DASH Benefit Compilation CD Release Show at Black Cat

Southern Problems

DASH celebrated the release of a compilation CD with 16 tracks to benefit the organization this past week at The Black Cat, our hometown rock club. The CD came out on Exotic Fever Records, and copies are available both on the label’s site here and through Itunes by searching its title – “And Tonight the City Safely Sleeps.” Proceeds go directly to support DASH’s work.

Cat Furniture

Cat Furniture started off the show with homemade signs to spell out D-A-S-H on their shirts. They kicked off the set with their song from the comp, Beepy. After their set, Hugh McElroy, formerly of the prominent DC band Black Eyes, treated the audience to a compelling a capella set. Capping off the night was Southern Problems.

One of the best parts of the event was seeing the musicians

Hugh McElroy

meet DASH staff, for whom they already had a lot of respect. The event did well with over 60 people attending. Thanks so much to the bands who played and to Black Cat for hosting! If you have not gotten a chance yet, pick the comp up now and check out this review of it here on the Washington City Paper’s blog – including a preview track!

Catfish for DASH! #justinsfishfry

We had an amazing time at Justin’s Fish Fry this past Saturday in support of DASH!

Thank you so much, Justin Schuck, for pulling together such an enjoyable and generous event to benefit the women and children in our programs.

Thanks go to Justin’s dedicated crew of friends and helpers as well! The day would not have been possible without Michele Walk, Brandon Reavis, Timothy Charles Briscoe,  Violaine Orban, Stephen Joseph (from Goûter) and Matthew Rhoades & Luis Gomez from Borderstan.

Justin and team served a delicious full course meal to over 120 people! The catfish, hush puppies, greens, and fried desserts received rave reviews all around. Most importantly, they raised critical funds and donations for our residents at DASH.

What a fun party and perfect way to spend a beautiful Saturday afternoon!   We could not be more grateful to have community partners like Justin!

Cornerstone Dinner with RUBIES Women’s Ministry

Last Saturday, Cornerstone residents were treated to a night of food and entertainment by Shekinah Glory Deliverance Church RUBIES Women’s Ministry. RUBIES members arrived at Cornerstone with trays of delicious ribs, chicken, potato salad, and green beans donated by Dale’s Smokehouse in Indian Head, MD. They also brought gifts, toiletry items, and other much-needed items for DASH participants. Before the dinner began, the women and children participated in a game and listed to a beautiful song performed by a RUBIES member. The volunteers expressed their solidarity with Cornerstone residents and reminded them of how special and brave they were to leave an abusive relationship. All participants left the event full of fantastic food and grateful for a wonderful evening. DASH is so thankful to Shekinah Glory Deliverance Church for reaching out to us and providing residents with such a memorable night!

DASH and the National Alliance to End Homelessness

This week, DASH staff presented three workshops at the National Alliance to End Homelessness Conference, exposing homeless advocates from across the country to DASH’s unique approach to safe housing for survivors. The conference, which featured over seventy workshops for the thousands of attendees, provided an excellent opportunity for DASH staff to gain valuable insight from many of the nation’s leading experts on homelessness, as well as to impart their own wisdom. Moreover, due to DASH’s status as a nationally-recognized best practice model organization, they were able to emphasize the intersection of domestic violence and homelessness to conference attendees, using their expertise to educate many homeless advocates with little knowledge on how to work with domestic violence survivors.

DASH Community Housing Director Shakeita Boyd

Prior to the conference’s official start on Tuesday, DASH’s Community Housing Program Director Shakeita Boyd presented a section on safety planning in the “Improving Safety and Services for Survivors of Domestic Violence” workshop.   DASH offered guidance to housing providers on how to support survivors in their program to plan for safety.  As survivors move through the homeless system, it is imperative that homeless organizations are aware of the dynamics of domestic violence and are able to address emotional and physical safety concerns and assist survivors using a trauma informed lens. This pre-conference session offered homeless service providers an innovative approach to effectively address the needs of survivors in their housing programs. Other highlights of this session included; best practices for case management and developing successful organizational partnerships to benefit survivors.

DASH Housing Resource and Training Manager LaToya Young

Later in the week, Shakeita also presented “Selling Your Program: Landlord Engagement and Rental Assistance Strategies.” This session focused on the importance of developing strong landlord relationships in order to foster rapid rehousing. Shakeita discussed successful elements of DASH’s Empowerment Program, which is a national model for providing scattered site, apartment-based long-term housing for survivors.  Attendees learned about developing successful marketing tools such as short-term rental subsidies to encourage landlord cooperation and engagement.

DASH Housing Resource and Training Manager LaToya Young

Finally, on Wednesday, Housing Resource and Training Manager LaToya Young presented “Public Housing Authorities: Partnering to End Homelessness,” a discussion on the relationship between community housing assistance programs and public housing authorities (PHAs). The session emphasized strategies that many PHAs and community programs have used to develop partnerships to assist homeless families.  LaToya discussed how she partners with the DC Public Housing Authority (DCHA) to address the unique housing barriers survivors face, including facilitating safety transfers  and training DCHA staff on housing protections afforded to survivors.

Even when domestic violence was not the primary focus of the workshops they presented in, Shakeita and LaToya were able to educate attendees on various ways housing, homelessness and domestic violence intersect. DASH is grateful for this opportunity to share our message to so many homeless advocates and to create new partnerships to ensure that safe housing is a reality for everyone.

New ‘Bright Space’ Provides Children Displaced by Domestic Violence A Unique Learning and Play Environment to Help Them Thrive

Grand Opening of Bright Space at DASH

Today the District Alliance for Safe Housing (DASH), Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker, P.A., and the Bright Horizons Foundation for Children officially opened our Bright Space® learning and play facility for children living in the emergency-to-transitional housing of DASH’s Cornerstone Residence. The children living in this special residence have been displaced by domestic or sexual violence, along with their mothers, and the Bright Space will provide a dedicated safe, warm, enriching area to play, learn, and thrive.

Studies have shown that children of all ages flourish when they have a safe place in which to explore the world around them, filled with books, toys and activities. Children experiencing stress associated with witnessing violence and experiencing homelessness especially need access to these kinds of child-friendly spaces that are key to social and emotional development.

“We hope this Bright Space will bring comfort to families and children during an especially difficult time” said Bright Horizons Center Director Rebecca Weiss who led the team of child care employees in charge of creating the Bright Spaces room within the shelter.

This Bright Space will provide a place for children to play. Children like five-year-old Mary who came to Cornerstone with her mother, who was battling drug addiction, had been incarcerated, and experienced violence at the hands of a former partner. Mary’s mom credits her daughter as her inspiration to heal and get back on her feet, often referring to her as a “gift from God,” and a second chance to live her life in a positive way.

Bright Space Learning and Play Facility at Cornerstone Residence (DASH)

“This Bright Space will offer many of the families who enter our program every year a comfortable place to play and simply experience the joy of being a child or parent,” said DASH Executive Director Peg Hacskaylo.

The center’s construction and opening was largely made possible by a donation from the law firm of Shulman Rogers located in Potomac, Md. The firm is celebrating its 40th anniversary through A Special Year of Giving in which they have dedicated themselves to civic engagement and giving back to the community that contributed to their success. The donation to Bright Spaces is just one in a series of 12 volunteer projects the firm will lead during their anniversary year.

“For 40 years, we have dedicated ourselves to not only serving our clients, but to also serving the community we call home,” said Lawrence A. Shulman, founding partner of Shulman Rogers.  “As we celebrate our 40th Anniversary, we continue our dedication of service, philanthropy, and support.”

DASH Executive Director Peg Hacskaylo and Board Chair Julia Wright

The Bright Space was also made possible through the generous donations of Bright Horizons Division 2, Hoppmann Audio Visual, Capital Commercial Flooring, James G. Davis Construction, Diamond Contracting, Inter-American Development Bank, and DASH Board Chair Julia Wright.

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About DASH

DASH is an innovator in providing access to safe housing and services for survivors of domestic and sexual violence and their families as they rebuild their lives on their own terms. We seek to strengthen and expand the local safety net for survivors by providing high quality, voluntary services that are responsive to their individual needs and by engaging lawmakers, community members, service providers, and survivors in the movement to make safe housing more accessible in the short-term and less necessary in the long-term.

DASH’S Cornerstone Program is our emergency-to-transitional housing program, and the District’s largest dedicated safe housing program. It provides 43 units of safe housing where residents may live for up to 2 years.  In the year and half since opening, DASH has housed more than 150 women and children at Cornerstone. More information is available at https://dashdc.wpengine.com/

About Bright Horizons Family Solutions

Bright Horizons Family Solutions is the world’s leading provider of employer-sponsored child care, early education and work/life solutions. The company operates child care and early education centers across the United States, Europe and Canada. The Bright Horizons Foundation for Children was founded in 1999 to help forward the vision of Bright Horizons Family Solutions to brighten the lives of children, youth, and families in crisis. Bright Spaces is a program of the Foundation, creating dedicated play areas in shelters and community agencies that serve children in crisis. There are currently more than 260 Bright Spaces open in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, the United Kingdom, and Ireland that serve more than 10,000 children and families every month. More information is at www.brighthorizonsfoundation.org.

About Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker

Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker, PA is the largest independent law firm in the Washington Metropolitan suburbs. Founded in 1972, the firm and its attorneys and staff are committed to client service, a relentless focus on problem solving and an underlying compassion for its clients and community. The firm has a general practice with experience ranging from corporate law, to real estate, to litigation to estate planning and family law. Additional information on Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy & Ecker and its practice areas is available at www.shulmanrogers.com.

First Green Bean Harvest at Cornerstone

This weekend Cornerstone saw our first harvest of beautiful green string beans! The kids who helped put these beans in the ground reaped their harvest. Too tasty to wait for the stove, we were rinsing and munching them raw right out in the garden. Handfuls of basil, rosemary, and cilantro went home with residents, too. These harvests even inspired several impromptu garden tours for residents who had not yet seen what’s growing.

Next up: tomatoes!

Summer Fun Wellness Day for DASH Residents!

Summer Fun Wellness Day

Last Saturday was Summer Fun Day at Cornerstone, themed around our Wellness Program offerings. Residents, Staff, and DASH Volunteers shared fresh summer snacks, garden mint tea & juice,  and socializing together. From make-overs and face paint to music and dancing, the mood was incredibly fun and festive!

Hot-packs, microwaveable and used for sore joints and necks, were crafted out of socks and rice generously donated from Board Member Jordan Fitzgerald, and rosemary picked fresh from

Rosemary hot pack

DASH’s own community garden. DASH’s regular knitting group members led the way in yarn class and taught skills to newbies.  Cornerstone volunteer acupuncturist provided demonstration sessions and chatted with the group, about the health benefits of this ancient practice.

Says Ayesha Ali, DASH’s Cornerstone Wellness Intern, “The event was a success!  Not just because residents came, [participated, and helped], but because they stepped up with their gifts, talents and ingenuity…to make an event ‘for’ them instead be an event ‘by’ them.”

Mint Lime Iced Tea

Inspired by the day, residents are looking forward to creating a Zumba Party for the next event!

Thank you to everyone who helped make this a great success.

A Happy Mother’s Day at DASH

Every holiday is worth celebrating, but for the busy families living in DASH programs, holidays sometimes go by unnoticed. Luckily, this Mother’s Day, DASH received generous gifts from local organizations to make the holiday memorable for everyone.

Following their incredible donations for other holidays throughout the year, The Red Derby donated Mother’s Day gift bags for Cornerstone residents and Empowerment Project participants. Each bag was beautifully decorated and filled with unique gifts meant to remind moms how special they are. Thank you to The Red Derby once again for all that you do!

Over the past few years, DASH has undergone many changes. Despite these changes, DASH has always counted on Jewish Women International to make Mother’s Day extraordinary for our residents with their annual donation of flowers and OPI products. This year, residents were particularly delighted by the variety of nail products and beautiful flowers donated. DASH is so grateful for JWI’s continued support in celebrating the courageous women in our programs.

Thank you to all of our donors for brightening special occasions for our residents! If you are interested in making a donation for a special event or holiday, please contact Dana Arneson, Development Specialist, at 202-462-3274 x 1228 or by email at darneson@dashdc.wpengine.com.

Knitting and Community Building

Donations from Looped Yarn Works

Alison Gurley, Resident Advocate at DASH, recently lead a knitting program with DASH residents. The pictures are just a portion of the yarn that was donated by DC business Looped Yarn Works. We are incredibly grateful for their generosity! Here Alison talks about how she came to DASH and the project:

I am originally from Massachusetts, but I went to a small college out in Minnesota called St. Olaf College. I graduated in 2010 and decided that I needed to be somewhere warmer so I moved to DC. I am a resident advocate. A resident advocate at DASH does pretty much what the title suggests, we advocate for our residents and partner with them throughout their stay at our transitional housing program. During their two years here, advocates work to support residents are they work toward their goals, seek permanent housing, connect to community resources and etc. Advocates are available to share their knowledge of community organizations and resources, government programs and benefits and to generally provide  a listening ear. We also plan much of the programming that occurs within our Cornerstone housing facility.

I first got involved with DASH as a full-time volunteer through Lutheran Volunteer Corps (kind of like AmeriCorps) in March 2011. I had been working at an organization doing advocacy work on federal immigration and refugee legislation, and I wanted a chance to do direct service work. DASH had an opening for a Resident Advocate so I applied to work here through Lutheran Volunteer Corps. DASH hired me as a full-time advocate outside of Lutheran Volunteer Corps in August 2011.

Resident Advocate Chanel Meadows, knitting with DASH residents

A number of residents had expressed interest in starting a knitting/crocheting group. One resident in particular was interesting in teaching crochet. For me, knitting is an important stress relieving activity, I find it wonderful and satisfying to create a tangible product. I thought it was a wonderful idea for DASH to help the women take some time for themselves and build community together. One of the founders of Looped Yarn Works used to work with a DASH staff member at Our Place, DC, so I got in touch with her to see if we could have supplies donated to make the group possible. Looped does drives quarterly to help make knitting/crochet groups possible for a number of non-profits.

As a resident advocate, my first priority is to build a relationship of mutual respect with the women I work with at DASH. The most important thing to me is that we approach the work we do together as a partnership. I want to make sure that the women have self-determination in the goals that they set for themselves and the life they build for themselves while they are in our Cornerstone program.

Donations from Looped Yarn Works

Knitting is a great way to build community. When your hands are busy, it’s amazing what will come out of your mouth! Building a strong community among the residents in our Cornerstone program is very important to DASH. Survivors are the people best equipped to help other survivors, we always want our residents to be able to turn to one another for support, as well as to staff.

DASH and the E&G Group Receive the MassMutual Citizenship Award from the Washington Business Journal

Even before one of his real estate company’s employees was the victim of domestic abuse, E&G Group executive Thomas Gallagher began working with Peg Hacskaylo of the District Alliance for Safe Housing to place survivors of domestic violence in E&G properties. Photo by Joanne S. Lawton.

This morning DASH and the E&G Group received the MassMutual Citizenship Award from the Washington Business Journal designed to honor the region’s most active and inspiring partnerships between local businesses and nonprofits. Awarded at the Washington Business Journal’s Corporate Philanthropy Awards Breakfast, MassMutual and WBJ honor businesses and nonprofits that have created a partnership which benefits families and children in the area. These are partnerships that made a difference through philanthropic work, both financially and through volunteer hours, and have made a commitment to:

•           A philosophy of “doing well by doing good”, by supporting nonprofits  focused on families and children.

•           Ongoing involvement of the CEO/owner and senior leadership in the company’s social initiatives.

•           Active promotion of philanthropy and volunteerism among employees.

•           Demonstrating a measurable social impact of the company’s philanthropic efforts.

DASH is thrilled to be the recipients of The Washington Business Journal’s Corporate Philanthropy Citizenship partner award this morning for its partnership to ensure safe housing and freedom from violence for those enduring domestic violence. We are honored to receive this distinction with such wonderful partners. The organization will be featured in next week’s Washington Business Journal.