The Partnership to End Homelessness (The Partnership) is pleased to announce $350,000 in Waldon Adams Housing Justice grants awarded to 8 organizations and 2 coalitions leading housing justice efforts in DC.

These nonprofits partners, together with tenants and people with lived experience of homelessness, educate the public about policies and legislation, advocate with public officials to influence how DC tax dollars are spent, and steer our community toward meaningful solutions to help end homelessness in DC.

In DC, homelessness has decreased by 12 percent since 2020 – in no small part due to the tireless work of these advocates.

These grants will support work to advance housing justice using multiple strategies, including public will building, organizing, policy advocacy, and budget advocacy. They will also help nonprofits secure critical public sector resources and fight back against policies that harm our neighbors.

As we enter DC’s budget season, many of our nonprofit partners will be focused on protecting the progress that our community has made since 2020 and advocating to improve existing housing and homelessness programs to ensure that our city’s resources are used efficiently.

Here’s what some of our grantees have shared about their work and their plans for the coming year:

New Housing Coalition

“Partnership funding is supporting the creation of a new coalition of individuals and organizations who are building real, comprehensive, community-led solutions. As a group, we plan to use our deep expertise in power building, community leadership, research and analysis, policy development, and narrative change to create a joint roadmap and a long-term advocacy strategy to ensure stable affordable housing is available for all low-income and extremely low-income households in our city.”

People for Fairness Coalition

“We will use our Partnership grant to continue to empower and uplift individuals with lived experience to become their own best advocates and to continue our mission to bring about a public policy to make housing a universal right in the District of Columbia. With this funding, we are excited to add two new women advocates to the Rhonda Whitaker Street to Life DC Women’s Initiative, ensuring that underrepresented women who have experienced homelessness receive training and support so they can influence policies that impact them.”

Empower DC

“Empower DC will conduct targeted outreach to residents at risk of eviction with a focus on residents living in subsidized affordable housing. We will work with housing providers to boost eviction diversion through payment plans, rent forgiveness, streamlined DC Housing Authority subsidy recertifications, and by creating easy entry points for tenants into eviction diversion such as weekend clinics. We will also work with tenants to increase their ability to advocate for themselves in landlord-tenant court, and with the DC Council to seek systemic solutions to the eviction crisis.”

DC Jobs With Justice

“Our organization sustains the work of a coalition of labor, community, faith and youth groups by providing coordination, trainings, and campaign support to fight the displacement of communities in DC. Partnership funding will support our coalition’s budget and legislative advocacy campaigns to support programs that prevent the eviction of low-income tenants and that improve their living conditions and housing quality.”

Miriam’s Kitchen

“With our Partnership grant, we intend to 1) advocate to speed up and simplify the city’s housing processes so that people can exit homelessness more quickly, 2) shift the way people think and talk about homelessness, its causes, and its consequences, 3) help limit the inflow into homelessness by advocating for prevention programs, and 4) elevate the leadership of individuals with lived experience in influencing and advocating for change.”

The following grants were made possible thanks to generous partners and donors to the Partnership’s Grantmaking Fund.

HOUSING JUSTICE GRANTEES

New Housing Coalition ($100k)
DC Jobs with Justice ($30K)

DC Fiscal Policy Institute ($30K)
Empower DC ($30K)
Fair Budget Coalition ($30K)
Miriam's Kitchen ($30K)
ONE DC: Organizing Neighborhood Equity ($30K)
People for Fairness Coalition ($30K)
The Washington Legal Clinic for The Homeless Inc. ($30K)
LGBTQ Budget Advocacy Coalition ($15K)

A Call to Action: Join the Fight to End Homelessness

As an initiative, The Partnership to End Homelessness has invested in advocacy, systems change, and housing justice organizations in DC since its launch in 2019. This year marks our sixth round of investments through the Waldon Adams Housing Justice Grants - made possible by the generous support of The Community Foundation’s fundholders and donors.

In today’s uncertain political and economic environment, and with new threats to DC’s autonomy emerging, support for the critical work of our nonprofit advocacy partners is needed now more than ever.

As we head into a year of economic and political uncertainty where our partners face potential funding cuts from both local and federal government – The Partnership and our nonprofit partners need your voice, your leadership, and your support!

Here are some ways you can get involved:

Learn More and Be Informed! Join us May 20th at noon for a virtual opportunity, to network, ask questions, and hear from a panel of experts in the housing justice space. Register now!
Let your voice be heard! Contact your local representative and join our nonprofit partners in advocating for critical funding for Emergency Rent Assistance (ERAP), Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH), and other critical investments in affordable housing.
Make an Investment in Affordable Housing through The Enterprise Community Impact Note! While earning a fixed return, your investment dollars can be used to help create and preserve affordable housing.
Donate to the Partnership to End Homelessness Grantmaking Fund! The Waldon Adams Housing Justice Fund and other Partnership initiatives are made possible by generous support from our partners and individual donors. Together, we can work together to make homelessness rare, brief, and non-recurring in DC.