Homelessness

After years of letting federally funded housing vouchers for people leaving foster care and facing homelessness go to waste, DC is implementing a new law to ensure every young person who needs a voucher gets one. The federal…

The DC government is making progress in housing people with its record number of vouchers, but people familiar with the process say the wait is still far too long. DC began fiscal year 2022 with 2,400 new Permanent Supportive…

At its last meeting before the summer recess, the DC Council voted unanimously to pass two bills related to housing. The first reforms a major housing program for people exiting homelessness. The second builds on existing tenant…

DC returned over $10 million in federal grants intended to fund programs aimed at ending homelessness from 2017 through 2021, according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and The Community Partnership…

Getachew Gurumu became homeless for the first time after he received an eviction notice from his landlord during the pandemic. Then, without warning, he lost his job. Unsure what to do or where to go, Gurumu moved to McPherson Square in…

Makia never thought moving in with her mother was going to work. Makia, who’s using a pseudonym to protect her safety, entered foster care when she was 2 years old. She lived in at least a dozen places over 20 years, and ran away from…

When Ronnie Harris first entered foster care at 12 years old, she was certain she would be adopted. But, in what felt like no time at all, foster care swallowed her teenage years. The system jerked Harris across the city. Each time she…

In a major reversal from recent years, Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed fiscal year 2024 budget slashes funding for eviction prevention and includes few increases for homeless services and housing. The biggest win, advocates say, is funding…

Amina Washington has heard it said many ways — when she’s working, sitting on sidewalks, going to get dinner or grabbing groceries. She heard it when she was sleeping outside, and she still hears it now, even though she’s been living in…

As the National Park Service moves to close all local encampments on its land, the DC government is considering relaunching a controversial pilot program that aims to connect encampment residents with housing vouchers. At least in…

It wasn’t the first time Moon has packed his life into his cobalt-blue backpack. Now middle-aged, he has left countless temporary homes since becoming homeless at 15. But this time, he was planning his next move in a city with a dwindling…

The DC Council’s reconstituted Housing Committee expects to have a busy year as legislators grapple with voucher backlogs, poor shelter conditions and a still-under-fire housing authority. Street Sense and The DC Line caught up with…

Close observers of DC’s homeless services are predicting the city’s shelters may be full by midyear as a potential rise in demand for beds coincides with the shuttering of some shelter programs.  Next week, the National Park Service…

A year ago, Dr. Mayaalla MuQaddim Abdullah Al Saud was nearly asleep when neon-vested volunteers approached her tent while conducting an annual census of people experiencing homelessness. They asked how long she’d been sleeping outside,…

For the 10th year in a row, dozens of people gathered on the longest night of the year to remember District residents who died without a home, often without fanfare or memorial services. This year’s Homeless Memorial Vigil, held…

It was just 30 degrees outside when Jamaar Andre Taylor unzipped the outer flap of his tent to find a dozen people telling him he had to leave. On the morning of Dec. 14, the National Park Service (NPS) closed the Scott Circle…

After temporarily boosting housing and nutrition benefits in the first year of the pandemic, the DC Council is poised to make their expansion permanent. Legislators unanimously approved the measures during a first reading at their Dec. 6…

DC’s plan to eliminate homelessness for single adults appears to be faltering. Prior to the start of fiscal year 2022, the District did something unprecedented. In a bid to end homelessness for single adults, the DC government funded a…

People using housing vouchers in DC spent this past summer in limbo. In the spring, the DC Housing Authority (DCHA) deliberated changing the maximum value of all 20,000 vouchers the agency administers. If implemented, the change could have…

Sitting outside the bright red doors of the Church of the Epiphany, Colleen peered at her tent on the sidewalk. Soon, city workers would order her to remove it in preparation for the day’s encampment engagement. Colleen’s friends were…