The Partnership to End Homelessness launched in June 2019 with a bold vision to bring together the public and private sectors to ensure homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring in DC.
We are pleased to report that with your support, Homelessness in DC has decreased by 12 percent since 2020. With your investments, the Partnership has contributed to this progress by funding critical advocacy to secure public funding, supporting our nonprofit partners on the ground, and making strategic investments in systems to make it possible for us to exit more people from homelessness.
However, we know that much more must be done to ensure everyone has housing they can afford. Despite record numbers of people exiting homelessness in recent years, we are seeing a growing number of people seeking help. Nearly 1 in every 120 DC residents experience homelessness on any given night in neighborhoods across the city. 75% of DC’s lowest-income households live in housing they can’t afford. Community members report growing concerns about economic insecurity and income inequality in our region, and the end of pandemic supports mean more people are at risk of housing instability and homelessness.
At its launch, the Partnership set four goals:
Increase the supply of affordable housing with a priority on extremely low-income households;
Build nonprofit capacity to help single adults, families, and youth exit homelessness as quickly as possible;
Change perceptions about homelessness and affordable housing through donor education, community engagement, and advocacy efforts; and
Leverage private philanthropy and align with public resources and strategies, leading to more nimble, strategic, and sustained investment in the homeless services system.
The Community Foundation conducted a review of the Partnership this summer to evaluate the impact it has made on our community during its first five years. This included an analysis of our progress against these goals, outcomes, and financial data, and interviews with a cross-section of key community stakeholders in the Partnership, including nonprofit grantees, government leaders, Community Foundation staff, Leadership Council members, and funders. Here are some of our key findings:
The Partnership has successfully leveraged and aligned nearly $20 million in funding to support its priorities through investments in affordable housing and grantmaking to nonprofits.
The Partnership has increased the supply of affordable housing in our area, helping to build and preserve 924 homes for low-income individuals and families.
The Partnership has supported advocacy to increase the supply of affordable housing and provide permanent supportive housing vouchers that helped 3,254 individuals and 1,542 families exit homelessness. Over $1 billion in public investments for homelessness and affordable housing priorities has been made by DC in the last five years. The Partnership participated in advocacy for this funding through grantmaking to local advocacy organizations and through direct advocacy with the Mayor and City Council.
Our community believes that the Partnership plays a unique and valuable role, and that it could be made even more effective by raising additional funding from foundations, corporations, and individual donors so it can increase its investments in improving local systems and in building and preserving deeply affordable housing. Stakeholders also urged the Partnership to continue to convene private and public sector stakeholders to solve community challenges, and to do more to change the narrative around homelessness.
As the Partnership looks forward to 2025, it will be focusing on funding critical efforts to expedite housing placements for people experiencing chronic homelessness and to improve care coordination between healthcare and homeless services systems.
We invite you to join us by making a contribution to the Partnership to End Homelessness, or by contacting Jennifer Olney at jolney@thecommunityfoundation.org to learn more about how you can get involved.