On August 23rd, over 150 supporters joined Miriam’s Kitchen and The Way Home Campaign to support the transformation of a former George Washington University (GW) dorm into an innovative non-congregate homeless shelter in Foggy Bottom.
In DC, most shelters available to single adults require residents to stay in large congregate spaces, which are particularly unsafe for those who are medically vulnerable. Due to the crowding and conditions in these large shelters, many of our neighbors choose to sleep outside.
The creation of non-congregate shelters across the District is a much-needed intervention and something Miriam’s Kitchen (MK) has been advocating for years, especially since the pandemic underscored the success of programs that placed people experiencing homelessness into hotel rooms. However, despite national and local agreement about this best practice, neighbors have strongly opposed the shelter coming to Foggy Bottom.
Despite the vocal opposition of a powerful few, we were able to announce at the rally that the sale of the building had gone through! The following week, we learned that the lawsuit in opposition to the proposed shelter had been dropped. While we believe opposition to small shelters across the District may continue, we are thrilled to share that our advocacy has been successful and that the project is moving forward.
The late August rally featured several impactful speakers, including:
- Reverend Dr. Laura Cunningham, Western Presbyterian Church
- Yannik Omictin, ANC (Somebody will read his remarks)
- Marina Streznewski, Neighbor
- Tony Burns, Neighbor, and member of the Miriam’s Kitchen Speaker’s Bureau
- Kelly Whittier, Milken Institute School of Public Health
- Trupti Patel, ANC
- Sara Mitchell, GW Student
- Wesley Thomas, MK Speaker’s Bureau
- Alexandra Bailey, Former ANC
Wesley Thomas, a member of the MK Speaker’s Bureau and advocate who experienced homelessness for nearly 30 years shared, “While I was homeless, I lived two blocks from here, but the opportunity to live at the Aston would have limited my time living chronically homeless on the street probably in half.”
Tony Burns, another member of the MK Speaker’s Bureau shared, “I was asked to speak here today because I am a person who shares some of the same experiences as the residents who are about to move into the Aston. Has anyone here ever needed help in their life? I have… There was help for me. Life got better.”
We look forward to continuing to work with our partners to support non-congregate shelters across the District, a much-needed approach that will improve the lives of neighbors.
Check out coverage of the rally in the Washington Post and DC News Now.
If you would like to get involved in Miriam’s Kitchen’s advocacy work, please contact Nadia.malik@miriamskitchen.org and sign up to receive updates from The Way Home Campaign, the MK-led movement to end chronic homelessness in DC.
