Potomac Avenue Metro station, is named in honor of the late Shirley Smith Anderson, a long-time member of the Capitol Hill Community, and social justice activist. Everyone Home DC’s Day Center is one of only a few spaces in our city offering people experiencing homelessness a safe, healthy, and dignified place to take respite from the elements and access vital services like showers, laundry, restrooms, mail service, phones, computers, lunch, and social service referrals. This holiday season, it is your gift to Everyone Home DC that supports our critical work on the front lines, ensuring that all people living in our city have access to meaningful relationships that connect them with supportive services and networks.

As economic uncertainty continues to loom, this is more important than ever before. As we reflect on the past year, we want to lift up the voices of our community as they share what Shirley’s Place has meant to them over the last 20 months.

Because of your commitment to our mission and programs, Everyone Home DC’s Day Center has historically had a profound impact on the Capitol Hill Community by providing consistent and life-saving support to our neighbors experiencing homelessness. During this pandemic, Shirley’s Place has continued to provide these essential services and supplies without interruption. The Day Center reconfigured its physical space, acquired the appropriate PPE, and put policies and protocols in place to offer in-person services safely and with urgency and compassion. This year, Everyone Home DC is partnering with DC Central Kitchen to provide tasty, nutritious, and dignified meals, to anyone who stops by Shirley’s Place for a visit.

It is so hard to know what 2022 will bring. Due to the economic and racial injustice that has existed in our society for decades, the individuals and families we work with—who were facing crisis and instability long before this pandemic—are feeling far more exposed to the harshness of this new reality. Please make a personally meaningful year-end contribution today to support Everyone Home DC’s critical work on the front lines in the new year ahead.

In the spirit of the season, please make a personally meaningful year-end gift today to ensure that Everyone Home DC continues to provide essential services and housing supports while preparing for the pandemic’s long-term impact. With your gift today, Everyone Home DC will be here not just today but, in the weeks, and months ahead, working with our community to put the needs of people at risk of or experiencing homelessness at the center of a just recovery. We are so glad you are here. We cannot do this work without YOU. Please continue to take care of yourself and each other.

🎁 Looking for Last Minute Gifts?🎁

THIS HOLIDAY SEASON, GIVE A GIFT THAT MAKES YOUR COMMUNITY STRONGER!

Finding a meaningful holiday gift for the people you love can be a challenge. This year, honor those you care about by making a donation on their behalf to Everyone Home DC. Your holiday gift will provide urgent and critical resources to individuals and families living in Washington, DC, who continue to feel the harsh impact of the ongoing global health pandemic. The process couldn’t be easier…

1. Make a Donation

Everyone Home DC will put your meaningful gift in honor to work immediately in support of individuals and families at risk of or experiencing homelessness in Washington, DC.

2. Click Here to Download Your Certificate of Donation

After making your donation, download your certificate and personalize it.

Everyone Home DC Certificate of Donation

3. Check this item off your holiday to do list.

 Thank you for giving a gift that builds a stronger and more vibrant city for all!

If you need any support, we are on standby

❤ 2021 Executive Director Reflection ❤

As unbelievable as it seems, we are somehow reaching the end of another year. We had hoped the pandemic would be over by now, but alas….. The ongoing pandemic continues to complicate our efforts to end homelessness, but today, I want to focus on the positive things the pandemic has taught us.

First, we learned just how much we could count on you in a crisis. You donated more generously than ever and consistently asked how our staff and clients were coping and what more you could do to help. You enabled us to continue providing essential services to those in need and to do so in ways that kept both our clients and staff safe. Thank you!

Through the Pandemic Emergency Housing for Medically Vulnerable Individuals (PEP-V) program, our city learned what service providers already knew–when we have the will and commit the resources, we can quickly move unhoused individuals indoors, including those who have eschewed shelter for years. Many people living outdoors do not want to go into a congregate shelter for a variety of legitimate reasons including, being unable to bring more than two bags of belongings, poor shelter conditions, unwillingness to live apart from an opposite-sex partner or relinquish a pet, and being overwhelmed in large group settings. When offered a room with no more than one roommate in a PEP-V shelter, however, even those written off by some as “housing resistant” happily moved inside and stayed. It is not shelter or housing that folks resist. It is shelter or housing that does not adequately support their very reasonable needs and preferences. We hope this lesson will be incorporated into the design of our standard shelter and housing programs.

Finally, we learned important lessons about making our services even more client-centered and anti-racist. The pandemic forced homeless services providers to conduct meetings by phone and video and have clients sign documents electronically. We also chose to provide electronic gift cards rather than distributing pantry and household items directly. We quickly realized that these changes made it far more accessible for people to actively participate in our programs and get the kind of support they needed. They no longer had to spend the time, energy, and expense to travel to in-person meetings, sometimes with several small children in tow. They also had the dignity of choosing the best items for them rather than making due with whatever we had on hand or chose for them. This is what it looks like to be client-centered, and we hope to continue these practices as much as possible even after the pandemic finally abates.

Similarly, we chose to provide gift cards rather than school supplies, food baskets, and presents through our Back-to-School, Thanksgiving, and Holiday Gift drives. We knew that this approach was the right one as it centered the clients’ needs and offered them the power to make their own decisions. Our clients could choose what their kids most needed and wanted for school, shop for the ingredients necessary for their particular holiday traditions, and feel the joy of selecting and wrapping gifts for their children–things most of us take for granted. Moreover, giving people cash rather than pre-selected goods intentionally disrupts a system of in-kind giving rooted in and maintained by racist and classist notions that poor people–and especially poor Black people–cannot be trusted to spend money in ways that predominantly white and wealthy donors, institutional funders, and service providers deem responsible.

We had contemplated making this change for some time but feared that our in-kind donors might not participate without the feel-good element of shopping for their sponsored families. The pandemic forced our hand, and I am proud to share that our fears were largely unfounded. Several of you even wrote to us saying how much you appreciated our more client-centered and anti-racist approach. It has been so fulfilling for our team to see that when we lead with our values, our community will not just follow but will enthusiastically cheer us on.

We look forward to a new year where we will continue to look and listen for what this pandemic, our clients, and our community have to teach us. Thank you for taking this journey with us!

With warm wishes for a joyful holiday season,

Karen Cunningham
Everyone Home DC
Executive Director