Our Blog

So many members of the Friendship Place community make our work possible—thank you! We want to share a few highlights that you helped achieve.


This year, the Department of Veterans Affairs demonstrated its confidence in Friendship Place and the Veterans First team. They have asked us to take on six new counties and raised our annual target from 600 to 750 Veteran households because of our consistent performance and leadership across the region. During FY25, we served 661 Veteran households through our Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) grant, which is more than 10% above our goal for the year. Additionally, 93% of those Veteran households exited successfully to permanent housing, which is a phenomenal achievement.

Even more impressive are our participant survey results—99% of our Veterans report that they were satisfied with how Friendship Place served them! This demonstrates our excellence, especially considering the average SSVF program nationwide reports an 82% satisfaction rate. These outcomes do not happen by accident. They happen because of our commitment and ability to provide individualized services to empower our Veterans in rebuilding their lives.We are proud of this team and hope you are too. Thank you for everything you do for our Veterans and our community! 



Things are going great at The Brooks, and several staff members have been celebrated for their work. Jasmine Taylor was named Case Manager of the Year among all Short-Term Family Housing facilities across the city! On top of that, Autumn Thomas tied for third! This means that among all case managers from all Short-Term Family Housing facilities in Washington, D.C., Jasmine and Autumn placed the most residents into permanent housing. Congratulations!

Also at The Brooks, we have implemented AimHire employment services to help families achieve financial stability. Over 10 families are currently enrolled and are well on their way to employment and self-sufficiency.To further help residents achieve financial stability, Tiaria Grier, Division Director of the Welcome Center, has begun offering financial literacy classes for families. This will help them better manage their finances as they enter the next phase of their lives. 



Saturday, May 30, from 3–5 p.m.: Please join us for an Open House at our Welcome Center, as part of this year’s TenleyFest. Email crutledge@friendshipplace.org or mcullen@friendshipplace.org to RSVP.  

Tuesday, June 2, at 12 p.m.: We will host a webinar entitled “Resilience and How It Impacts Our Participants and You.” For this conversation, we’ll be joined by Dr. Sherry Hamby, an internationally recognized authority best known for her work in trauma, violence, and resilience, and the author of the new book, “Stronger Than You Think: Building Lifelong Resilience.” Please join us by registering here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/s0Z3_1WXS6CCMe5HK8WqIw.

September 17, 2026: Please save the date for the Friendship Place Honors Gala, our Annual Celebration. More details and ticket purchase options to come. 

How You Can Help: You can help Friendship Place and our participants by providing in-kind support.  

Learn more by following us on Facebook and Instagram.

Thank you again for all you do to support our mission to end homelessness.

Yours truly,
Your friends at Friendship Place 


Have a question? Email us at Info@friendshipplace.org.