On June 13, The Community Foundation announced $12. 5 million in Health Equity Fund grants to 14 DC-based nonprofits working on health advocacy, policy, and systems change initiatives that address the social and structural determinants of health.
We invited our partners to highlight their experiences working to address the social and structural determinants of health in the Greater Washington region.
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1. Briefly describe the community your organization represents (and/or the issue(s) you advocate for), and/or the policy and systems you seek to change.
We represent the criminal legal community in regards to incarcerated individuals and returning citizens coming back into our community. The issues that we advocate for are eliminating barriers to reentry, record sealing, expungement, and relief from fines/fees/restitution. We seek to change hiring practices that exclude returning citizens.
2. What do you find most meaningful about the work that you do? What are you most proud of?
The thing we find most meaningful about the work we do is evening the playing field, educating the public, and changing the criminal legal system. We are more proud of our longevity and being a one-stop-shop in terms of resources for returning citizens. We are proud to be a source of evidence of the success possible for returning citizens, and demonstrate the outcomes possible for people in the criminal legal system who are given an opportunity to thrive.
3. As a nonprofit partner, briefly describe how you plan to utilize funding to support your work?
We will be using funding to support our personnel and expand our programming. We will be hiring a community organizer and program manager, and will also utilize funding to cover training costs, event planning, meeting costs, program supplies, outreach and campaign materials, and to conduct evaluation of our work.
4. What do you wish that more people understood about the community you represent?
We want people to understand that we have to stop throwing people away, as if they were human waste. We want them to understand that we need to take a closer look at the impact of the criminal legal system and its collateral consequences. If we do that, we will see that it is necessary to move in a different direction and to invest in supporting communities, families, and returning citizens.
80% or more of people incarcerated are there for a non-violent crime. We can't incarcerate our way out of this. We have to address trauma, mental health, and underserved communities. Taking time to understand and acquire this knowledge will allow us to come up with effective alternatives and solutions.
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1. Briefly describe the community your organization represents (and/or the issue(s) you advocate for), and/or the policy and systems you seek to change.
DCFPI serves as central resource to advocates and community members, providing research, analysis, and strategy to inform just policy solutions and reform inequitable systems. We take aim at the compounding effects of structural racism, which have led to vast racial and ethnic inequities in education, housing, employment, income, wealth, and health, privileging white residents while leaving Black and non-Black residents of color more likely to struggle to get by and care for their children. We strive to root out anti-Blackness, promote economic mobility, and repair racist harms that set the conditions for consistently poorer economic and health outcomes for Black and brown communities.
2. What do you find most meaningful about the work that you do? What are you most proud of?
DCFPI leverages its analytic, programmatic, and legislative expertise for collaborative campaigns, helping to design both policy and strategy. DCFPI utilizes the power of progressive policy to support the economic liberation of Black and brown people in the District. We are most proud of our 22-year track record that has lifted up and protected economically struggling DC families.
3. As a nonprofit partner, briefly describe how you plan to utilize funding to support your work?
DCFPI, in collaboration with partners rooted in impacted communities, will pursue two critical areas of policy change: Establishing Guarantees for A Liberation Economy and Building Black Wealth. We will develop a pilot jobs guarantee for young workers, pursue a child tax credit and expansion of guaranteed basic income pilots, and spearhead a campaign for a more racially just tax code that pays for targeted investments that reduce Black debt, increase access to Black homeownership, and provide capital to support Black entrepreneurship.
4. What do you wish that more people understood about the community you represent?
The District is home to incredible prosperity that is not equitably shared. Despite high incomes and high-paying jobs, too many residents—disproportionately Black and Latinx people—struggle to pay for basics or access good jobs. More than 100,000 DC residents live in poverty, the lion’s share being women and people of color. Centuries-long oppression of Black people through enslavement, segregation, and Jim Crow legislation has led to vast racial and ethnic inequities in education, housing, employment, income, and wealth creation. The legacy of these inequities and long-standing divestment from communities of color carries racial and economic exclusion forward today. However, before us stands a great opportunity to foster change that creates healthy, thriving communities where everyone has the nurture, sustenance, and safety every person inherently deserves.
5. What do you wish that more people understood about the issue(s) you seek to change?
The power of tax justice as racial and economic justice. As a tool for liberation, tax policy should take aim at the anti-Blackness embedded within our tax systems by raising taxes on the predominantly white, wealthy households that have been economically privileged through the historic and ongoing oppression of Black and brown people. The revenue raised would be dedicated to public investments that predominantly aid Black households that are struggling to get by and are systematically denied, over generations, the fruits of their labor.
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1. Briefly describe the community your organization represents (and/or the issue(s) you advocate for), and/or the policy and systems you seek to change.
MON supports the inclusion and empowerment of Black mothers in the struggle for family preservation and advocates for the transformation of government income and child welfare laws, policies and practices from punitive to empowering. Our primary initiatives seek to empower Black families by working to enact publicly funded guaranteed income programs for low-income mothers, advocating for existing social safety net programs such as the 2021 Child Tax Credit, and transforming the $200 million DC Child and Family Services Agency (CFSA) family regulation and foster system budget.
2. What do you find most meaningful about the work that you do? What are you most proud of?
Some of the most meaningful work that we do at MON involves working directly with Black mothers through programs such as our Legal Tax Clinic and our guaranteed income pilot program, Mother Up. This program is a cash transfer initiative for no- and low- income Black mothers in Washington, D.C. who are involved with the child welfare system. We plan to explore whether extra cash can cut family involvement with the child welfare system and to achieve narrative change that can transform policy in this field. We seek to ultimately enroll 100 mothers or more, in total in this: for 3 years, 50 mothers receiving $500 a month and an additional 50 mothers survey incentive stipends.
3. As a nonprofit partner, briefly describe how you plan to utilize funding to support your work?
We will utilize funding to support our guaranteed income program. These funds will provide for the following: mothers in our program receiving $500 a month; mothers in the control group receiving $40 a month; benefits counseling for the mothers; and hold harmless payments for the mothers to offset any benefit reductions.
4. What do you wish that more people understood about the community you represent?
Black families in Washington, DC suffer over-involvement in the intersecting paradigms of racialized poverty and its poverty-driven government family regulation. Our goal is to transform the family regulation system to prioritize Black family economic security, racial equity, and family preservation.
5. What do you wish that more people understood about the issue(s) you seek to change?
Our work confronts the child welfare system's role in failing to address Black family poverty and the system's policies that traumatize and rip apart Black families. Studies have demonstrated that alleviating poverty reduces reports of abuse and neglect, or child maltreatment. Our goal with the Mother Up program is to explore whether extra cash can cut family involvement with the child welfare system and to achieve narrative change that can transform policy in this field.
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1. Briefly describe the community your organization represents (and/or the issue(s) you advocate for), and/or the policy and systems you seek to change.
The Council for Court Excellence (CCE) brings together an interdisciplinary group of D.C. residents, advocates, and members of the legal and business communities to collaborate and advance equity-focused changes to D.C. criminal and civil laws, regulations, court practices, and agency policies. Our work seeks to help D.C. residents who interact with the legal system, especially justice involved and impacted individuals.
Throughout D.C.’s legal system, people of color are disproportionately impacted. While Black people make up 47% of D.C.’s population, they make up 86% of the people arrested, 90% of the people jailed, and 95% of the people in prison.
2. What do you find most meaningful about the work that you do? What are you most proud of?
CCE’s work has resulted in fewer D.C. children being funneled into the school-to-prison pipeline, fewer people in our community facing incarceration, and a decrease in the collateral consequences of a criminal conviction in the District. We are proud to increase awareness and thoughtfulness around justice system issues and spur a spirit of change to engage more people in the community who care about these issues, broadening the pool of those who are aware, engaged, and fighting for equity.
3. As a nonprofit partner, briefly describe how you plan to utilize funding to support your work?
CCE will utilize our model of interdisciplinary alliance to develop and implement strategic advocacy campaigns. We will convene partners and impacted people, conduct research, and collect data and feedback to ensure our priorities are community guided. CCE will develop policy reform campaigns from start to finish, and conduct activities to cultivate community and grassroots advocacy. Finally, we will educate the public on our campaigns, put public pressure on policymakers to enact reforms, and sustain community mobilization.
4. What do you wish that more people understood about the community you represent?
One in seven adults in the District has a publicly available criminal record. The impacts of D.C.’s criminal legal system are not felt by all D.C. residents equally. Roughly 90% of people incarcerated at the D.C. Department of Corrections were Black, despite Black people making up a little less than half of D.C.’s population. Racial disparities persist in the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), with Black people accounting for 95% of people incarcerated in the BOP for a D.C. Code offense.
Legal system or court involvement – whether as a person who has faced a criminal charge or incarceration, as a victim of crime, or even as a litigant in a civil matter – can have dramatic impacts on a person’s well-being. Decisions made by judges, police, caseworkers, and others with power in the legal system can change a person’s life in positive and negative ways – which means it is vital that D.C.’s laws and policies are equitable, healing-focused, and anti-racist.
5. What do you wish that more people understood about the issue(s) you seek to change?
It is important for people to know that the lack of statehood significantly affects D.C.’s criminal legal system and presents challenges in the pursuit of community-led justice.
In D.C., the federal government plays several important roles in the local administration of justice but has no accountability to District residents. Presently, people convicted of D.C. offenses are sent to federal prisons, local Courts are funded by the federal government, and adults are prosecuted by federal prosecutors, among other powers.
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1. Briefly describe the community your organization represents (and/or the issue(s) you advocate for), and/or the policy and systems you seek to change.
DC Justice Lab is a team of law and policy experts researching, organizing, and advocating for large-scale changes to the District of Columbia’s criminal legal system. We develop smarter safety solutions that are evidence-driven, community-rooted, and racially just. We aim to fully transform the District’s approach to public safety and make it a national leader in justice reform.
2. What do you find most meaningful about the work that you do? What are you most proud of?
The most meaningful aspect of our work is the ability to change the way people think about who we punish, how we punish, and why we punish. Helping Black people thrive is why we’re here – and reforming the criminal legal system is how we do it. We’re most proud of how we do the work. We lead with integrity and justice, engaging with and understanding the needs of the community where we live and work; forging strong connections; and prioritizing community-centered approaches to reform.
3. As a nonprofit partner, briefly describe how you plan to utilize funding to support your work?
As a proud Black- and woman-led organization, we plan to utilize funding to not only grow our impact, but the impact of other pro-Black organizations who are working to effect policy change, training the next generation of local advocates on the District's lawmaking process. Leveraging and lifting each other requires an intensive effort – including multi-day workshops that provide support, resources, and strategies that work to make the collective more effective in less time.
4. What do you wish that more people understood about the community you represent?
Almost 90% of arrests in the District disproportionately target Black residents, and over 90% of those who are sentenced are also Black. Year after year, research has consistently shown that marginalized communities facing poverty, substance abuse issues, and high crime rates are disproportionately impacted by the consequences of the criminal legal system.
Despite this evidence, our country and local leaders continue to prioritize tough-on-crime laws and policies that have fueled mass incarceration and worsened the conditions of our Black and brown communities. This is why we advocate for lawmakers to implement solutions that address the root causes of crime and violence, while reducing our nation's excessive reliance on police, prosecutors, and prisons in order to promote safety and freedom for all.
5. What do you wish that more people understood about the issue(s) you seek to change?
We wish more people understood that mass criminalization actually causes more crime, making us all less safe. Not only does it perpetuate poverty, but it breaks apart (and breaks down) families who create thriving communities with generational wealth.
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1. Briefly describe (in 2-3 sentences) the community your organization represents (and/or the issue(s) you advocate for), and/or the policy and systems you seek to change.
La Clínica del Pueblo represents the low-income, Limited English Proficient, immigrant, Latinx communities in Washington, DC, facing health inequities and healthcare access barriers. We advocate for policy changes and system transformation to address these issues, including eliminating exclusionary policies, guaranteeing Medicaid-level coverage, and ensuring linguistically and culturally appropriate service provision.
2. What do you find most meaningful about the work that you do? What are you most proud of?
Through our advocacy efforts, such as involvement in passing the DC Language Access Act, we have played a pivotal role in ensuring equal access and participation in public services for individuals with limited English proficiency. Our contributions to establishing the DC Healthcare Alliance Program and, more recently, simplifying its recertification process have also been sources of pride. This program, available to all residents regardless of immigration status, has reduced disparities and expanded access to healthcare for marginalized groups.
La Clínica's ability to effect positive change through advocacy efforts demonstrates our dedication to creating a more equitable and inclusive healthcare system, making a meaningful impact on the lives of low-income immigrant communities in the region.
3. As a nonprofit partner, briefly describe how you plan to utilize funding to support your work?
We plan to utilize the funding to expanding our advocacy campaigns to raise community awareness and engage policymakers, enhancing our community mapping efforts to better understand the needs of low-income immigrant communities, and strengthening our partnerships and coalitions to drive systemic change. The funding will enable us to allocate resources for capacity building, staff training, communication strategies, and community engagement initiatives to advance our mission of improving healthcare access and addressing health inequities.
4. What do you wish that more people understood about the community you represent?
One thing we wish more people understood about the community we represent, with a specific focus on health access as a human right, is that healthcare is essential for everyone, regardless of their socioeconomic background, immigration status, or language proficiency. Access to healthcare is not just a privilege but a fundamental human right. Low-income immigrant communities, who often face additional barriers to accessing healthcare, deserve equitable and dignified care.
Recognizing health access as a human right means understanding that everyone deserves equal opportunities to lead healthy lives, and it requires addressing systemic inequalities and ensuring that healthcare services are accessible, culturally competent, and affordable for all.
5. What do you wish that more people understood about the issue(s) you seek to change?
We wish more people understood the intersectionality and complexity of the barriers faced by low-income immigrant communities in accessing healthcare. It is crucial to recognize that these barriers extend beyond immigration status and language proficiency. Systemic racism, social determinants of health, limited financial resources, and cultural differences contribute to health disparities.
By understanding the multifaceted nature of these challenges, we can develop comprehensive solutions that address the underlying structural and systemic issues. It is essential to move beyond simplistic narratives and stereotypes and instead embrace a holistic perspective considering the interconnected factors impacting healthcare access for marginalized communities.
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1. Briefly describe the community your organization represents (and/or the issue(s) you advocate for), and/or the policy and systems you seek to change.
Whitman-Walker envisions a society where all people are seen for who they are, treated with dignity and respect, and afforded equal opportunity to health and wellbeing. The Whitman-Walker Institute combines clinical and public health research, public policy advocacy, and professional and community education, with the goal of expanding the body of knowledge and science needed to advance health and wellness, particularly for sexual and gender diverse communities.
2. What do you find most meaningful about the work that you do? What are you most proud of?
For almost fifty years, Whitman-Walker has been woven into the fabric of DC’s diverse community as a first responder and trusted resource for those living with and affected by HIV; a leader in LGBTQ care and advocacy; a research center working to discover breakthroughs in HIV treatment and prevention science; a fierce advocate for health equity and inclusion; and one of DC’s dependable healthcare partners throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
3. As a nonprofit partner, briefly describe how you plan to utilize funding to support your work?
As a nonprofit, grant funding is pivotal to expanding our capacity to advocate, research, and educate about the health needs of LGBTQ+ people and people living with HIV. Funding supports our research into the bio-psycho-social drivers of ill health and the interventions to address these causes. Grant funding supports the many services we provide that are not covered by insurance.
4. What do you wish that more people understood about the community you represent?
As a community health center embedded in Washington, DC, I wish more people understood that DC is more than just nation’s capital, but it is home to a vibrant and thriving community. Far too often our community is used as a political tool, and this is disrespectful to the families that live and work in the District.
5. What do you wish that more people understood about the issue(s) you seek to change?
WWI leverages the expertise across Whitman-Walker’s family of affiliates to advocate for structural interventions in local, regional, and federal law and policy. Much of our advocacy works to address the social determinants of health for our patient population.
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1. Briefly describe the community your organization represents (and/or the issue(s) you advocate for), and/or the policy and systems you seek to change.
Black Women Thriving East of the River (BWTEotR) collaborates with Black women who live and lead organizational change in Wards 7&8. Together, we advocate for health and economic justice for Black women and their families and the collective wellbeing of Black people living east of the river. The systems we seek to disrupt and improve are the workforce development and healthcare systems in order to improve key social determinants of health for Black women in our community.
2. What do you find most meaningful about the work that you do? What are you most proud of?
We are most proud of working in authentic partnership with the community. BWTEotR works directly with community residents and leaders of Wards 7 & 8 who coalesced in pursuit of innovative solutions to the health and economic crises prevalent within the community. We continue to embrace an inclusive approach for engaging the community and reflecting its voice, that intentionally avoids employing tokenism and instead implements ongoing engagement to mitigate intractable issues.
3. As a nonprofit partner, briefly describe how you plan to utilize funding to support your work?
Black Women Thriving East of the River will use data, training, and advocacy to disrupt and create change in workforce development systems impacting Black women living East of the River. Our initiative will develop employer assessment tools and implement Employer Best Practices Thought Leader Forums, workgroups, and conferences. We will disseminate best practice employer tools and strategies for driving equity, inclusion, and sustainability in hiring and retention practices — better positioning Black women East of the River to acquire and maintain employment in health-related careers.
4. What do you wish that more people understood about the community you represent?
There are many well-known challenges in our community. The way to solve them is by listening to those who are experiencing them daily. Our community is full of caring, insightful and brilliant experts. Let’s look to them first and often to inform strategies, programs and policies for lasting change.
5. What do you wish that more people understood about the issue(s) you seek to change?
We wish that more people understood the magnitude of health disparities that Black women face, and that these disparities are a direct result of structural racism embedded in our healthcare, workforce, and other systems.
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1. Briefly describe the community your organization represents (and/or the issue(s) you advocate for), and/or the policy and systems you seek to change.
Many Languages One Voice (MLOV) is a Washington, DC-based movement organization, empowering immigrant and refugee communities of color with the tools to promote their own liberation. Our mission is to foster leadership and greater civic participation of immigrants and refugees who do not speak English as a primary language.
2. What do you find most meaningful about the work that you do? What are you most proud of?
We believe an actively engaged community that challenges existing inequities by dominant power is key to achieving systemic change. We are most proud of the leadership our community members display everyday for themselves and their communities.
3. As a nonprofit partner, briefly describe how you plan to utilize funding to support your work?
Through this project, we aim to contribute to greater health equity for all DC residents. With support from this grant, our BIPOC-immigrant-led community leadership development, power building, and advocacy will strengthen and advance language justice in DC, and consequently will promote improved health outcomes.
4. What do you wish that more people understood about the issue(s) you seek to change?
As an immigrant and refugee organization, MLOV sees the day-to-day realities of health inequity and how various social factors contribute to creating and compounding barriers to health. Despite the 2004 Language Access Act being on the books, our DC immigrant neighbors continue to face language barriers in accessing services from DC government agencies, which negatively impacts numerous social determinants of health. Data collected by MLOV and our partners demonstrate that immigrants who do not speak English as a primary language are more likely to face barriers to healthcare, affordable and safe housing, and job security.
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1.Briefly describe the community your organization represents (and/or the issue(s) you advocate for), and/or the policy and systems you seek to change.
Tzedek DC’s systemic Advocacy Reform program attacks at scale the structural economic underpinnings of health equity. We seek to reform debt-related laws in DC that in effect criminalize poverty, impose disproportionate burdens on Black and Latino residents and, by perpetuating DC’s vast racial wealth gaps, pose formidable roadblocks to health equity.
2. What do you find most meaningful about the work that you do? What are you most proud of?
The magic happens in the moments when our work both impacts the present and future of a community member's life and makes them feel heard, respected, and valued.
3. As a nonprofit partner, briefly describe how you plan to utilize funding to support your work?
Tzedek DC will use funds from this partnership to hire staff and consultants to build organizational capacity to mount winning advocacy campaigns that will increase wealth and health equity. We will expand our Policy, Organizing, and Communications capacity in this way.
4. What do you wish that more people understood about the community you represent?
Poverty is not a crime. DC residents are hard-working, passionate people of many wonderfully diverse backgrounds and all deserve full economic citizenship.
5. What do you wish that more people understood about the issue(s) you seek to change?
Systemic racism has produced a legacy that includes massive racial wealth gaps and a system of private debt collection and public fines and fees debt collection that has a disparate impact on Brown and Black residents. Our choices about allocating resources and changing the rules need to account for these realities. This approach can lift up the entire community.
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1. Briefly describe the community your organization represents (and/or the issue(s) you advocate for), and/or the policy and systems you seek to change.
ECC works with community organizations, government, the private sector, and directly with small, minority and women-owned firms to ensure that BIPOC and other underrepresented businesses/contractors benefit from major investments in clean energy. In addition to planning and technical assistance to improve public procurement systems, ECC offers training, coaching and support services so that these firms are committed to ECC’s high-road mission to strengthen the environment, economy and equity, especially within low-income communities of color.
2. What do you find most meaningful about the work that you do? What are you most proud of?
ECC has a 13-year track record helping city officials develop and implement economic inclusion policies, including community workforce and community benefit agreements in a range of green energy and infrastructure projects. This system-level work includes developing implementation tools to ensure public investments benefit communities most in need, such as establishing hiring/contracting targets by demographic groups, contractors’ selection criteria and requirements for solicitations/bid documents, and monitoring and evaluation tracking and reportings.
3. As a nonprofit partner, briefly describe how you plan to utilize funding to support your work?
The “BEPS BIPOC Contractor Incubator” will engage contractors to work on projects to improve building energy performance of affordable housing, public housing and community buildings in disadvantaged communities in Washington DC. Contractors will be recruited from across Washington, DC with particular focus on Wards 5, 7, and 8. Contractors will receive training on business opportunities and follow up support for their businesses.
4. What do you wish that more people understood about the community you represent?
ECC’s focus on community contractors addresses both wealth and income inequality. Our labor market study revealed that neither minority businesses nor workers are well-represented in the emerging green economy in DC or elsewhere. A focused attention on increasing access for small, minority businesses, however, is foundational to inter-generational wealth generation. Moreover, research shows that minority businesses offer the most accessible and effective pipeline to job opportunities for minority workers.
5. What do you wish that more people understood about the issue(s) you seek to change?
America’s economy was specifically designed for inequality. Low-income and communities of color are burdened by a legacy of discrimination with respect to access to home and home improvement loans, business loans and investments, job opportunities in high wage and unionized jobs, as well as business and hiring networks. The negative impacts are clear: poor health, poor housing conditions, rent burdens, utility burdens, income and wealth disparities, to name a few. America’s transition to a new ‘green economy’ to green our communities and our buildings provide a new opportunity to get it right.
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1) Briefly describe the community your organization represents (and/or the issue(s) you advocate for), and/or the policy and systems you seek to change.
The DC Reentry Housing Alliance is a collective of local reentry and housing leaders who are dedicated to addressing the ongoing housing challenges experienced by individuals returning from incarceration in the District of Columbia. They represent and advocate for the needs and rights of returning citizens, aiming to improve their access to safe, affordable, and supportive housing options. The alliance seeks to bring about policy and system changes that will result in a significant increase of at least 500 new housing units dedicated to DC returning citizens by 2025. By prioritizing the voices of those directly affected and collaborating with housing providers, service providers, and advocates, the alliance aims to enhance housing options, support services, and opportunities for successful reentry and community integration.
2. What do you find most meaningful about the work that you do? What are you most proud of?
At the DC Reentry Housing Alliance, we are most proud of centering the expertise of reentry leaders with lived experiences. By engaging the public, influencing advocacy, and prioritizing the needs of men and women returning from incarceration in Washington, DC, we strive to propose innovative solutions for improved opportunity, access, and equity. Our Advisory Council guides our strategy and approach, ensuring that we amplify the voices of those closest to the challenges and foster meaningful change for individuals transitioning back into the community.
3. As a nonprofit partner, briefly describe how you plan to utilize funding to support your work?
As a collective impact initiative, we utilize funding to drive community empowerment and foster collaboration. Together, we will catalyze the creation of 500+ new supportive housing units by 2025, establish a stakeholder community dedicated to our mission, build sustainable infrastructure, and launch a compelling public campaign. Through data-driven efforts, community summits, a returning citizen advisory group, and advocacy activities, we will create transformative change and ensure the housing and economic mobility of returning citizens. Your support is instrumental in our collective journey towards a more inclusive and thriving society.
4. What do you wish that more people understood about the community you represent?
It is essential for people to understand the challenges and needs of individuals returning from incarceration. Incarceration forces individuals to make drastic adjustments for survival, and upon release, the struggle to reintegrate becomes apparent. The lack of support and government assistance, particularly in areas such as housing and employment, creates significant barriers for successful transition. There is an urgent need to address the disregard and stigma faced by justice involved individuals, and by providing proper safety nets and assistance, we can witness the transformative potential and achievements of these individuals in our society.
5. What do you wish that more people understood about the issue(s) you seek to change?
Engaging relevant stakeholders is crucial: Advocacy led by individuals with lived experience, along with collaboration with state and government officials, is necessary to secure funding, policy changes, and insights for effective reentry programs.
Sustained support is crucial during the reintegration process: Reintegrating into society takes time and assistance, and simply releasing individuals without support can lead to setbacks and challenges.
Wrap-around services are vital: Comprehensive support services, including housing, employment assistance, mental health support, substance abuse treatment, education, and counseling, are essential for successful reentry.
Programs should prioritize asking individuals about their needs: Instead of assuming what people need, actively listening and empowering individuals with lived experience to lead ensures that support aligns with their actual needs.
Rehabilitation benefits individuals and society: By investing in rehabilitation programs, formerly incarcerated individuals have the opportunity to positively contribute to the economy, support their families, and participate actively in their communities.
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The mission of the Fair Budget Coalition (FBC) is to advocate for budget and public policy initiatives that address systemic social, racial, and economic inequality in the District of Columbia.
More Information Coming Soon!
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The mission of Empower DC is to build the power of DC residents through resident-led community organizing to advance racial, economic, and environmental justice.
More Information Coming Soon!