Jubilee Housing was founded in 1973 when a small group from the Church of the Saviour purchased and renovated two dilapidated apartment buildings in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC. Their goal was to provide safe, high-quality affordable housing.
Today, Jubilee owns and operate 13 deeply affordable housing properties totaling 464 units, with another 120 units in four properties under development.
At the same time, Adams Morgan and other Ward 1 neighborhoods have changed dramatically. What were once marginalized neighborhoods are now thriving, resource-rich areas where gentrification threatens to displace countless long-term residents. As low and moderate income families are being squeezed out of the District due to lack of affordable housing, our work ensures everyone can benefit from the progress of the city. Our work creates justice housing.
What’s Next
Once at a past Board meeting, we debated whether or not Jubilee could afford to buy a building. One member insisted that we didn’t have a choice. If Jubilee didn’t buy it, a for-profit developer would and her friend would be evicted. Instead of affordable housing, there would be only luxury condos.
In 2018, our Board of Directors predicted that within a few years there would be no more available properties left to develop into deeply affordable housing in Ward 1.
As part of our 5 Year Plan, Jubilee set an ambitious goal to increase our housing and services offerings by 30%. Jubilee exceeded that goal, and we are on track to double our housing and services through three newly acquired buildings for renovation and four new buildings under development.
