Alexandria Non-Profit Organization Is Restoring Hope and Finding Shelter

Carpenter’s Shelter unofficially began with two homeless men and the benevolence of a priest one cold winter’s night in 1982, when Father Tony Casey of Blessed Sacrament Church in Alexandria offered the men a warm, safe place to sleep and welcomed them into the church to spend the night. Over the next six years, more and more found a safe place and shelter in the church’s basement until the building was torn down. The demand for bed space, however, continued. In 1988, Carpenter’s Shelter was officially founded by a small group of individuals who were dedicated to continue serving the less fortunate, relocating into a new space where it would operate for the next 30 years.

Today, the shelter continues making an impact in the Alexandria community. “Since our inception, Carpenter’s Shelter has evolved from a small group of concerned citizens providing bedding on cold nights into a leader in finding solutions that permanently end and prevent homelessness,” says Shannon Steene, Director of Carpenter’s Shelter. “Our comprehensive services meet the immediate needs of individuals and families experiencing homelessness. Our continuum of essential programs and ongoing support help them work toward permanent homes where adults are stable and children can grow and thrive. We are open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day and serve more than 700 children, women and men each year. We have served thousands of households since our inception.”

Clearly, Carpenter’s Shelter has made an incredible impact over the last three and a half decades, changing the fate of those less fortunate. “Families and individuals who would have been out on the street or sleeping in their cars now have a warm, safe place to stay, as well as a support system to help them get back on their feet with employment and stable, affordable housing,” says Steene. “Our vision is for homelessness to be eradicated in the communities we serve.”

The nonprofit receives a majority of its funding from the generosity of individual donors, which proves to be a challenge that Carpenter’s Shelter faces—like so many other organizations. “Our greatest challenges are being able to find affordable housing units that are available for our clients, as well as raising funding for programs and services,” Steene notes. “From our revenue in 2023, 65 percent of our funding came from individual, corporate and foundation giving. We only received 25 percent of our funding from government grants last year.”

"Carpenter’s Shelter is a safe place where people can go to rebuild their lives, to save money and to get back into permanent, affordable housing. That has been our mission since the beginning and it will continue to be our mission until the need no longer remains."

Challenges aside, the organization has a great deal to be proud of. “In 2018, after the partnership with Housing Alexandria was finalized, we began our redevelopment project to house our new state-of-the-art New Heights building ... with 97 affordable apartments (the Bloom) on the six floors above,” says Steene. “All services, volunteers and staff moved to the shuttered Macy’s at Landmark Mall, and Carpenter’s Shelter embarked on the $2 million New Heights Redevelopment and Capital Campaign.

“In November 2019, Carpenter’s Shelter announced six months earlier than expected that we had reached our goal through a generous gift from Amazon,” she goes on. "Final contributions came in to push us well over the goal—all of which show the incredible support we have found. In November of 2020, Carpenter’s Shelter moved into a brand-new facility and celebrated with a grand opening ceremony and tours. Our new building provides the infrastructure for Carpenter’s Shelter to meet community needs for decades to come.”

As much of an impact as Carpenter’s Shelter has made over its last decades in operation, the organization maintains a realistic view of the future and the fact that a very real need for its services exists and will continue to exist over the next decades. “Unfortunately, there is an affordable housing crisis in Northern Virginia,” Steene says. “Families and individuals are struggling to cope with rents that are sky-high, especially in Alexandria. According to Apartments.com, the average rents in Alexandria, VA are $1,944 a month for a one-bedroom apartment and $2,424 a month for a two-bedroom apartment. Because of these steep and growing costs, it is easy for families and individuals to fall behind in rent and to find themselves homeless.”

As uphill as the battle may seem, the shelter is unwavering in its determination to combat these issues and offer as much support as possible. “Carpenter’s Shelter is a safe place where people can go to rebuild their lives, to save money and to get back into permanent, affordable housing,” says Steene. “That has been our mission since the beginning and it will continue to be our mission until the need no longer remains.”

For more information, visit carpentersshelter.org or call 703.548.7500.

This ALX Impact story is sponsored by McLaughlin Ryder Investments