Address Critical Community Needs
The Community Foundation and our donors respond to both acute and everyday crises to help stabilize and improve the quality of life for our neighbors and communities.
DCA Together Relief Fund
On Jan 29, 2025 a tragic midair collision claimed the lives of 67 passengers, service members, and crew at DCA. The Community Foundation quickly mobilized with community foundations from across the Capital Region to launch the DCA Together Relief Fund - a community-supported crisis response fund designed to aid impacted families, first responders, and nonprofit organizations supporting community recovery and healing.
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Supporting First Responders
From firefighters to search and rescue crews, more than 300 first responders from DC, Maryland, and Virginia were involved in the recovery process in the aftermath of the Jan. 29 collision.
Thanks to the DCA Together Relief Fund, local nonprofit Food on the Stove was able to provide over 1,000 hot meals and hydration to support those working on-site.
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Monumental Sports & Entertainment Hosts Legacy on Ice
On March 2, Monumental Sports & Entertainment hosted ‘Legacy on Ice’- a figure skating tribute to honor the victims and raise funds for their families. The event raised over a million dollars for the U.S. Figure Skating Association, the DC Fire & EMS Foundation, and the DCA Together Relief Fund.
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Corporate Partners Step Up to Support Mental Health
In the aftermath of tragedy, corporate partners from across the region responded quickly to support the DCA Together Relief Fund – organizations like Truist, Forvis Mazars, Legum & Norman/Associa Cares, Inc. and Monumental Sports & Entertainment.
Thanks to their generosity, the DCA Together Relief Fund was able to make a grant to the Wendt Center for Loss & Healing to provide no-cost trauma and grief counseling services for impacted individuals and organizations in our community.
Community Resilience Initiative
In 2025, The Community Foundation launched the Community Resilience Initiative to strengthen the capacity and resilience of the region’s nonprofit sector to continue to meet urgent needs, advocate effectively, and sustain impact for the communities we serve.
To date, the initiative has deployed more than $500,000 in grants and technical assistance to organizations across the Greater Washington region to convene, support, and advocate for the sector.
Learn24 OST Scholarship Program Changes Lives for DC Students
Over the past 3 years, The Community Foundation has been proud to partner with Learn 24 to offer the Learn 24 Out of School Time Youth Scholarship Program.
Together we have supported the distribution of nearly $1.4 million in scholarship funding to more than 300 youth for summer and after school programs ranging from tutoring and mentoring to music lessons, dance, and sports.
VoicesDMV 2024
In May, The Community Foundation released the 2024 Voices DMV Community Insights Report, which provided an update on the state of our region, including key regional challenges and insights from a comprehensive survey conducted by The Community Foundation in partnership with Gallup and its Center on Black Voices.
Partnership to End Homelessness
In November, The Partnership to End Homelessness celebrated five years of impact including leveraging nearly $20 million in funding and supporting the construction and preservation of 924 homes for low-income families. These efforts and others have helped decrease homelessness in DC by 12 percent since 2020.
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.
Accelerating the Community Safety Ecosystem in DC
In 2024, Greater Washington Community Foundation and Public Welfare Foundation established a partnership that set a cross-sector table focused on community safety in the District of Columbia.
Driven by a Leadership Council of strategic partners in business, philanthropy, nonprofits and local government, this initiative aims to support and accelerate local efforts to reduce violence through community-centered approaches.
