Miriam's Kitchen is a nonprofit working to end chronic (long-term) and veteran homelessness in our nation's capital. From meals to housing, all of our programs are unified by one goal: to guide people home.

We have been a trusted resource for individuals experiencing homelessness in DC since 1983.  We serve about 2,500 adults every year, helping guests (what we call our clients) increase their income, improve their health, and find permanent housing. In addition to our front-line services, we push for full implementation of best practices citywide and work to improve the entire homeless services system. This combination of direct services and systems change is a best practice (yet rare), and makes Miriam's Kitchen an important part of the equation of ending veteran and chronic homelessness in our nation's capital. 

Our guests have slipped through the cracks in the city's social safety net and are living under bridges, in encampments and in emergency shelters--all within walking distance of the National Mall. 

We are providing meals and groceries, access to bathrooms, personal protection equipment like masks and hand sanitizers, screenings for COVID, and general wellness checks. 

Your support is needed now more than ever to fuel our frontline response efforts. 

However, service is not enough. Our mission to end chronic homelessness demands that we address root causes. It is not a coincidence that the majority of people experiencing homelessness nationwide, and in DC specifically, are African-American. This is the result of centuries of structural oppression and then decades of racist policies that have prevented people of color from accumulating wealth, buying a home, and accessing quality education and fair paying jobs.

Thanks to your support we are able reinforce the dignity of our guests who are homeless, provide them with a community of belonging, and work to create lasting change so they can gain self-sufficiency and have a better quality of life.