My wife is on the staff and I have volunteered as a photographer and technology consultant. this is an outstanding program housing woemn who have been chronically homeless. THey have transformed many lives and will continue to be a model program for women.,
Open Arms is doing great work in this community of women. While living in Dunbar House, I have seen the organization grow and expand their services to serve the women. They have done an amazing job with the resources at their disposal and I have no doubt that they will continue to do great work with these fabulous women.
This is an organization which as established a model, welcoming residence for homeless women in a transitional part of town. In a jurisdiction with many levels of bureaucracy there are many hurdles to overcome to innovate and the staff has done an admirable job in creating a beautiful residence . By providing both service and some stability in housing Open Arms Housing should be able to help restore dignity to the lives of its clients
In 2009 I was asked to help out at the grand opening of Open Arms Housing, Inc's first (and currently only) housing facility on O Street. I was extremely impressed by the building and the quality of furniture and amenities that would be provided to each future resident. I came away from my visit convinced that any woman given the opportunity to rent one of the units in this housing first program would undoubtedly have a better chance of overcoming the adversity, mental health issues, or other circumstances that caused her to become homeless. Indeed, a number of months later, I met several residents when walking for Open Arms, Inc in the Homeless Walk in DC. In speaking with the residents it was clear that these women were benefiting tremendously from this housing first program and that the donations and funding from governmental agencies had provided an immediate and powerful return on investment. As such, it is my great hope that this organization will continue to be recognized as deserving support from individual and corporate donors, as well as funding from government agencies. Furthermore, I believe that the success of Open Arms, Inc can serve as model for the concept of housing first in action and lead to an expansion of this innovative solution to the problem of homelessness, thus making the case for supporting the organization all the more compelling.
I was a volunteer at Open Arms on Christmas Day and was impressed by the opportunities provided by this organization. Not only was the meal beautiful and the environment safe and clean, there was a warm feeling that offered hope to struggling individuals. Communities are lucky to have wonderful programs like this available. I plan on volunteering my time to aid this organization in the future.