For over 40 years, Hope and a Home has empowered low-income families with children in the District of Columbia to create stable homes of their own and make lasting changes in their lives. 

This year, in place of our usual fundraising gala, we are holding a remote, year-end campaign to support our families through the rest of this crisis. This It Takes a Village Campaign, drawn from the ancient African proverb, “it takes a village to raise a child,” will raise $100,000 to help the 64 families with children in the District who we support.

While Hope and a Home is still providing everything we’ve always provided to our families, we’ve also added services to meet new needs of our families as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are just a few ways we are providing additional support:

• We now virtually connect with Hope and a Home’s families, regularly checking-in with families in Transitional Housing (via phone and/or video) so that families can access crucial case management and financial capability services. These case management services are more crucial than ever, as many Hope and a Home’s families are experiencing unexpected financial losses that have the potential to be devastating.

• We’ve purchased laptops, headsets, and wireless hotspots so students can access their online schoolwork and are actively involved with the students and their schools, providing support for students during remote learning. 

• Access to healthy food has been an increasing challenge for our families. In response, we’ve launched the Mary Jo Schumacher Food Security Program to deliver groceries such as fresh produce, milk, eggs and meat to families twice a month.

• We’ve seen an increased need for mental health support. We’re working with contracted psychologists to provide additional tele-therapy sessions in addition to moving its monthly family workshops completely online to provide additional support.

With all of these additional services, we need your generous support more than ever. We know that the effects of this pandemic are far from over, and we’re committed to be a safety net for families with low incomes in the District for as long as we need to.

We invite you to become a part of our beloved village by supporting our efforts in 2021 with a gift to our It Takes a Village campaign.