GRACE in Action is committed to housing first.

Our Values

GRACE: Our name encompasses our core values. Goodwill. Reconciliation. Advocacy. Community. Empowerment.

Our Mission

Our mission is to provide housing as a first step toward rebuilding security, safety and dignity for our unhoused neighbors in the southeast quadrant of Washington, DC.

At GRACE in Action, we believe in housing first as it provides for the basic safety and survival needs for those who are at risk. We believe that housing security must be attended to prior to addressing needs for educational development, increasing wages and employment opportunities, addressing addiction challenges, improving physical and mental health care, and addressing other social concerns. All of these problems arise from failed or inadequate economic and political institutions and policies that marginalize those with the fewest resources and capabilities.

We believe that by addressing housing first, we can then support the newly housed in their efforts to improve their opportunities with respect to education, employment, health and other social conditions. We do not wish to support policies and programs that are based on the assumption that these social problems are based on human deficits and the approach is simply to enhance the individual’s ability to enrich his or her opportunities. Instead, we seek to address the most fundamental systemic failure—our society’s inability to produce adequate housing for all. We do this by addressing the need for housing for those at greatest risk. And we do so in a way that disrupts current housing market forces that lead to segregated housing opportunities and gentrification.

GRACE in Action operates by acquiring housing units and making them available for affordable rents for those in our community who are experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity. Our focus is on those who are falling between the cracks of our current social service systems such as those experiencing housing insecurity but not scoring high enough on the risk factor scale to secure housing or those who are working but unable to afford housing in DC; those with Housing Choice Vouchers but who are unable to secure rental housing; and those struggling with addiction or mental illness who are not able to find supportive housing accommodations.

Our History

More than two decades ago, a pastor slept on the steps of the Capitol Hill United Methodist Church (CHUMC) with the unhoused individuals who had been living there. His experience inspired a new ministry, welcoming unhoused neighbors into the church for one Sunday meal each month. Over the years this monthly Sunday meal led to weekly Sunday meals at the CHUMC Café, and then daily breakfast through Our Daily Bread. The CHUMC Food and Friendship ministry was founded to build relationships and not simply fill bellies, and holy friendships were formed that changed the understanding of the world for members of the church.

In 2019, members and friends of the CHUMC community recognized an opportunity to continue serving unhoused neighbors in a vital way: by offering affordable housing that is in severe shortage of supply in the District of Columbia. With the full support and encouragement of the CHUMC community, these individuals stepped out of the church to create GRACE in Action, inspired by the type of relationships they witnessed being created through food and friendship.

Just Getting Started

GRACE in Action was incorporated as an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit in 2020, and is led by a Board that includes experts in the field of housing policy and practice, individuals experienced in offering affordable housing to renters, and individuals experienced in managing nonprofits, and – importantly – individuals with personal experience being unhoused.

Together we are transforming lives and communities through housing. Join us.