Everyone should be home here in the District, but sadly, displacement and homelessness are realities for many of our neighbors. For 50 years, the Capitol Hill Group Ministry has been helping the less fortunate among our citizens and partnering up with volunteers, other neighbors, and advocates, so that those who are in need can be cared for with dignity.
On the occasion of their 50th anniversary, CHGM has decided to rebrand themselves so their name lines up more accurately with their mission statement. Starting today, they will go by their apt new name, Everyone Home DC. Congratulations to a non-profit that has done and will continue to do so much good for the people of our community. Hope you can join them as they celebrate their 50 years on Tuesday, April 30th, at the annual spring social and they honor Nicky Cymrot. RSVPs are closed for this event, but you can find out more about it here.
Below, the press release from the newly-minted Everyone Home DC:
Dear Friends,
According to DC’s 2018 Point in Time homelessness count, there are approximately 7,000 of our neighboring families and fellow residents experiencing homelessness on any given night. Some may see this as a welcome decrease from the prior year—and I’m proud of our efforts that contributed to securing homes for many people in 2018—but our work is far from complete.
In fact, I’d say we’re just getting started.
For more than 50 years, Capitol Hill Group Ministry has partnered with people experiencing homelessness, and we’ve partnered with caring neighbors, fellow advocates, and city officials to end homelessness in the District. However, much has changed since our founding by a coalition of churches on Capitol Hill 50 years ago. In this milestone of our 50th anniversary, it was time to adopt a name that was truer to our mission, more reflective of our community, and more in line with our vision for our city as a thriving and diverse community, where all people can obtain and remain in safe, affordable, and comfortable homes.
And so, I am proud to announce that today, Capitol Hill Group Ministry becomes Everyone Home DC.Our new name is a name and a mission statement in one. It is more welcoming of the diverse range of supporters it will take to achieve our vision and it gives our work a clear and recognizable descriptor. And one need not look further than our wide-ranging efforts in 2018 to see that our services and solutions reach far beyond the Capitol Hill community. Our new name, however, will not impact our purpose, our programs, nor our special relationships with faith communities and Capitol Hill area partners. Our focused commitment continues, with a rigorous set of solutions for families and individuals experiencing homelessness in the Capitol Hill area and beyond.
The reality is, we’ve known a new name was needed for the past several years. So, about a year ago, with the support of our extended network, we began reflecting on the words we use to describe our beliefs, values, and impact. We refined our vision, mission, and strategic priorities, and then began considering how we communicate externally. Our process included conversations with staff, board, community members, and faith leaders, to ensure that our story was authentic and anchored by our core values and beliefs.
The New Name: Our new name—Everyone Home DC—gives our work a clear and recognizable descriptor, something we did not have previously. And it reduces the confusion that many people had about our previous name. Our services and solutions are no longer limited to the Capitol Hill community, and while we maintain strong alliances with DC’s faith community, we are not a religiously-affiliated organization.Our New Logo and Visual Identity: Our new logo incorporates warm colors and connected row homes—an iconic DC visual that represents our unwavering commitment to this community. The gradient of a rising sun represents hope, optimism, and our belief in the self-determination and resilience of all people. We often heard that our prior mark felt dated and traditional—not at all like the work we do every day. The main focus of our rebrand, which includes a new website (everyonehomedc.org), was to bring clarity and connectivity to our work, and to help our current and future partners and colleagues better understand our work and our mission to end homelessness.
We are proud of the new brand we’ve built together at Everyone Home DC. We believe it’s a powerful reflection of who we are and what we stand for—something we’ve long known but not always expressed with such clarity.
We invite you to learn more by visiting our new website—www.everyonehomedc.org—and join us in this next phase of our journey. As I said above, we’re just getting started, and I look forward to all that we’ll be able to achieve, together.In the spirit of service,
Karen E. Cunningham
Executive Director
P.S. Follow Everyone Home DC on your favorite social! You can find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.