A Wider Circle, Inc.

The mission of A Wider Circle is to advance equity in the greater Washington, DC region by fostering the exchange of goods, skills, and connections from neighbor to neighbor, and by engaging in advocacy to address the root causes of poverty.

Our vision is a world without poverty, where people have what they need to thrive.

Over the course of our history, A Wider Circle has implemented an array of programs and services centered on the mission of poverty eradication. Our current roster of programs includes:

Essential Support: A Wider Circle’s oldest and most well-known program provides 15-20 families each day with beds, dressers, dining sets, couches, and more — all free of charge. All of the items we distribute are in “dignity condition” meaning they are free of rips, stains, tears, or brand new. Thanks to generous neighbors, bulk donations from hotels and universities, and wholesale partnerships, we can ensure that everyone who visits our showroom has a variety of high-quality home goods to choose from.

Career Support: In mid-2022, A Wider Circle re-launched our Workforce Development program with a new name, Career Support, and began offering an approach that provides holistic support, focusing on the whole person and the unique strengths they can bring to a career. Using a strength-based and customized approach, Career Support clients participate in a variety of professional development and career advancement activities, including individual career counseling, professional and career development workshops, and coaching.

Neighborhood Partnerships: Centered at our Ward 8 Hub in Southeast DC’s Washington Highlands, the Neighborhood Partnerships program is a place-based model that seeks to develop and implement services based on the self-defined needs of the community. In the course of our history, we have also had iterations of this program at two other locations in Washington, DC: Barry Farm (2015-2018) and Shaw (2019-2021).

Partnership to Independence: Also known as P2I, this is a long-term, comprehensive support program serving families living with low incomes and facing barriers to self-sufficiency. Participants work closely with staff Advocates and trained volunteers to identify their unique needs and goals, and create a road map to self-sufficiency in areas including but not limited to career support, health and wellness, financial management, social support, and networking.

Advocacy: Launched in February 2023, the goal of our Advocacy program is to work in coalition to create the long-term change needed to address poverty's root causes. Components of this work include a volunteer Social Justice Committee that meets monthly, listening session events with community members and elected officials, an education campaign to shift the narrative on poverty, and a Youth Social Justice Leadership program.

Everyone is welcome at A Wider Circle; there are no eligibility or referral requirements. Our “no wrong door” approach ensures that everyone who comes to us is met with compassion and served in a dignified and respectful environment. We meet each person we serve where they are — identifying challenges, providing comprehensive support, and pursuing solutions together.

A Wider Circle has been named "one of the bestʺ nonprofit organizations in the region three times by the Catalogue for Philanthropy.

The organization’s 65-member staff is composed of individuals with a wealth of expertise and great dedication to those they serve. The organization benefits from the leadership of our President & CEO, Amy Javaid, who brings a wealth of experience designing, implementing, and evaluating nonprofit programming to her position. A Wider Circle also has a 16-member Board of Directors composed of individuals who have long been leaders in the community and who have a strong desire to combine their business acumen and professional experiences with hands-on, grassroots work.

Our team is further supplemented by more than 12,000-15,000 volunteers annually. While some volunteer engagements are single-incident or episodic, the organization is honored to have several dozen core volunteers who come on a regular daily or weekly schedule, supplementing staff in several realms such as supporting client appointments, managing inventory and displays in select departments, and undertaking data entry.

A Wider Circle’s unique role in the region is and has been to foster the exchange of goods from neighbor to neighbor — in particular the redistribution of furniture, other home furnishings, and professional clothing — all free of charge. This mutually beneficial neighbor-to-neighbor exchange is the heart of our work as well as our philosophy. We are all harmed by the vast inequity of our society, and we all benefit from sharing resources to advance equity. We believe that relationships are the vehicle for transformation, and with our Career Support, Neighborhood Partnerships, and Partnership to Independence programs, we are also fostering the exchange of skills and connections between neighbors across our region.

As the circle of neighbors supporting neighbors has grown and continues to widen, A Wider Circle is well-positioned to advocate for systemic changes that address the root causes of poverty by building awareness, engaging community, and mobilizing the diverse network of neighbors in direct action campaigns and other advocacy efforts.

Since our founding, A Wider Circle has provided vital services to thousands of children and adults each year. We believe that every individual, family, and community should have the opportunity — and access to the resources needed — to thrive. We seek to be a social service provider that embodies its values in all of its services and recognizes the immediate/emergency, mid-term, and long-term value of the work undertaken.

Both qualitative and quantitative measures are utilized in measuring impact. Many of the changes that our clients are seeking are long-term and part of a multi-staged process in which progress markers and benchmarks are also noteworthy and documented.

Key accomplishments in 2022 include:

Essential Support
● Conducted 2,449 furniture appointments, distributing 25,367 household items
● Delivered furniture to 322 families
● Held 386 baby appointments, distributing 1012 baby items
● Reached 600 single-parent households, of which 50% earned less than $800 a month
● Received referrals from 218 organizations
● Served as part of the emergency response team in several local disasters, such as the Friendly Gardens Apartment explosion and fire
● Implemented Apricot, a large-scale client database and data management system

Career Support
● Engaged in 767 client touches
● Led 100 workshops (virtual and in-person), including a weekly strengths-based workshop series
● More than one-third of Career Support clients utilized regular, sustained Career Counseling in their career development journey
● Launched a coaching pilot program connecting Career Support clients with professional coaches for pro-bono coaching sessions

Professional Development Center
● Provided 1,254 individuals with professional clothing
● Hosted 25 groups (some on a weekly or monthly basis for clothing appointments)
● Held 4 mobile events at the Ward 8 Hub, serving more than 110 residents
● Led 9 mobile events at community partner sites
 
Neighborhood Partnerships
● Served 760 unique neighbors
● Held 78 hours of group grief/conflict sessions
● Hosted 121 educational events and workshops
● Helped 75 high schoolers get ready for Prom
● Installed a Little Free Library
● Offered mental health services

Partnership to Independence
● Conducted 1,005 interactions with participants
● Provided 3,900 summer meals
● Offered $9,191 in emergency assistance
● Recruited first half of second cohort

Impact is more than numbers served. Building a data culture, refining data collection, and implementing a more robust monitoring and evaluation system are all emphasized as part of this strategic planning process. Several new approaches are being developed and employed to share results beyond mere process or progress markers.