Sarah Shoenfeld

Hi friends, 

I signed up for this 5k to support Woodley House, which since 1958 has enabled tens of thousands DC residents with mental health issues to access good care and live independently in the 32 homes that Woodley House operates across the city. It was founded by my dear friend Teresa Doniger's mom and was pretty revolutionary at the time (see the history here - https://woodleyhouse.org/who-we-are) Its services became all the more important a few decades later when Reagan-era cuts to mental health services put so many people on the streets.

All these years later, Woodley House remains an incredibly important DC institution for continuing to provide dignified living and essential mental health services in the absence of significant public investment in mental health. (Per Defund MPD, DC spends NINE times more on police than on mental health services, disability services, and public housing maintenance combined- I haven't checked sources but this is easily believable to me, as the parent of a disabled 21-yr-old, a public housing advocate/member of Empower DC, and a public historian whose work has addressed the racially violent history and legacy of policing in DC.)

Please consider a donation to Woodley House, which is celebrating its 65th anniversary this year. Thank you! 

Sarah