If You Want to Support Immigrants
Washington English Center
Learning English can help immigrant workers boost their wages, and this group has taught people from more than 100 countries. It also helps students prepare for the citizenship exam. $150 will buy: A tutoring scholarship.
Centreville Immigration Forum
The nonprofit helps immigrants advocate for better pay and conditions. In addition to working with wage-theft cases, it offers trade courses. $500 will buy: A trade or skill-building class.
Many Languages One Voice
This group mentors teen and young-adult refugees and immigrants, provides new moms with baby supplies, teaches digital skills, and reunites detained minors with their families. $600 will buy: Diapers and wipes for one year.
If You Want to Support Food and Housing Security
Georgetown Ministry Center
A few programs are available to DC’s unhoused community: a drop-in center for access to food, computers, and laundry; a winter kitchen serving hot dinners; and an outreach team that helps connect people with medical aid, including mental-health services. $100 will buy: A tarp, sleeping bag, blanket, and mat for one person.
Anne’s Place
This nonprofit helps people who are at risk of homelessness, moving them into stable supportive housing. Each apartment building has 11 residents, with access to case managers and holiday meals. $100 will buy: One meal for residents in a supportive-housing building.
Adventist Community Services of Greater Washington
Serving about 3,000 families a year, the organization hands out food boxes, diapers, and hygiene kits for people experiencing economic insecurity. Training programs cover computer skills, ESOL classes, and more. $500 will buy: A month of hygiene supplies.
If You Want to Support the LGBTQ+ Community
Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC
Multiple performance groups offer a creative haven for the queer community, including an ensemble for teens. There are also troupes dedicated to dance, pop music, and gospel-style songs, plus a chamber group, all performing around DC. $100 will buy: One scholarship for the youth chorus.
The Wanda Alston Foundation
This organization, named in honor of activist Wanda Alston, provides the LGBTQ+ community with access to counseling, transitional housing, and scholarships. $500 will buy: A month of transit via Metro for five young people.
The Frederick Center
This group holds a variety of community events and support groups, including meetings for parents with trans children, a youth group, and a gathering for people who feel they came out later in life. $1,000 will buy: A year of peer-support programs for one kid.
If You Want to Support Education
Youth Leadership Foundation
Mentorship programs include separate meetings for elementary- and middle-school-age children, plus an afterschool camp where kids learn how to rock-climb. $100 will buy: A week’s worth of afterschool snacks.
The Fishing School
Elementary students can enroll in free afterschool and summer programs focused on STEM, the arts, and life skills. More than 8,500 kids and families have participated over 35 years. $500 will buy: One year of STEM supplies for a classroom.
Collegiate Directions
The nonprofit supports students who will be the first in their families to attend college, offering standardized test prep, help filling out applications, and visits with college representatives. $1,000 will buy: Equipment for the computer lab.
If You Want to Support Healthcare
Community of Hope
This group connects more than 1,600 local families with a range of services, from primary and dental care to temporary housing. It also operates three health centers across the city. $100 will buy: One resource session for a family.
District of Columbia Forensic Nurse Examiners
For survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence, the evidence-collection process can cause more harm. This group provides trauma-informed care such as medical exams conducted by trained nurses. $500 will buy: A training session for a forensic nurse.
Kingdom Care Senior Village
People 60 and older who are aging at home can join this community in the District’s Ward 8 that connects seniors with rides to appointments, prepared meals, and social activities such as line dancing and outings to the theater. $500 will buy: A freezer to hold food for distribution.
If You Want to Support the Arts
The Theatre Lab
The organization runs theater courses for children, teens, and adults. Spring-break and summer camps give kids an outlet for creative expression while keeping them busy and cared for during gaps in the school year. $100 will buy: Art supplies and food for one summer-camp attendee.
Educational Theatre Company
Theater isn’t always inclusive or accessible to everybody, and this nonprofit works to bridge the gap. It collaborates with groups such as Street Sense Media to work with people who have experienced homelessness, and pair seniors with high-school and college students for script and scene studies. $100 will buy: Online sessions for a student over age 55.
Critical Exposure
This nonprofit empowers young people of color to tell their stories through photography. They also learn about community organizing while working on their projects. $500 will buy: One DSLR camera and supplies.
If You Want to Support Civic Engagement and Legal Services
DC Fiscal Policy Institute
This organization works to close the racial wealth gap in the District by focusing on economic policies—how they affect inequality and what can be done to change that. $100 will buy: A budget-and-advocacy training session.
DC Girls Coalition
Young women and nonconforming people of color develop leadership skills and organize town halls on issues such as education policy and community safety. $500 will buy: Stipends for 20 youth participants.
Harriet’s Wildest Dreams
Prison abolition is at the core of this Black-led nonprofit, which operates a court-watching program, helps incarcerated mothers and caretakers, and trains responders on how to intervene during a crisis without calling police. $1,000 will buy: Medical equipment for responders.
This article appears in the December 2025 issue of Washingtonian.
Daniella Byck joined Washingtonian in 2022. She was previously with Outside Magazine and lives in Takoma.
