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A Message from the President

January 11, 2021 by Justin Feltman

Greetings and Happy New Year! Yes, HAPPY, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I too, am excited to put 2020 to rest, and welcome all the hope and promise of 2021. We can all agree that 2020 was an unprecedented year, but with God’s infinite grace and mercy, Samaritan Inns continues to provide structured housing and recovery services to homeless and at-risk men, women, and
families suffering from addictions.

I joined the Samaritan Inns family a few months ago because of my deep passion for the organization’s commitment to serving our city’s most vulnerable. Each day, I’m awestruck by the passionate commitment and loving care provided to our clients by the staff here at Samaritan Inns. Despite how difficult this work is—and how much more difficult it is during a pandemic, the team keeps showing up, working through the chaos and giving their ALL, each and every day. They work tirelessly to ensure the men, women and families we serve get the support and care that everyone deserves.

Like so many non-profits, Samaritan Inns has also been dramatically impacted by the pandemic. It has forced us to change how we conduct every aspect of our operations; and required us to reduce our capacity in order to keep our residents and our staff safe. But thankfully with God’s help, we make it work and I’m pleased to report that all Samaritan Inns programs have remained open throughout the pandemic; and that the number of COVID cases amongst our residents and our staff has been minimal. We have certainly been blessed and we are excited to open the doors to our brand new Women’s Transitional Living Program on Ontario Road later this month, making it the only program of its kind in DC.

Samaritan Inns has been providing exemplary services for more than 35 years, and we look to build on our legacy and increase the number of individuals we can serve. Over the years, Samaritan Inns has evolved to meet the changing needs of those we serve with innovative programs and services. What began as one transitional home in the heart of DC, has developed into a full treatment and recovery continuum with eight transitional homes and a proven formula in combating homelessness and addictions. Over the next several years, we will build on the vision and strength of Samaritan Inns through the addition of an outpatient treatment center for men and women; and a long-term recovery program for families.

We have much to do in this fight to combat homelessness and addictions and rebuild lives. But Scripture tells us that “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31)

On behalf of the men, women and families we serve, our staff and our Board of Directors, and everyone involved with Samaritan Inns, I thank you for your continued support and I wish you a blessed New Year filled with peace, abundance, and bright moments. Please stay safe.

With gratitude,

Letters from Larry: A New Year

January 17, 2018 by Justin Feltman

To Our Samaritan Inns friends and family,

2018 presents new opportunities and challenges for us all. At Samaritan Inns, we are no stranger to either. Each year, our nation’s opioid epidemic worsens, leaving lost love ones and broken families in its wake. Washington, DC is at the heart of many of the nation’s substance use problems, leading the nation in alcohol abuse.
However, there is hope. Thanks to your continued support, we provide a beacon of light for those needing help. Over the past year, over 250 clients entered our Adult Treatment Program, looking for a new beginning. About 25 mothers began building a healthy foundation with their families through our Women with Children Program. Men and women in our long term recovery program have strengthened their commitment to independent living, with 98% of alumni continuing to live drug and alcohol free.
The challenges we face, as a community and nation, seem insurmountable. However, we know that when we come together to face these challenges, hope will win. This year, I look forward to partnering with you as we work to restore hope and bring healing to our community.
Best,

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Lazarus House Turns 25

May 9, 2016 by Justin Feltman

Today marks 25 years since Lazarus House, our first Affordable Housing Communities Program building, opened its doors for the first time. 25 years later, it stands as a beacon of hope for all who are continuing to build on their long-term sobriety and growth. To commemorate this milestone, we wanted to share with you what Lazarus House has meant to our staff, alumni, and community members over the years.

“When I came to Samaritan Inns, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I thought it was a trick because this house was so clean and beautiful that I knew addicts didn’t live here. They did; and that’s when something come over me. It was a warm feeling and I started to cry. I knew I had finally come home.”

–Reginald High, Alumnus & Director of Properties

“I moved into Transitional Living in July of 1997 on Harvard Street and I moved to Tabitha’s House in January of 1998. I found my tracking sheet the other day. I was in SRO for less than a year. My addictions counselor was the best in the business, Beth Smith. She told me to have a plan and my plan was to be in SRO for one year and then to move on to my own place, which actually happened.
A lot has happened in the past 19 years. I’m in my 13th year as an addictions counselor here, but was a substitute innkeeper and a monitor before that. I’m not bragging when I say this, but I believe I am the only person that has been a director of all three phases of the program. That’s the grace of God.”

–Lynette Daniels, Director of Transitional Living Program and Affordable Housing Communities Program

“It helped me find myself all over again. And today, I love myself. I think highly of myself, and I’m just doing well. My kids, I’m a mother again, I’m the mother I know that I was supposed to have been. Even though me and my son talk, I first asked him for his forgiveness and my daughter thank God, she doesn’t remember. I’m involved in their schools, doing what I have to do, job doing ok. It’s who I am now, moving forward.”

–Reina, Samaritan Inns Alumni

“Lazarus House represents a longer term opportunity to solidify your recovery, to build on relationships that are healthy and good for you, relationships that you begin to establish in the time you’ve been in the Inns. It’s an opportunity to develop your work habits and to improve to be advanced in your employment so that you have the opportunity and possibility to afford alternative housing that can be permanent housing for you.”

–David Erickson, Co-Founder of Samaritan Inns

“25 years ago today we celebrated the opening of Lazarus House. Wow!!! The time has gone by fast. Pope Francis talks about how the church, if it is true to its mission, will be lived out like field hospitals for those who are wounded and suffering.

Samaritan Inns has been a field hospital welcoming the wounded and suffering. Lazarus House, the next phase in the recovery continuum, has been the soil in which women and men planted themselves and then blossomed into their truest selves. Countless women and men over the past 25 years have returned to life and have become contributors to the larger DC community as parents, grandparents, employees, leaders and instruments of healing in the lives of those coming along behind them.

I celebrate all Lazarus House residents , staff, volunteers and donors who contributed over the past 25 years to creating and nurturing this nutritious soil in which so many have blossomed and fulfilled their God-given potential. What a privilege to have been a part of such a community.”

-Killian Noe, Co-Founder of Samaritan Inns

“Lazarus House experience exemplifies the great potential that exists within our community and, indeed, within our nation. It shows how we can achieve this magnificent structure. A structure that now means that, for some 80 families who would otherwise be homeless, they now have a home. We truly must build upon this experience because it is so urgently needed in our community.”

-Sharon Pratt Kelly, Former Mayor of The District of Columbia

“Everyone who visits Lazarus House comes away from this place with a renewed optimism that there are solutions to homelessness that work. Solutions that work for the community and the individual. Lazarus House stands as a challenge to us all. We can do this.”

-Barbara Bush, Former First Lady of The United States

“The real visionaries here are the people who invested in Lazarus House. The visionaries here are not the ones who look at this in terms of its
brick and mortar and the fact that it’ll add to the tax base of DC. The visionaries, today, are the ones that see the change in lives, the change in the community. I want to suggest, this is the beginning of a great building effort for our city, our country, and hopefully it’ll help inspire the whole world.”

-Jack Kemp, Former Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

“Lazarus was a landmark project in the evolution of an initiative to not only transform the lives of people, but transform this community. Thousands have come through the doors of Lazarus over its 25 year history. It was aptly named “Lazarus” as Lazarus was brought back from the dead by Jesus to have new life.”

-Larry Huff, Current CEO and President of Samaritan Inns

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New Life at the Clark Inn

February 12, 2016 by Justin Feltman

Jeremiah wrapped in a quilt donated by the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint George.

When Samaritan Inns launched the new Women with Children Program last summer, we hoped to address the difficult choice many mothers in our community face: their personal health or the care of their child.

Since the program opened, mothers of preschool and grade school-aged children have no longer had to make that choice and can receive treatment at Samaritan Inns while continuing to live with their children.

In an even greater time of need, on January 9th, we received a mother in her last month of pregnancy. She came to seek help on her journey towards recovery and give her son the best life possible.

But it hasn’t been easy. “I was looking at the other mothers here and just couldn’t wait to have mine,” she shared.

On January 31st, he was born. His name is Jeremiah, meaning “Yahweh has uplifted.” She returned from the hospital, elated with her new son. She’s been a true asset to our Women with Children Program.

Judy Ashburn, Director of Treatment Programs, shared, “She’s a great mother. She takes great care of her baby.” This extends into her meetings and counseling classes. “She gets along with all the other residents and staff. She’s a really good listener,” Judy added.

This is Jeremiah’s mother’s first time in treatment. “It’s been an adjustment. But, I’m here for a reason,” She said. Her reason goes beyond herself but also for Jeremiah.

In D.C., there are about 1,000 homeless families. Roughly one third of people who are homeless struggle with substance abuse. May Jeremiah and his mother not just bring new life to our programs, but, to our city, in desperate need of the hope that he and this program may bring.

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