History
Our History
Housing Up was founded in 1990 as Transitional Housing Corporation, after a generous bequest led a group of Christ Lutheran Church volunteers, together with volunteers from Samaritan Ministry of Greater Washington and Community Family Life Services, to decide how to best use the gift to aid those in need in the District. They decided to help families attain safe and stable housing by buying an apartment building on the corner of Georgia Ave and Kennedy St NW. This building served 14 families in transitional housing and was named Partner Arms 1. Since then we have grown to serve more than 500 families in a range of housing programs and buildings across the District.
In 2016, we rebranded as Housing Up, a name that reflects the full scope of our programs. The name Housing Up aligns with our move away from transitional housing programs and toward permanent affordable housing solutions. The rebrand highlights our status as one of the District’s most innovative and successful nonprofits serving families experiencing homelessness.
Timeline
1990:
Housing Up is founded by volunteers through a partnership of Samaritan Ministry of Greater Washington, Community Life Family Services and Christ Lutheran Church, with support from St. Alban’s Episcopal Church.
1993:
Housing Up opens Partner Arms 1 in Ward 4, providing 14 transitional apartment homes for families experiencing homelessness in the District.
2003:
Housing Up opens Partner Arms 2 in Ward 4, adding 13 more transitional homes for families.
2004:
Housing Up adopts a new strategic direction that expands our work beyond transitional housing. With “Housing First” as our driving mission, we take steps to become a developer of permanent, affordable housing for low-income families. Housing Up hires Executive Director Polly Donaldson, initiating an expansion from a small $500,000 nonprofit organization to our current $6.5 million, constituent-centered operation.
2007:
Housing Up embarks on its first affordable housing preservation project, Fort View Apartments in Ward 4.
2008:
Housing Up opens Partner Arms 3 to provide transitional housing to 13 families in Ward 7. We also launch the Housing with Care program to provide permanent supportive housing (PSH) at scattered site locations throughout the District.
2009:
Housing Up expands its housing options with the rapid re-housing program (RRH). Designed to reduce overcrowding in shelters, RRH helps at-risk and newly homeless families quickly achieve housing stability through financial assistance and case management.
Growing our community reach, Executive Director Polly Donaldson is appointed to the DC Interagency Council on Homelessness. We also purchase Webster Gardens Apartments, our second affordable housing preservation development.
2011:
Housing Up opens the newly renovated Fort View and Webster Gardens apartments in Ward 4, providing permanent affordable rental housing to 114 families.
We converted Partner Arms 1 from transitional housing to permanent supportive housing in response to studies showing the effectiveness of permanent supportive housing for chronically homeless families.
2012:
Housing Up and Somerset Development Company are awarded Best Large Affordable Housing Development for Fort View and Webster Gardens by the Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers (HAND).
Housing Up and Community of Hope are awarded a joint $1 million grant from the Freddie Mac Foundation to pilot the Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool (SPDAT). The SPDAT assessment is used to ensure the right housing and services are provided to the right families. The Department of Human Services adopts the tool for universal use in the District.
2013:
Housing Up purchases 3 vacant buildings to transform them into 36 units of affordable housing, including 12 permanent supportive housing units, in the first Passive House retrofit in the country.
2015:
Housing Up celebrates its 25th anniversary and hires Philip H. Hecht as President and CEO.
Housing Up opens Weinberg Commons in Ward 7, adding 36 units of affordable housing including 12 PSH units. Weinberg Commons is the nation’s first multifamily retrofit certified by the U.S. Passive House Institute, adhering to strict energy use standards.
2016:
The organization rebrands from Transitional Housing Corporation to Housing Up. Housing Up’s new brand reflects the range of housing options provided to DC’s homeless and low-income families.
Housing Up receives two funding awards from the DC Department of Housing and Community Development: 1) funding for a major renovation to convert our Partner Arms 2 building from transitional housing to permanent supportive housing and 2) as co-developer with Hines/Urban Atlantic for the Abrams Hall Middle building on the Walter Reed campus. The Abrams Hall Middle project will accommodate 80 units of senior housing (including 16 PSH units) as well as Housing Up’s future office space.
2017:
Weinberg Commons wins the Affordable Housing category and received an honorable mention in the Multifamily category at the 2017 Passive Projects Competition. The competition was hosted by the Passive House Institute US (PHIUS).
Housing Up launches the Family Success Program to accelerate families’ progress towards independence. The program empowers low-income, formerly homeless families to break the cycle of poverty permanently, through increased access to education, workforce development, and community and supportive services.
2018:
Housing Up breaks ground on Abrams Hall Senior Apartments at Walter Reed’s campus. Abrams Hall Senior Apartments will provide 80 units of senior housing as well as Housing Up’s new office space. Sixty-four units will target seniors below 50% area median income (AMI), and the remaining will target seniors below 30% AMI.
Housing Up celebrates a ribbon cutting at our Partner Arms 2 (PA2) property as the 2017 renovations are completed. Constructed in 1924 and acquired by Housing Up in 2001, PA2 has operated as transitional housing for formerly homeless families until the current renovation. With rehabilitation and structural remediation completed, PA2 now provides 12 units of permanent supportive housing (PSH) to formerly homeless families.
2019:
Mayor Bowser announces a major investment in affordable housing, including the development of 218 Vine Street, now known as Entwine. Housing Up is proud to partner with Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners and several DC government agencies to produce 129 units of affordable senior housing at 218 Vine Street NW in Ward 4.
Housing Up is also awarded funding to develop 54 units of permanent supportive housing assisted living on the Walter Reed campus, in partnership with the Walter Reed development team.
2020:
Housing Up celebrates its 30th anniversary.
Housing Up celebrates Ms. Miriam Garcia and her family, as well as Ms. Asia Kyle and her daughter at its annual benefit, Living in the City. Ms. Garcia moved to the US from the Dominican Republic imagining a life far better than the one she left. Ms. Garcia, now a US citizen, is a domestic violence survivor and the main caretaker for her daughter and mother. She has not only made it through impossible circumstances, but she has been able to thrive because of affordable housing. Ms. Kyle is a human trafficking survivor and since being connected with Housing Up in 2015, she has become a strong advocate for other survivors, pursuing justice for them and advocating against exploitation. She is also a mother to a young daughter and a licensed cosmetologist. Watch their stories here.
Housing Up, in partnership with Somerset Development Company and Jonathan Rose Companies, is awarded funding to provide 125 units of affordable housing, including permanent supportive housing units, at Faircliff Plaza East in Ward 1. This project, along with a 197-unit market rate development next door, will replace the former 80-unit Faircliff Plaza East apartment complex, quadrupling the total number of housing units on site.
2021:
Housing Up celebrates Ms. Carlita Walker and the Diatta family at Living in the City. When Ms. Walker lost her companion in 2007, she also lost the breadwinner of their family. Though Ms. Walker had a job at the time, she didn’t have enough income to stay housed and eventually, she found herself at a women’s shelter. A few years later when Housing Up’s Fort View Apartments were about to open, she signed a lease for her own apartment and in turn regained her sense of safety, peace, and pride. In 2010, Ms. Marie Noelle Diatta, her husband, and their three daughters immigrated to the US from Senegal in search of a better life. When they arrived in Washington, DC, the family of five was living in one room – until a friend mentioned Fort View Apartments. Over the years, one of their daughters graduated from college with a B.A. in Psychology and the family purchased their own home in Maryland. Watch their stories here.
Housing Up completes construction on Entwine senior apartments, which provides 129 units of affordable senior housing, including 24 units of permanent supportive housing (PSH). Housing Up employs two on-site case managers at Entwine to serve the PSH clients.
The Committee of 100 on the Federal City trustees selects Abrams Hall Assisted Living for a 2021 Vision Award. Abrams Hall Assisted Living is the first District-funded project that combines permanent supportive housing and assisted living for seniors in one facility and provides a scalable model for future assisted living facilities for Washington, DC’s most vulnerable seniors.
Affordable Housing Finance (AHF) announces its 2021 Readers’ Choice Awards Winners, and recognized Abrams Hall as the best overall in senior housing. Notably, AHF recognized Abrams Hall’s innovative plan to include both affordable senior housing and assisted living in the same building so seniors can comfortably change levels of care when necessary.
2022:
Housing Up celebrates Ms. Felicia Holmes at Living in the City. Before Ms. Holmes moved into Housing Up’s Weinberg Apartments, she was experiencing homelessness. After settling into her new stable housing and working to trust Housing Up’s on-site resident services coordinator, she was able to start reaching her goals, including improving her mental health and obtaining her GED in 2017. Watch her story here.
After successfully navigating through the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, we serve close to 900 families across our four housing programs. In spite of a challenging environment, we help 310 families exit DC’s homelessness system and enter stable housing of their own.
2023:
Housing Up celebrates Mr. Diggs at Living in the City. Before being connected with Housing Up and its Housing Services team, Mr. Diggs lost his job and subsequently his housing due to a back injury, and he ended up living in a shelter. After connecting with Housing Up and moving into his own apartment, Mr. Diggs has been able to continue working on his art, one of his passions. Watch his story here.
Housing Up, in partnership with Somerset Development Company and Jonathan Rose Companies, breaks ground on The Faircliff, a 125-unit affordable housing project at 2601 14th Street NW in Ward 1. This project, along with a 197-unit market rate development next door, will replace the former 80-unit Faircliff Plaza East apartment complex, quadrupling the total number of housing units on site.
2024:
Housing Up celebrates the senior community at Entwine Apartments and the kids in Camp Housing Up at Living in the City. Entwine provides 129 units of affordable senior housing, including 24 units of permanent supportive housing (PSH). The community boasts a rich calendar of activities for the residents, from bingo nights to painting classes, to help keep the seniors engaged. Camp Housing Up is Housing Up’s free, 6-week summer camp that served 25 kids in 2024. Housing Up partners with DC Central Kitchen to provide two meals to kids daily, and kids take a variety of field trips to explore DC. Watch these communities’ stories here and here.
Housing Up, in partnership with Somerset Development Company and Jonathan Rose Companies, completes construction on The Faircliff, a 125-unit affordable housing community in the heart of Columbia Heights.