Support Everyone Home DC Families This Thanksgiving

/in , , /by
Support Everyone Home DC’s Goal to Distribute Gift Cards to Support Families in Celebrating Thanksgiving This Year.

This Thanksgiving holiday season is the perfect time to help families in our community who continue to be impacted by the global health pandemic. Everyone Home DC is committed to ensuring that the families we work alongside will have the flexibility to celebrate Thanksgiving in a meaningful way. Once again this year, Everyone Home DC will distribute grocery and debit gift cards to our community members, giving them the power to make their own decisions on how they spend these funds.

Everyone Home DC introduced this new approach last year and it was met with gratitude and appreciation from our families, who appreciated the efficiency of the process and the ability to personalize their shopping experience. This year, we are continuing with the same model because we are continuing to navigate a pandemic and it’s what the community wants.

Everyone Home DC’s goal this year is to distribute a gift card to each family that works with Everyone Home DC, which means we need 150 $50 gift cards to distribute to families in advance of Thanksgiving. 

We need YOUR help to reach our goal. You can make a monetary donation today here. You can also consider running a drive to collect gift cards at your work, place of worship, book club, OR set up a fundraising page, and watch your social network support you in reaching your goal! Every little bit helps. Below is more information on how to get started. Thank you for your continued support of Everyone Home DC!

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

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 that will be used to purchase gift cards by program staff and sent 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, Harris Teeter, Safeway, and Giant gift cards.

GETTING CARDS TO EVERYONE HOME DC

  • You are welcome to skip the process of purchasing cards and make a donation on our Thanksgiving Celebration 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: Thanksgiving
415 2nd Street NE, 3rd Floor
Washington DC 20002

Please note: For our guests’ health and safety at Shirley’s Place, we will not be accepting gift card drop-offs at our drop-in day center (which has historically been the location for drop-offs in the past.) Thank you for understanding.

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.

 

September Challenge Wrap-Up

/in , , /by

Thank you for once again making this year’s September Challenge a massive success! Thank you for showing up for individuals and families at risk of or experiencing homelessness in DC during this time of extreme uncertainty. Together, we raised nearly $60,000, with close to 200 donations made throughout the month. 

We would not have seen this success if it wasn’t for 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 even more urgent due to the prolonged global health pandemic. Everyone played a critical role in ensuring this campaign’s success. Thank you.

In addition to the funds raised, check out Everyone Home DC’s September Challenge by the numbers.

  • The top two fundraisers raised more than $3,500 and collectively raised more than $7,000. Huge thanks to Alison Harwood, Angela Beckham, AND Edith and Mark Sherman for sharing your time and enthusiasm with this year’s September Challenge!
  • The September Challenge saw an increase in support this year, welcoming thirty Sponsors and Benefactor Circle members. 
  • There were six events hosted this September that welcomed new friends into the Everyone Home DC family and raised more than $10,000.
  • Everyone Home DC’s online auction raised more than $7,000.

It is the responsibility of each of us to end homelessness in Washington, DC and build the welcoming and inclusive community our founders believed 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!

 

It’s Back! Join the Challenge this September!

/in , , /by

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

For the second year in a row, Everyone Home DC will be taking its signature Fall fundraising event online! And we know, 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 every day were struggling with crises and instability long before this global health pandemic, and are now disproportionately bearing its terrible impact. Please help by joining Everyone Home DC in a month-long digital campaign. With a variety of fundraising experiences, to raise $55,000 for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness in our city!

Join Everyone Home DC, and be a part of this transformative experience:

IT IS ALL GOING DOWN THIS SEPTEMBER.

Please email Kate Akalonu at akalonu@everyonehomedc.org
to discuss any opportunities or creative ideas you have in more detail.

Vote Everyone Home DC Washington City Paper’s Best Nonprofit

/in /by

Thanks to YOUR support during the nomination process, Everyone Home DC has made it into the next round of the Washington City Paper’s Best Of DC readers’ poll.

Now it is time to vote Everyone Home DC DC’s Best Nonprofit in the People and Places category.

⭐️ Click this link to get to the People and Places voting page: https://bit.ly/VoteEHDC

⭐️Scroll to Best Nonprofit and VOTE for Everyone Home DC! if you already participated in the nomination process, you shouldn’t have to enter your email again.

Voting closes on September 19. Last year we took 3rd place and we are excited to see where we land this year! Thank you all for taking the time to vote!

Back-to-School at Everyone Home DC

/in , , /by

Support Everyone Home DC’s 2021/22 Back to School Initiative to Distribute 200 $50 Gift Cards to Rising Scholars

It is hard to believe but the 2021/22 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. 

Last year, Everyone Home DC shifted its back-to-school approach to ensure we provided families with flexible monetary support by providing families with gift cards. This new approach was met with gratitude and appreciation from our families, who appreciated the efficiency of the process and the ability to go back-to-school shopping as a family. And, we welcomed even more friends and supporters into the Everyone Home DC family. 

For the 2021/2022 school year, we will once again be collecting funds to distribute gift cards to our families to help with 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, OR you can 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 that will be used to purchase gift cards by program staff and sent 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.

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

Please note: For our guests’ health and safety at Shirley’s Place, we will not be accepting gift card drop-offs at our drop-in day center (which has historically been the location for drop-offs in the past.) Thank you for understanding.

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.

 

Nominate Everyone Home DC for Washington City Paper’s Best Nonprofit

/in , /by

It is that time of the year…Best of DC is here and this year the process looks a little bit different. This year, Washington City Paper will start the voting process with an Open Nominations phase, where readers can write in their top choice. This phase will go until 8/1 @ 10:59 pm Central. Then, in the next phase is the Finalist Vote where readers can select their top choice from the finalists. Voting in the final stage will begin on 8/18 @ 11:01 pm Central. As Washington City Paper says on its website, “The new process will give local organizations and businesses more opportunities to rock the vote and be selected for the final ballot, and it’ll make it easier for readers to cast their ballots.“

Take a couple of minutes (if that) and nominate Everyone Home DC Washington City Paper’s Best Nonprofit in the “People and Places” category. Here is what you need to do: click this link to get to the People and Places online ballot. Scroll down the alphabetical list stopping first at “Best Nonprofit” and type Everyone Home DC in the vote box, then enter your email address, and select nominate. That’s it!

Last year, Everyone Home DC landed in THIRD PLACE in the Best Nonprofit category and we are hoping to see a similar (or better!) performance this year!

Each year, Washington City Paper gives its readers a list of categories and asks YOU to name the very best of everything in DC. At Everyone Home DC, we believe our long-time work of and leadership in creating a thriving and diverse city where all people can obtain and remain in safe, affordable, and comfortable homes makes Everyone Home DC an obvious “Best Nonprofit” choice. THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Your 2020 Annual Report

/in /by

Everyone Home DC is pleased to present—on behalf of our Board of Directors, staff, and clients—your 2020 Everyone Home DC Annual Report. 

2020 introduced new situations never before experienced in Everyone Home DC’s 50 years of existence. Within these pages, we celebrate all that you made possible. Thanks to you, Everyone Home DC was ready and available to support the many individuals and families at risk of or experiencing homelessness who needed us more than ever as the pandemic threatened their health and what little income they had.

As we look forward, Everyone Home DC recognizes that we must not only continue to meet the immediate needs of those who are struggling but also do very intentional work to dismantle the systemic and institutional racism that perpetuates a myriad of injustices, including homelessness and disinvestment in communities of color.  We are committed to continuing to do this work here at Everyone Home DC, and we know we cannot do it without you. 

Thank you for standing with us during this historic time.

Today, we should all feel a collective sense of pride for what we have accomplished together and re-energized to continue fighting for a city where no one lives or dies without the dignity and security of a safe home. 

Our sincere thanks for your continued confidence and support. We are so glad you are here!

If you aren’t able to see Everyone Home DC’s 2020 Annual Report below, click this link to view it in a new tab.

Annual-Report-2020-Everyone-Home-DC

What We Are Reading & Listening To

/in /by

Check out some of the articles, podcasts, and books that Everyone Home DC has been reading over the last few weeks! Please shoot us an email at info@everyonehomedc.org and share with us what you are reading; we would love to know!

Angela Hill Lived Under The I-295 Overpass For Years. Now, Neighbors And Family Mourn Her | WAMU | Feb 22, 2021

Revenue: Advance Policies that Support an Equitable Pandemic Recovery | DC Fiscal Policy Institute | Mar 1, 2021

Covid Impacted Washington DC Neighborhood, Black History is Reinterpreted | Smithsonian Magazine | Feb 26, 2021

Progressive Lawmakers Are Considering Raising Taxes On The Rich. Should They? | DCist | Mar 2, 2021

Opinion: There can be no racial equity in D.C. when Black and Brown families are being displaced | Washington Post | Mar 5, 2021

‘Right now is not my time’: How Covid dimmed college prospects for students who need help most | The Hechinger Report | Mar 4, 2021

A city gave people $500 a month, no strings attached, to fight poverty. It paid off, study says. | Washington Post | Mar 4, 2021

Beckert’s Park Partners with Everyone Home DC

/in /by

Beckert’s Park, an apartment complex owned and managed by Foulger-Pratt, announces today its partnership with local nonprofit Everyone Home DC. During the month of March, the ‘One for One’ campaign provides new residents of the Capitol Hill apartment building a $250 gift card to the building’s on-site Safeway. In addition, for each new move-in, a matching $250 Safeway gift card will be donated to Everyone Home DC. The donation will go directly to helping those most in need across the District of Columbia. 

“We deeply admire the work that Everyone Home DC is doing and we are thrilled to partner with them,” says Alison Punsalan, Senior Vice President, Foulger-Pratt. “The past year caused the nation’s capital and the world to adjust in ways we never expected. Beckert’s Park wants to pay it forward and continue to support our community especially those experiencing homelessness and food shortages.” 

Everyone Home DC is a nonprofit organization that supports individuals and families at risk of or experiencing homelessness in the District. Foulger-Pratt, through Beckert’s Park, has supported the local community by partnering with groups like ThinkLocalFirst DC, Washington DC Economic Partnership, School Within School, Washington Project for the Arts, and Capitol Hill Cluster School.

As a local DC developer, Foulger-Pratt approaches every development project with community impact at the forefront, and Beckert’s Park has been no different. The project focus has always been on how to directly help the hyperlocal community. A complete overhaul of the neighborhood Safeway grocery store was undertaken during the building renovations and updated retail spaces line E Street and Carry’s Way SE. Named after George Beckert who originally settled in the neighborhood in 1844, Beckert’s Park has a storied history and evolution including the Beckert family home, a brewery, an ice cream shop, and now a Safeway and apartment building. 

The ‘One for One’ campaign will be in effect while funds last. For additional information on Beckert’s Park, visit https://www.beckertspark.com.

Staff Spotlight: Lakea Deans

/in , /by

Everyone Home DC is excited to introduce you to Lakea Deans! Lakea started working at Everyone Home DC at the beginning of 2018 and is currently the Assistant Program Manager of Family Homelessness Prevention. Everyone Home DC’s Family Homelessness Prevention is a 90-day program offering services for families at risk of becoming homeless through mediation, flexible financial assistance, and connecting them to supportive resources, with the goal of stabilizing their housing. Lakea’s first experience with Everyone Home DC  was as a Prevention Specialist, then growing into the Prevention Program Coordinator, followed by the role she is in today. Before joining the Everyone Home DC’s team, Lakea worked at the Office of Unified Communications (DC 911) in the IT department. Lakea graduated from  North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University with a BA in Psychology and LaKea is on track to graduate this year from Regent University with a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in Nonprofit Management. Lakea recently shared a bit about herself and her experience at Everyone Home DC.

What inspired you to work at Everyone Home DC?
LD: In addition to supporting the mission and vision of the organization, my love for helping others is what inspired me to work here at Everyone Home DC.  I believe we were created to be vessels and to show grace to others, this work reminds me that I am walking in my purpose. I truly enjoy working for Everyone Home DC.

What story about an individual or family who has worked with Everyone Home DC has stuck with you most?
LD: Working with Ms. G will always and forever be a case I will never forget. Whenever I am having a challenging day, I still think about Ms. G, and she motivates me to continue to do great work. Ms. G was one of my first clients I worked with who had multiple barriers. This made it challenging to find stable housing for her and her teenage daughter. I built a great rapport with her daughter. While working together, Ms. G enrolled herself into a treatment program, found an income-based housing program, and successfully moved into her own apartment. I worked with the landlord and her benefits provider to have her rent payments deducted automatically to ensure Ms. G paid her monthly rent on time. To this day, Ms. G actively checks in with me to provide updates. She has recently celebrated three years of sobriety,  her daughter graduated high school, and Ms. G is still stable in her apartment. Ms. G’s success lets me know that I am doing great work and I am right where I need to be.

What do you enjoy most about the culture of Everyone Home DC?
LD: I enjoy the constant support. We do great work but sometimes it can be challenging and the organization is always there to provide additional support and they care about our well-being. 

On a Sunday morning, you will find me…
LD: On a Sunday morning you will find me on my couch sipping tea, streaming church and than watching some good football. 

If you could meet anyone who would you meet and why?
LD: If I could meet anyone, I would want to meet Beyonce, lol just kidding,  I would love to meet Michelle Obama. She is graceful,  inspirational, and fearless. She gives hope to many Americans and to future generations. I can say so much more about her, but she is truly phenomenal.

What is the last thing you watched on Netflix (and enjoyed)?
LD: I really enjoyed watching Bridgerton, I can not wait for the next season to come out. I love all Shonda Rhimes shows, especially Grey’s Anatomy.

Who is one of your favorite musicians?
LD: My favorite musician is BEYONCE! BEYONCE! BEYONCE!

What do you enjoy doing in your free time? Or anything other tidbits you would like to share…
LD: I enjoy working out. Traveling is one of my favorite things to do. I love to explore and learn about other cultures.  I’ve done a mission trip in Botswana, Africa and I’ve traveled to many other places.   My favorite place I’ve traveled to thus far would have to be JAMACIA.  I enjoy hanging out with my family and friends. I am a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. I am a wine connoisseur and I love going to vineyards to try out different wines. Fun Fact: I was born with six fingers on my left hand.           

 

 

Sign up to receive email updates

Sign Up

CONTACT INFORMATION

© 2019 Everyone Home DC. Privacy Policy  United Way 8859. CFC 36006.