National Night Out and Back-to-School parties at Earle Manor and Hamilton Manor communities.
As students across the DC area gear up for another school year – packing backpacks, meeting new teachers, and adjusting to early wake-up calls – it can be a stressful time for children and their families. But going back to school shouldn’t just be a family effort. It should be one shared by and supported by the community.
Returning to school is often also expensive. According to recent surveys, families with school-age children spend hundreds of dollars on supplies, clothes, and fees each year. For low- and moderate-income households, these costs can be overwhelming.
And it’s not just about money. Families also need time, emotional bandwidth, and access to safe housing and transportation—all of which are affected by the broader systems in which they live. That’s why community-based support systems are crucial to ensuring that every child, regardless of income or zip code, has a fair shot at a successful school year.
At its best, back-to-school season is a fresh start, full of potential and excitement. But for many families, especially those facing financial strain or housing insecurity, it can also bring stress and uncertainty. That’s where community can help.
For WHC, our properties are not just apartment units. They are communities where we seek to foster connection. As a foundational principle of our work, we developed and implemented social impact strategies that empower residents and connect them with each other and the resources needed to be healthy and successful. Our social impact work is built on four key elements:
- Community Building to combat isolation, bring people together, and create connections across lines of difference.
- Placemaking to create places and spaces within our communities that bring people together, celebrate culture and diversity, cultivate a sense of belonging, and honor the incredible contributions of DC residents.
- Human Capacity and Wealth Building to invest in services, support, and experiences that promote resident economic mobility, educational advancement, self-sufficiency, and self-determination.
- Inclusive Property Management to guide our property management staff on these core values and embed them into our day-to-day, and to avoid bias and social exclusion often unintended by-products of mixed-income housing.
The social impact work is WHC’s “North Star.” Our guiding principles.
At WHC properties across the DMV, we aim to support our communities’ children and their families by hosting back-to-school events and supply drives. Our dedicated Social Impact Coordinators with our property management teams planned and executed events at each property to celebrate the return of the school year and provide families with the resources they need to thrive this academic year. These events create excitement for the whole community about the upcoming new school year. And with generous funding from Amazon, WHC also provided free backpacks, notebooks, and other essentials to all our young scholars. These programs help ensure students walk into class ready to learn—not worrying about what they’re missing. These events also bring neighbors together, reduce isolation and help families feel better equipped to support their children at this exciting but difficult time of year.
This is only one part of how WHC aims to support families and children living in our properties throughout the year. Stable housing is foundational to school success. Children who move frequently or face eviction often miss school days or struggle to keep up. Affordable housing providers play a critical role by keeping families rooted in one place, near schools, transportation and support networks.
A child’s success in school is shaped by far more than what happens inside the classroom. When communities surround families with support, stability, and encouragement, students walk into school with more than a backpack—they carry confidence, resilience, and hope. This back-to-school season let’s commit to being the kind of community that shows up. Not just on the first day—but all year long.
Preserving housing affordability and promoting economic mobility in the DC-region
The Washington Housing Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Your investment helps us expand our work. Your gift is 100% tax-deductible. EIN 83-1866109
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