Dear Friend,

Another week has come to an end and we have continued to serve the most vulnerable in our community. We are learning more about which volunteers and supporters have been affected, either by losing their homes or being unable to return, as well as assessing which of our clients have been directly impacted. We are incredibly grateful for the generous support of so many of you: donors, congregations, foundations and folks just reaching out to see what we might need. We are working together as a staff to plan out the best way forward to ensure that all of your funds are being used in the most effective and efficient ways possible. Thank you for your trust in us and the work we do each day.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak at the funeral of a long-time congregant of my synagogue, who passed away two days after the Eaton fire burned down our campus. In preparing, I thought about the fact that despite the tragedy of the fires, which is taking so much attention, and rightly so, a human being passed away unrelated to the fires. His family needed the immediate strength and comfort of the community, which we came together to provide. The cycle of life continues, even in the midst of communal tragedy: babies are born; people pass away; folks get married, lose their jobs, graduate from school, and experience the regular moments of daily life. In light of this, I want to share a story about one of our clients, someone we were able to help as part of our “regular” services.

Lena, a resilient African American woman in her late 50s, has been navigating homelessness for over two decades. Her journey has been shaped by incredible strength and intelligence—but also significant barriers. Lena’s story is one of persistence, hope, and the power of compassionate support.

For Lena, stability has long been elusive. Despite working as a security guard and maintaining impeccable organization and cleanliness, she has spent years cycling between temporary shelters, riding the metro at night, and sleeping on rooftops for safety. But the scars of past housing experiences, including corrupt practices in a previous placement, made her hesitant to trust the system again.

When Lena began working with the Street Outreach and Housing team at Friends In Deed, the focus was on rebuilding trust and providing a safe, supportive space where she could heal from past disappointments. Meanwhile, a Housing Navigation team member leveraged her network to push through the delays in Lena’s housing referral, ultimately securing her placement in a single-occupancy room at a program where she could thrive.

Today, Lena is housed, safe, and hopeful. Her journey reminds us that housing is more than just a roof over one’s head—it’s the foundation for healing, growth, and reclaiming a sense of dignity. At Friends In Deed, we are honored to walk alongside individuals like Lena, turning challenges into triumphs and fostering a future filled with possibility.

Please continue to care for one another, and understand that this will be a long process of healing and rebuilding for so many individuals and our community as a whole. Concurrently, we will continue to provide compassion and dignity to all of our most vulnerable neighbors. 

I have not used my usual sign-off for the past few weeks, but I want to return to it this week, as we start to emerge from the flames into a softer light of day.

Blessings and have a lovely weekend,

Rabbi Joshua

We can only operate with your help!

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Friends In Deed is committed to fostering, cultivating, and preserving a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion. We embrace and celebrate the spectrum of our employees’, volunteers’, and clients’ ages, color, ability or disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, neurodiversity, and other characteristics that make our employees, volunteers, and clients unique.