Housing is Healing
- SHECP
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
By Daphne Nwobike, 2025 SHECP Intern with Miriam's Kitchen
My summer at Miriam’s Kitchen was remarkable and eye-opening. For two months, I worked with D.C.’s unhoused community in ways I never anticipated. Before my internship, I had never heard of Miriam’s Kitchen or paid much attention to D.C.’s housing crisis. My perception of the city was limited to its tourist attractions, political significance, and endless social activities. All I did was take from the city, unperturbed by the very real injustices and inequities faced by many of its residents—the very people who keep the city running.
When the opportunity to intern at a nonprofit focused on eradicating homelessness in D.C. arose, I was intrigued. Despite living so close to the city, I’d gotten accustomed to not seeing or acknowledging unhoused people, inevitably trivializing their experiences and the issue of homelessness in the same breath. The very presence of an organization like Miriam’s Kitchen struck a chord within me, forcing me to peel away the scales I’d so gladly put over my eyes. While walking to Miriam’s Kitchen on the first day of my internship, I remember asking myself, “Was D.C.’s housing crisis really that bad?” I got my answer the moment I saw guests filing into the dining room: Yes, it was.
Miriam’s Kitchen is a nonprofit organization that aims to end chronic homelessness in D.C. by providing guests with quality meals, social services, health services, and a sense of community, all while advocating for public policy that improves housing outcomes. For over 40 years, Miriam’s Kitchen has provided meals and housing support to D.C.’s unhoused community, Monday to Friday, regardless of holidays, weather, or a global pandemic. This summer, I interned with the social services team as a Case Manager. The social services team offers a range of support through one-on-one case management sessions, including connecting guests to housing, assisting them with federal benefit applications, obtaining identification documents, and referring them to immigration nonprofits, among other services.
During the first few days of my internship, I had the opportunity to shadow other case managers and observe how they interacted with guests, not as outcasts but as individuals deserving of respect. I noticed how artfully they wove together critical thinking, kindness, empathy, and practicality into solutions that helped guests feel seen despite the severity of their cases.
I was in awe of the progress in guests’ cases but also distressed by the slow pace of change, the endless departmental backlogs, and the structural inefficiencies that inevitably kept people unhoused despite their attempts to escape poverty. While at Miriam’s, I learned a great deal about the limited pathways to housing available to guests. Budget cuts have rendered the Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) voucher system virtually ineffective, due to the insufficient number of vouchers provided to unhoused DC residents and the high number of people still waiting to be matched with a home despite having had their vouchers for several months. Although case managers encouraged guests to consider employment as a pathway to housing, we often served a large number of guests with various kinds of disabilities or personal situations that made employment unfeasible, such as young mothers and older adults. It was hard to see guests come by with so much hope that this time would be different, that there would be some positive outcome, only to learn that their case hadn’t improved since their last visit. What’s more, the criminalization of unhoused people by the national guard and the nearly $30 million budget cuts to the Housing Production Trust Fund and the Emergency Rental Assistance Program all continue to compound the harm faced by individuals in need of housing.
Amidst all of the difficulty, there were also many incredible moments of joy. I’ll never forget my first shift in the dining hall, when several guests stopped by our social services table asking my name, where I was from, and letting me know they were excited to meet me. As part of my internship responsibilities, I hosted a weekly Art Table, during which I had the opportunity to sit with guests while they colored and painted, all while engaging in conversations that always ended in laughter, regardless of the initial topic of discussion. I was blown away by the talent many of our guests possess and was in awe of their humility despite being so skilled.
I had many more positive interactions with guests, from chatting with one of our Spanish speaking guests, who was always excited to speak to me once he learned I could speak Spanish, to seeing guests’ eyes light up when they noticed I remembered their names. When I finally began attending case management sessions with guests, I supported several guests in applying for birth certificates to access vital benefits, assisted them in reapplying for SNAP benefits, contacted Social Security on behalf of a guest who needed to restart his benefits, and scheduled a dental appointment for a Spanish-speaking client, all of which helped me learn more about our guests and form genuine relationships with them that made it hard to say goodbye at the end of the summer. Hearing about successful housing placements was always cause for celebration. You could see the light return to our guests’ faces as they began to envision their futures, and that same hope reinvigorated the case management staff to continue their work with renewed purpose. Moreover, having supportive and kind cohort members made my time in DC an eventful one, and I’m grateful for the connections we formed as a result of the SHECP program.
My time at Miriam’s Kitchen helped me view the world and the most vulnerable members of our society through an entirely new lens. It unfortunately took me this long to humanize and truly see those facing homelessness, but now, I will never be unable to ignore the inherent humanity and worth of every unhoused individual. Homelessness is not a personal failing, but the result of a system that has forgotten the very people it’s meant to serve and protect.
Every Miriam’s Kitchen staff member receives a t-shirt that says, “Housing is Healing,” and this summer showed me that housing truly is the foundation upon which dignity, safety, and belonging can be rebuilt. I also learned that healing isn’t just about having a roof over one’s head. It’s about being seen, valued, and cared for. As I look forward to a future career in law and advocacy, I’ll carry this lesson with me wherever I go, striving to see others not just as a sum of their circumstances but as humans deserving of compassion, dignity, and recognition.
Daphne Nwobike is a Class of 2026 Posse Scholar at Sewanee: The University of the South. She is double majoring in Politics and Spanish while on track to receive the Civic and Global Leadership Certificate. During her 2025 SHECP Summer Internship, she worked as a Case Manager with Miriam's Kitchen in Washington, D.C. Each summer, SHECP interns are placed with nonprofit and government agencies that work on the front lines of poverty and serve as co-educators to students.