The Official Dancing Deer Baking Co. Blog

We walked in the door a bit late due to travel and weather challenges and the activities were already under way. But even before we stepped inside we’d been greeted by staff and had a sense of the good will and positive energy. We came in the back door to the basement common room which was packed to the gills with children and mothers. It was high energy and the room was full of creativity and joy. It reminded me of how much can be done with very little. It was a tiny basement space but it was just fine. The walls were decorated with murals the kids had made to welcome us. One of the mothers, named Tiffany, told me that she and her children just really needed this today. It had been a tough one for them. As in all the shelters we were thanked generously for coming. In this shelter the thanks started the moment we walked in. Sometime it takes a little longer for people to relax in to the no rules pandemonium of Gingerbread house fun and then realize how refreshing and helpful it is at a very simple level.

This is a new shelter which opened in February and it is the largest we have visited. It houses 28 families apartments. I had the opportunity to walk one of the families up to their third floor apartment to help deliver their houses and was amazed at how great a space the shelter managed to provide for this family. The staff is very focused on helping parents reach economic self sufficiency. Not all the shelters take in men and teenage boys. This is one which enables families to stay together.

I also very much enjoyed my hot shower and was so grateful for! I can only speculate what that same shower felt like to each person who arrived here from a day on which there was great uncertainty not only about what would be home, but what would be home tonight.

Here's some great clips of our visit to the Naylor Road Family Shelter in Washington DC. Let's start off by our arrival, narrated by Trish.

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There are over 6,000 homeless people in Washington D.C. Source

Of this total, 2,200 of them are chronically homeless. Source

582 have been victims of domestic violence. Source

Each year, close to 2,800 adults and children in about 530 families rely on emergency shelters. Source

According to a District-based Community Partnership for the Homeless survey, the number of D.C. families needing help from shelters increased more than 42% from December 2007. Source

Trish will be at the Naylor Rd. Family Shelter this evening. If you were Trish, what would you ask these families? What would you want to know? (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

My children are 15 and 19 years old and yet I hadn’t given a great deal of thought to the logistics and social implications of being a teenager in the homeless system even though I have been in countless shelters and met hundreds of homeless families. Most often I’m meeting with mothers of small children. When I started a conversation with a beautiful young woman named Shiday. I wouldn’t have guessed that she was only 16, not just because she is mature in her appearance but also because she was so beautifully spoken, articulate and wise about her situation. It took me a bit of work to get her to respond to me. She was pensive and thoughtful. She is an Honor roll student as is her very bright younger sister. She sings in the choir. I didn’t get the details on their brother. They are living with their mother who has a serious medical disability and is unable to work. Their extended family can’t take them in. They’ve been homeless for 3 weeks.

Here are some things to think about.

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Jordan's Mom lost her job as a housekeeper four weeks ago and now resides within the Caritas Shelter Program. Here Trish talks with them about their experiences thus far.

We challenge you to become more aware of homelessness in your community and invite you to become an active participant in the solution.