The mission of A Wider Circle is to advance equity in the greater Washington, DC region by fostering the exchange of goods, skills, and connections from neighbor to neighbor, and by engaging in advocacy to address the root causes of poverty.

Our vision is a world without poverty, where people have what they need to thrive.

Everyone is welcome at A Wider Circle; there are no eligibility or referral requirements. Our “no wrong door” approach ensures that everyone who comes to us is met with compassion and served in a dignified and respectful environment. We meet each person we serve where they are — identifying challenges, providing comprehensive support, and pursuing solutions together.

This holistic approach paves the way to financial self-sufficiency, walking alongside each individual and family we serve to work toward a common goal — ending poverty.

For many of those served by A Wider Circle, the journey out of poverty starts with a furnished home. Each day we hear from families in their first ever homes, often after leaving homelessness or fleeing domestic abuse. Through our Essential Support program we provide 10–15 families each day with beds, dressers, dining sets, couches, and more — all free of charge.

Our Career Support program uses a holistic strength-based and customized approach that offers a variety of professional development and career advancement activities, including professional workshops, career counseling, and coaching. Job seekers can also visit our Professional Development Center, where we provide professional clothing to wear to interviews or to their new job at no charge.

Through our Neighborhood Partnerships Program, communities invite A Wider Circle to collaborate and develop a long-term presence because we listen carefully and forge lasting, trusting partnerships. Based at our Ward 8 Hub in DC’s Washington Highlands neighborhood, we work with residents to build service menus that address needs specific to each community. Select services include workforce development workshops, health and wellness programming, family enrichment, support to resident leaders for community engagement, microgrants for community-led initiatives, and more.

The Partnership to Independence (P2I) initiative is a multi-year program offering long-term, intensive, multi-generational support to families facing barriers to financial stability. The initiative focuses on helping individuals living with low incomes achieve successes related to employment, education, physical health, emotional health, and social connectedness. The first five-year cohort of the P2I program graduated in 2023 ( read the independent outcome analysis for the first cohort here). The second cohort is 14 members strong, based at our Ward 8 Hub, and runs for three years through 2026.

A Wider Circle is driven by our vision of a future without poverty. Since our inception, we have worked to innovate, partner, and serve so that one day, all of our neighbors have the resources they need to thrive. Every day, neighbors we serve share stories of policies and systems that have caused — and continue to perpetuate — their hardship. While the services we provide are critical, we know that direct service alone will not create the long-term change needed to end poverty. To help create this change, we launched our new Advocacy program in 2023.