Thanks for considering our request for funding assistance to facilitate a cultural exchange and team building trip for both our staff and youth in our care.  Our request for funding assistance is specifically targeted to underwrite a portion of the travel and accommodation cost for 12 youth.  

 
DC Doors, Inc. is a homeless services provider that provides transitional housing services, drop-in center, case management, and other wrap around services to equip youth and adults in the District of Columbia with the tools and resources to transition at risk and homeless individuals to self-sufficiency.  In our efforts to break the cycle of homelessness, we offer youth transitional (and extended transitional) housing services, permanent supportive housing, workforce development, and mental/medical help evaluation and assistance. 

We planned to conduct a team building retreat for our staff in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, and considered extending it to incorporate several of the youth (ages 18 to 24) who would benefit from the cultural exposure and who would join us in a service project in St. Anns.  The service project would present an opportunity for both our staff and youth to give back to those less fortunate and certainly have much limited resources than our youth have access to.  We believe that the opportunity to share in a community of individuals who are similarly at risk but have made determined choices to improve their welfare though working with much less resources, would stimulate an even greater interest in our own youth to take the opportunity for life skills, workforce development, and the notion of self-sufficiency more seriously and invest themselves much more in their own development.

We worked with the Embassy of Jamaica to identify Windsor Girls Home in St. Anns as a similar institution that cares for homeless individuals in Jamaica as the project location where our youth can join with staff to conduct a service project while we are on the island.  To date, the Home has requested our assistance in renovating a building and landscaping.  To that end, we are working with contacts at the institution to work out the details, resources needed and expected outcomes for the project.

Please consider our funding request to assist with direct travel and accommodation costs for the youth. We would also like to have the youth share their experiences with other youth in the city and plan to organize an early winter event where the Mayor could participate.  The trip is scheduled for December 18 - 24, 2022.  We look forward to your help in making this a reality.