April 8, 1988, 25 years ago, Carpenter’s Shelter officially incorporated as a non-profit organization. For six years, volunteers at Blessed Sacrament housed homeless men and women in the basement of the church. As time went on and the need for shelter continued to grow, the volunteers knew they needed to come up with a long term solution. Out of their passion and dedication to the homeless, Carpenter’s Shelter was born.

In the past 25 years, we have grown from a warehouse to Center of Learning. Today, with 80 beds, Carpenter’s Shelter is the largest homeless shelter in Northern Virginia. Each year we serve more than 1,000 homeless and formerly homeless men, women and children. We continue to evolve with the needs of the homeless population, offering a variety of services and programs designed to identify and address the root cause of homelessness. Every day we work one-on-one with our residents to break the cycle of homelessness.

Carpenter's Shelter provides a continuum of care for our clients. Our programs include:

• An 80- bed residential shelter housing individuals and families
• David's Place, our day shelter for chronically homeless adults
• Winter Shelter - providing shelter from the elements Nov 1-April 1
• City-wide Homeless Services Assessment Center for Individuals seeking shelter and services
• A Community Case Management program providing continued services to those living in the community
• An Education program to help our clients achieve their goals through education and employment

These programs simply could not be offered without the generous support of Northern Virginia area residents and businesses. Over 83 cents of every dollar donated to us goes directly toward improving the lives of homeless and at-risk children and adults in the DC Metro area.

Join us in our mission to end homelessness through shelter, education, guidance and advocacy. Our mission will not end until homelessness ends, because no child deserves to be homeless.