Local Bakery Donates Challah to Jubilee Housing

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Jubilee Housing made many amazing partnerships during the pandemic. Among these partners were Food Rescue US, a national organization that transfers fresh food surpluses from local businesses to social service agencies serving the food insecure, and Baked by Yael, a woman-owned DC bakery specializing in nut-free and kosher baked goods.

Since last summer, Food Rescue has been donating rescued food to Jubilee Housing residents weekly. Baked by Yael connected to us through Food Rescue and has been donating bagels and other baked goods. Most recently, patrons of Baked by Yael donated their challah during Passover to Jubilee Housing. This partnership has allowed Jubilee staff – and one very helpful senior resident, Ms. Clara – to distribute quality foods to residents throughout the pandemic.

On April 2, Yael Kirgman, owner of Baked by Yael, delivered 60 challahs and 120 cake pops to Jubilee Housing to be distributed to residents over the holiday weekend. Jorge Torres, Jubilee Housing maintenance/tenant relations coordinator and Clara Velasquez, long-time Jubilee resident and volunteer, met Yael at the Rouse Room to receive the baked goods.

“This is amazing. She is so kind!” Jorge said as he and Clara organized the food to be picked up from residents.

We are grateful to Baked by Yael and Food Rescue US for their support of the Jubilee community! The baked goods were a delight to have during the Easter weekend!

Family Services Serves Up Some Sartorial Style for Spring

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Though temperatures are climbing into the sixties in the National Capital region, there was still time to grab some winter essentials before spring fashion blooms. Jubilee Housing’s Family Services team hosted a pop-up clothing giveaway on March 6 to brisk business, and the positive community response indicates more giveaways could be coming.

Thanks to donations from Calvary Baptist Church and Ella’s Kids Inc., Jubilee was to giveaway hundreds of new and gently used clothing items. From adorable infant onesies to yoga pants and winter coats, the clothing drive boasted a bevy of functional and fashion-forward items. Complimentary bags of canned goods and root vegetables were offered to browsers.

Community need is still high as a post-pandemic future comes into focus.

Chris Grier, director of Family Services, was glad to coordinate the event with the help of a few volunteers. “Seeing families participating in this event with their children shows how family generations are being positively impacted and supported,” he said.

This event hosted 93 shoppers of all ages, and Grier hopes to hold the giveaways more frequently.

“Thanks to the support of our partners at Calvary Baptist and Ella’s Kids, we want to have the capacity to hold the event once a month, ideally.”

Book Fair Breaks up the Boredom

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For students, this school year has been filled with a range of emotions. Not being able to see teachers and friends in person and having to adapt to online classes has been difficult. But students living in Jubilee Housing got to experience a bit of school nostalgia at last month’s book fair.

On February 28th, Jubilee’s Family Services team hosted a book fair in the Ritz building. They partnered with Everybody Wins DC, who donated 350 new books for families to shop at the book fair! Every book included a hand-written motivational note.

Everybody Wins DC is a local non profit organization that provides literacy services and resources to families, schools, and other nonprofit agencies in Washington DC.

Twenty seven families attended the book fair to browse books ranging from Black is a Rainbow Color to the Harry Potter series. There were books for all reading levels and ages.

“What stood out the most was the excitement of the children being able to choose their own books and finding out each book had a handwritten letter just for them. All these things made the event extra special for them,” said Chris Grier, Family Services Director, when asked about the book fair.

As Garrison Keillor once said “A book is a gift you can open again and again”.  Thank you to Everybody Wins DC for sharing such a tremendous gift and the Jubilee Housing staff for their help in making the book fair a success!

The Year in Review

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Jubilee Housing didn’t just survive 2020, we thrived. We couldn’t have done it without the gifts of our partners and friends. Last year, your support allowed Jubilee Housing to continue providing deeply affordable homes, at a time when having a home was so important.

Because we could not meet in person safely, we had to think creatively about how to spread holiday cheer to our community. Through your donations, we raised $40,000 and were able to provide direct monetary support to 284 Jubilee households during the holiday season!

And not just during the holidays, all throughout last year you showed up in unbelievable ways. Here are a few ways your investments in justice housing eased the challenges of 2020 for the Jubilee community:

  • 552 Jubilee residents maintained safe, stable, affordable housing
  • 454 community members received extra support when they needed help
  • 188 residents received 1,017 meals during the pandemic
  • 60 students used extra academic support during the pandemic
  • 46 people leaving prison moved into safe, supportive transitional homes
  • 21 new residents have joined a loving, thriving community
  • 14 students received Jubilee to College scholarships
  • Over $100,000 in direct financial support was provided to residents through meals, rent support, and gift cards

We Need Jubilee Elves to Help Us Make the Holidays Bright!

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The 2020 holiday season will look starkly different from holiday seasons in years past. Though the holidays are usually a time of togetherness and celebration, families and friends are having to show their affection and joy from a distance this winter. COVID-19 has complicated the holidays, but the love between families keeps us together during these chaotic days.

In previous years, the Elf Store and Wish List were happy events where the Jubilee community could share their abundance by volunteering, donating, and purchasing gifts for Jubilee residents.

The Elf Store and Wish List are treasured traditions and one of the few ways our broader community directly support residents of Jubilee Housing. Although we can’t host these events safely this year, we still want to create a way for our community to come together this holiday season.

In this spirit, Jubilee Housing is retooling the holiday programs. As many members of our community continue to struggle with reduced wages or the loss of employment, we want to provide families with Visa gift cards to use as they deem best during this time. And though we won’t get to enjoy the festivities in person, we hope that the spirit of kindness and warmth that always lifts the season will still find its way home.

If you can contribute this season, all donations will go to purchasing gift cards of up to $50 for each Jubilee household.

Jubilee’s Senior Voting Event

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By Sahara Bulls, Jubilee Housing Staff Member

This November’s presidential election was one of the most important elections of our time. There were strong views on both sides of the aisle, and COVID-19 made voting safely hard to manage, especially for older Americans.

The Jubilee Housing Senior Club (Senior Club) worked diligently to make sure that its community was registered to vote and understood how to cast ballots in the safest way possible. On Saturday, Sept. 12, and Saturday, Sept. 26, the Senior Club, in conjunction with the Reed-Cooke Neighborhood Association, hosted a voter registration drive at Unity Park in Adams Morgan to help community members register to vote and request absentee ballots.

Equipped with masks, hand sanitizer and other personal protective equipment, members of the Senior Club and the Reed-Cooke Neighborhood Association registered over 30 community residents. Of the registrants, six were first-time voters.

Senior Club member Romaine Johnson said the idea to host a voter registration drive started with a question posed by members of the Senior Club: How do we get our [Jubilee Housing] seniors to the polls?

The election was expected to be tight, and Jubilee Housing employee and Senior Club liaison Constance Bradley-Bryant knew the importance our seniors’ votes held for them and their community.

“With the senior population increasing each year, demographics are in their favor,” she said. “Seniors understand the power they have. They understand that, with their health and livelihood so heavily dependent on government assistance, voting becomes much more than a mere exercise in civic duty,” Bradley-Bryant continued. “They must vote so that they will not be forgotten and so they will be heard.”

Because of the pandemic and the age of the senior community in Jubilee Housing, voting in person could have been risky. To make sure those residents’ voices were heard this election, Johnson reached out to Reed-Cooke Neighborhood Association. “We knew we had to make sure that those who wanted to vote could,” she said.

The Senior Club was passionate about registering as many voters as possible before the election. Members hosted another voter registration drive on Tuesday, Oct. 27.

For information on how to register to vote, click here.

Jubilee to College Scholarship Program

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On Monday, July 20, Jubilee Housing awarded Jubilee to College (JTC) Scholarships to 14 students — 10 college freshmen and four students already in college. The students attend or will attend American University, Bowie State University, Delaware State University, George Washington University, Hood College, John Hopkins University, Marymount University, Rochester University, Spelman College, Temple University, University of Delaware, and University of the District of Columbia.

The celebration also honored two students graduating from college — one from University of Maryland, College Park and one from Trinity University.

Scholars, parents, leaders from Jubilee Housing, and the JTC committee gathered on Zoom for the celebration. Students shared their excitement for the year ahead and their desire to make a meaningful impact on the world. Aaliyah Dorsey, who will attend University of Rochester this fall, talked about the significance of starting college without financial concerns.

The JTC scholarship program began in 2011, when a group of long-standing Jubilee supporters raised approximately $6,000 for two young adults who had been accepted to college but didn’t have all the funds they needed to start school. As JTC cofounder Jane Mahaffie explained, “The call to raise funds coincided with my oldest son Robert heading off to college. It struck a chord with me that every person ought to have the ability to achieve the dream of a college education.”

Those initial contributions grew into an annual program through which the JTC committee awards up to $2,500 per year in gap funding to help participants in Jubilee Housing’s Teen Center pursue higher education.

Jubilee to College cofounder Susan Ross commented on why the JTC scholarship is more important now than ever. “The pandemic has demonstrated that more people with brilliant minds and thoughtful hearts are needed in leadership positions in our communities and in our nation,” she said. “A college education will help develop our JTC scholars into exceptional leaders.”

Teen Center staff worked tirelessly to support this year’s scholars. Teen Services Manager Emmanuel Gbajobi said “The Teen Center has been remarkable this past year. We were able to provide services to a large number of students, but the highlight was being able to offer 14 scholarships through our JTC Committee. I’m proud to be involved in this line of work and I’m looking forward to continuing this effort.”

Dean Cinkala, a member of the JTC committee, described this year’s scholarship recipients as “the most impressive group of scholars we’ve had.” He applauded the Teen Center team’s efforts “identifying and working with these talented students. The future is bright for these rising stars,” he said.

Congratulations to this year’s Jubilee to College scholars! We can’t wait to see what your future holds.

Jubilee Housing Awarded Safeway Grant for COVID-19 Support

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Jubilee Housing is pleased to announce it was awarded a $10,000 grant from the Safeway Foundation in July. Part of Safeway’s Nourishing Neighbors program, the award is one of a few different emergency supports helping Jubilee and its community members find stability during this time of deep uncertainty.

The Nourishing Neighbors program, focused on ameliorating child hunger, has taken on new importance in the time of COVID-19. The Albertsons Companies, parent company of Safeway, made a new $50 million commitment to the program in April to meet the acute need brought on by the pandemic.

“This time of extraordinary need demands an unprecedented response,” said President and CEO Vivek Sankaran. “The basic needs of many of our neighbors have been threatened like never before.”

This response is not the first time Safeway’s corporate philanthropy has intersected with Jubilee’s mission to provide justice housing™. A longtime community partner to Jubilee, the Adams Morgan Safeway has always made resources available for low-income community members.

The Adams Morgan Safeway has employed Jubilee residents, including people returning from incarceration; provided donations of prepared food for cultural events such as Jubilee’s Hispanic Heritage and Black History Month celebrations; and allowed the Jubilee Housing Senior Club to post flyers for its events in the store.

“Safeway continues to be an example of neighbors helping neighbors in the good times and bad,” said Connie Bradley-Bryant, financial empowerment coordinator with Jubilee’s Family Services program. “Safeway immediately jumped into action to ensure that seniors in the Adams Morgan community have the necessary food they need during COVID-19.”

This $10,000 grant comes at a time when many members of the Jubilee community, like so many others in the nation, are gravely affected by the disruption COVID-19 is wreaking. As the crisis continues, basic needs like food and stable housing are becoming harder to secure and maintain.

The Safeway Foundation’s support will help provide critical grocery store gift cards to residents to offset the costs of purchasing food and essentials during a historic public health crisis.

No one should be denied safe housing or nourishing food. Jubilee thanks supporters like Safeway who are looking out for the needs of families during this time of deep uncertainty.

If you would like to help the Jubilee family with groceries and essentials, visit https://jubileehousing.org/grocery/ to make a donation to our families’ food needs.

Expanding Justice Through Housing

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Emmanuel Gbajobi Sets the Scene for Teens

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By Sahara Bulls, Jubilee Housing Staff

With acne, crushes, and school being only a few of the worries they face, many teenagers can feel that life is challenging. At Jubilee Housing’s Teen Center, Emmanuel Gbajobi provides tools to help Jubilee teenagers make a smooth transition from adolescence to young adulthood.

Gbajobi’s experience working with youth started in 2009, when he was a soccer coach at SoccerTots. As the years went on, he dedicated his time to D.C. United, the city Department of Parks and Recreation, and United Community Ministries, working with youth and their families.

After working outside of the city for a few months, Gbajobi wanted to come back to work in the District and found the perfect opportunity with Jubilee Housing. “I appreciate the values and initiative that Jubilee presents and upholds,” he said. “Jubilee has an element that was missing in other organizations, and that was the opportunity to really impact the community, without limitations.”

Gbajobi works as Jubilee’s teen services coordinator. He provides the teens with a serene environment in the Teen Center, “with soft music in the background” he said. They can hang out and receive assistance in planning their futures.

The Jubilee Housing Teen Center is open five days a week. The space contains pool and foosball tables, study rooms, a large screen TV, and a lounge area with comfortable sofas.

A typical day at the center consists of homework time, program updates, and enrichment programs, such as SAT prep and other college and careers readiness programs. The rest of the time is free for the teenagers to wind down and relax before heading home.

Born in Nigeria and raised in Philadelphia, Gbajobi relocated to the Washington, D.C., area in 2005. He completed high school at Crossland High School in Maryland.

Gbajobi is keen on learning. He enjoys documentaries about world history, indigenous tribes, and Earth. He’s also a social studies enthusiast. When he was in 6th grade, he aced a social studies test. “I had a social studies exam where I had to write all the European countries, and I finished it in under six minutes and scored 92 percent,” he said. “My teacher thought I somehow cheated, so he made me do it again. I completed it in about five minutes and scored 98 percent.”

Gbajobi brings this same focus and confidence to his role at the Teen Center. One teen said “Emmanuel is so helpful and organized. He’s also a great accountability partner. I told him I was interested in securing money for college, and the next time I was at the center he had a whole list of scholarships I could apply for!”