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

Dear Friend,

I’ve been watching my fair share of cheesy Christmas movies over the last several weeks. While I enjoy seeing the sad orphan or widow reconnecting to their Christmas spirit; the lonely, over-achieving career woman finding love with a carpenter restoring an old church in her hometown; and the venture capitalist saving the independent bookstore instead of putting it out of business as much as the next gal, I do have a gripe with the Christmas movie cliche that idealizes small towns over big cities. While big cities may have bigger problems than small towns and a pace of life that can leave less time for baking cookies and crafting hand-made Christmas ornaments, it is simply not true that small-town folks have stronger values or care about their neighbors more than big-city residents do. Big cities also have big hearts. 

Everyone Home DC’s supporters like you prove this again and again and again. All year long, I watched you show love for your unhoused and housing-insecure neighbors in our big city. Here are a few examples:

• Point in Time Count volunteers spent hours outside on a cold January night ensuring that every person sleeping outside and their experience of homelessness was documented so that the city can understand the size, demographics, and needs of our homeless population.
• Individuals from religious congregations and community organizations prepared and shared home-cooked meals with about 80 guests at Shirley’s Place at least once a month. For Thanksgiving, one church delivered mini-pies to make our guests’ holiday meals special.
• Community members organized in-kind drives within their workplaces, schools, and religious organizations to ensure that people living outside had plenty of water and sports drinks to keep them hydrated (nearly 4,000 bottles of water were donated) in the hottest summer months and that they always had the hygiene items necessary to preserve both their health and their dignity (3,000 hygiene kits were created).
• Several faith communities worked together to plan and host an educational forum on homelessness and how best to support unhoused neighbors.
• A Girls Scout troop spent time learning about homelessness and then assembled toiletry kits, which they donated to our Outreach and Day Center program along with a portion of their cookie sale earnings. 
• Small businesses hosted events, contributed a portion of their proceeds to support Everyone Home DC, and donated dozens of items to our silent auction.
• Scores of supporters made the holidays special for Everyone Home DC families by donating gift cards that enabled parents to prepare Thanksgiving meals with all their family favorites and pick out just the right holiday gifts for each of their kids. Another group brought the merry by providing Christmas trees, ornaments, and lights delivered right to their homes!

All of the above acts of kindness were in addition to the other generous financial contributions you made or plan to make through year-end giving. Indeed, all of you city slickers routinely demonstrate strong values that include caring about the well-being of both loved ones and strangers and sharing your blessings with those who have the greatest needs. I dare say that the District of Columbia I know is overflowing with the kind of generosity and commitment to a loving community that many Christmas movies imply is lacking from big city life. Thank you for all the ways, big and small, that you support Everyone Home DC and people experiencing homelessness. You are what makes our big city great. 

I wish you all a joyful holiday season and that the love you have given returns to you tenfold!

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

In reading this post, you are no doubt at some point in your typical daily routine. You may be scrolling online first thing in the morning, coffee mug in hand, ready to tackle the day ahead, or maybe you are just getting home from work, preparing to take the dog for a walk, or finding a minute to relax before making dinner.

However, this letter fits into your day, we all find comfort in our routines. Consistency helps us to stay on top of tasks, manage stress, and find moments to do those special little things that make us happy—maybe that coffee has your favorite caramel creamer swirled through it. But the key to forming our routines–and coping when they are disrupted—is the support of something we may not have ever had to think twice about—having a permanent, stable home. 

“You get a flat tire, you think,  ‘Okay, I might need to take the bus home tonight. But I’ll be able to go home, sleep, and rest. I’m not pushed to the brink of, ‘I have nothing,'” says Veronica Starr, Everyone Home DC’s Clinical Supervisor of the Permanent Supportive Housing Program, which was newly launched in March of 2023. Everyone Home DC’s new Permanent Supportive Housing Program guides individuals and families through the process of finding housing and securing the resources necessary to maintain it. 

Everyone Home DC’s Permanent Supportive Housing team’s work directly supports the goal of ending chronic homelessness in DC, as do donors like you. This holiday season, your gift to Everyone Home DC ensures all people in our city have access to services and programs that connect them with supportive networks and make positive gains in their lives. At Everyone Home DC, we know housing is the solution to ending homelessness. 

We also know that much of the hard work continues once connected to a safe and stable home. “There are so many barriers that people are dealing with personally that have nothing to do with housing,” Veronica says, noting that this is where their team’s work comes in. “If you have someone to ensure that you can work through those things while you are housed, you can put your other goals first if you know where you are going to sleep and that you’re going to be safe.” 

However, the Permanent Supportive Housing Program faces many challenges in helping its clients find this safety and security, making the support of Everyone Home DC’s friends and supporters all the more crucial.

“There are all these shades and layers of red tape,” says JoVonna Chase, the Permanent Supportive Housing Program Manager. Everything from a person having their only form of ID stolen, to landlords being reluctant to accept applicants working with a case manager and potentially without a solid rental history, to unit inspections taking months instead of days to carry out can slow down the approval process. Veronica adds, “It’s not as easy as looking at apartments.com and picking out a place.” 

The dedication of Everyone Home DC’s Permanent Supportive Housing Team and the generous donations from our community this holiday season can help lead to more and more success stories despite the many roadblocks.

“As we built the team,” says JoVonna, “one of the things we were very intentional about was hiring people who would operate from a place of kindness and compassion first. Allowing people to be people allows us to have big wins.”

Veronica felt inspired when the Permanent Supportive Housing team supported its first client in finding permanent housing after a challenge-filled four months. “It felt like, ‘We can do this! This isn’t impossible!'” she says. Beyond feeling confident in the team’s work, Veronica was struck by the change she saw in the client herself. “The smiling, the casual conversation: it makes such a huge difference when someone can remove [concerns about housing] from their brain and just talk about food, the weather, school, and music.” Finding a home meant that this person could finally shift their focus to those everyday things instead—their routines. 

“I believe if I come home to a comfortable home with AC and heat, with no rodents or roaches, somewhere I feel safe, I feel our clients should have that same opportunity,” says JoVonna. As Program Manager, she has ambitious goals for the Permanent Supportive Housing team that can be supported by a gift from community members like you, who believe, just like JoVonna, that everyone deserves this same comfort and security. She wants to grow the team’s capacity in the coming years, with more case managers to partner with more clients. No matter what support they may need, JoVonna hopes the people we work alongside can trust that Everyone Home DC will be there with a comprehensive, holistic response.  

“Our donors have a heart to help,” JoVonna shared. And we at Everyone Home DC know that those generous hearts beat especially strong at this time of the year. In the spirit of the season, please make a personally meaningful year-end gift to Everyone Home DC today. Our entire community will feel your love and support. 

When we invest in Permanent Supportive Housing, we are taking a crucial step toward the ultimate goal of ending chronic homelessness in the District. Your urgently needed year-end gift can ensure that 
Everyone Home DC continues to provide essential services and housing support for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness in our city. We cannot do this work without YOU. Thank you in advance for your support and the love that you show to Everyone Home DC.  

Sincerely,
Karen Cunningham
Executive Director

P.S. Does your employer have a matching gift program? There is still time to give and have it matched in 2023! Learn more on our website. If you need any support with completing forms, email Kate at akalonu@everyonehomedc.org