A Pathway to Homeownership: Health Equity Fund Nonprofits Explore How Collaboration Can Transform Support for DC Families
A DC Family after the completion of their home renovation project with Yachad and CBG Construction.
The Health Equity Fund at The Community Foundation is dedicated to promoting economic mobility through innovative partnerships with nonprofits working to address social determinants of health (SDOH) for DC residents. Part of that includes building and promoting collaborative networks across DC to foster growth and improve access to much-needed services. We sat down with three of our nonprofit partners to explore how collaboration is taking their work to the next level.
Finding Natural Partners
When the Greater Washington Community Foundation brought together Health Equity Fund nonprofit partners for learning and collaboration, Leslie Case from birdSEED, Audrey Lyon from Yachad, and Gabby Mulnick Majewski from DC Affordable Law Firm (DCALF) discovered they were working with families at different stages of their homeownership journeys.
"birdSEED helps families purchase the home, Yachad helps them stay in the home, DCALF helps the home stay in the family," Audrey explained during a recent conversation. "What the three of us are doing is helping people build wealth through homeownership and ultimately improve long-term health outcomes for the whole family."
The connections started organically. When birdSEED connected a client with a contractor for repairs, Yachad came in to provide additional support. When a home seller passed away as a first-time homeowner was about to close, DCALF stepped in to help navigate the legal complexities. These individual cases revealed a larger pattern: families needed wraparound support, not just isolated services.
When One Organization Isn't Enough
Consider the challenge of "heirs’ property"—a problem that DCALF frequently encounters. Many families live in a house for years, assuming they own it, but legally it's still in a deceased relative's name because they never completed the probate process to transfer title. This issue can prevent families from accessing home repairs, refinancing, or passing the home to the next generation.
Gabby Mulnick Majewski, Executive Director of DCALF with a DC resident who participated in birdSEED’s Down Payment Assistance Program.
Gabby explained the scope of the challenge: "There isn't coordination between the Office of Tax and Revenue and the Office of Vital Records or any mechanisms currently in place to notify survivors of the steps they need to take when a home’s titleholder dies, so surviving family members who live there aren't always aware" of the legal steps they need to take to transfer property.
But here's where the potential for collaboration becomes clear: solving heirs’ property issues requires more than just legal support. Families might need help navigating the homebuying process if they're purchasing the property from other heirs. They often need resources for home repairs that were deferred during the legal uncertainty. And they need estate planning support to prevent the same issue from happening to the next generation.
No single organization can address all of these needs—but together, birdSEED, Yachad, and DCALF could.
"If you don't ask the questions—Did you purchase the home? How did you purchase it?—you won't know if they have a plan for succession," Audrey noted. After connecting with DCALF, Yachad has started thinking about incorporating estate planning questions into their housing assessments. Similarly, when home sellers or buyers face unexpected legal complications, knowing they can connect families to DCALF changes what's possible.
"No one organization can fix everything,” Audrey said, pointing to her own organization’s name, Yachad – which means ‘together’ in Hebrew. “We need each other – not only for ourselves, as individual organizations, but for the families we're trying to serve."
DC Residents at a Secure Your Legacy event organized by DCALF
Building Toward Comprehensive Support
Each organization is already finding ways to expand their impact through partnerships, demonstrating the kind of collaborative spirit the Health Equity Fund encourages.
DCALF has been holding "Secure Your Legacy" events—free community gatherings where homeowners can learn about estate planning, probate, heirs’ property, and foreclosure defense. They've held four events so far, with a fifth scheduled for late October, serving 242 people through intake for estate planning assistance. These events bring together four different legal service organizations, DC’s Department on Insurance, Securities, and Banking, and DC’s Department of Housing and Community Development, showing the power of coordination even within a single service area.
"We realized the importance of harnessing the power of the collective," Gabby said.
Meanwhile, the three organizations are beginning to explore what more formal collaboration could look like.
Leslie Case, Executive Director of birdSEED and Audrey Lyon, Executive Director of Yachad DC.
As recently as last week, Audrey and Gabby met to discuss specific ways Yachad and DCALF could work together. They identified potential overlaps: DCALF helps heirs of an estate keep a property, while Yachad helps with preservation of affordable housing. They're planning to share resources, including co-promoting the upcoming legacy planning event to help homeowners keep their homes within the family.
Through the broader Health Equity Fund network, the three organizations have also been making connections beyond their trio. They've learned about the Greater Washington Urban League, which now knows where to point community members for legal help. They've discovered shared contacts at the Latino Economic Development Center, contractors through the Emerald Cities Collective, and referral partners like NorthStar.
"For birdSEED, we're so small—we're all volunteers, we do one thing—but having a place to point people to is so helpful," Leslie shared.
Meeting the Moment
These partnerships feel especially vital now, as nonprofits face unprecedented pressures from federal workforce layoffs and budget cuts that have increased demand for services while limiting resources.
"I've been in the DC legal ecosystem for almost 20 years," Gabby reflected. "I've always been struck by how we have a plethora of organizations to meet all these different facets of needs—but it only works if people know how to navigate those systems.”
“Part of our call to action is the desire to lower the bar for people and say—you don't need to navigate this; we know the different players and can tap those relationships to better serve you. That makes a huge difference."
She continued: "That's the spirit of the Health Equity Fund—treating people as whole people with a complex slate of needs rather than one singular need. We know that in these moments, the power of the community to come together and do things better matters. We know there will be a finite number of dollars to do this work, and all of this collaboration makes that work so much better."
The Health Equity Fund, managed by the Greater Washington Community Foundation, supports organizations working to advance health equity in the District of Columbia.
The next Secure Your Legacy community event will be held on Wednesday, October 29th from 5-8pm at Lamond-Riggs/Lilian Ruff Library in Ward 5. The event is free and open to DC Residents, but registration is required in advance. For more information visit, https://www.eventbrite.com/e/estate-planning-and-legal-clinic-securing-your-legacy-tickets-1716983677399?aff=oddtdtcreator.