Miriam's Kitchen

Miriam's Kitchen began in 1983 to support people experiencing homelessness in Washington, DC. Over time we expanded our mission from helping people cope with homelessness to seeking to end all long-term homelessness in DC. This has meant expanding services from just providing breakfast and clean socks to offering a comprehensive mix of programs that spans from meals to housing. Our five programs include: street outreach, meals, social services, Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH), and system change/advocacy. 

We focus on people who have been homeless for years, if not decades. Our guests (how we refer to our clients) have slipped through the cracks in the city's social safety net and are living under bridges, in encampments and in emergency shelters--all within walking distance of the National Mall. And the gaps in the safety net have only widened during the pandemic.

Every year we provide life-sustaining services to more than 2,500 adults, providing freshly prepared meals and connecting people to medical care, mental health support, housing assistance and income.

On top of providing high-quality services directly to guests, we are one of the few organizations that also works to change the system to make it easier for people to exit homelessness.