“There’s no us and them here. It’s a hand up, not a handout—without judgment and without shame,” Director of Communications Jessica Clark said.
About the project
The facility—funded through a Montgomery County Community Development Block Grant—began operating in mid-October and is now serving 70-100 people each morning, providing hot meals six days a week, showers, clothing, mail services and access to dozens of partner agencies, CEO and Founder Luke Redus said.
Based on its first weeks of operation, Compassion United projects more than 25,000 breakfasts, 22,000 visits, 4,900 showers and 2,100 mail services will be provided at the day center in the coming year.
“This place gives people dignity. When they feel welcomed and have a place where they belong, we see incredible results,” Redus said.
The new building was designed specifically for day center operations, unlike past spaces that the organization had to “make work.” Staff said the purpose-built layout has already made services “infinitely more effective.”
Inside, clients receive on-site help with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, health insurance, phone services and case management, as well as free professional mental health care through partners such as St. Luke’s CommonSpirit. Free addiction recovery classes are offered three times a week, part of a residential program that maintains a 90% three-year sobriety rate.
“We have seen people go from homelessness to buying a car, securing a job and almost a year of sobriety,” Redus said. “That’s why we do this. We want people to become powerful people. You get to decide who you want to be.”
The day center also includes a medical clinic space for Interfaith Community Clinic, a clothing closet and a commercial kitchen that will eventually serve both day center guests and residents of Compassion United’s future housing.
The opening marks Phase 2 of the nonprofit’s multiphase campus plan. The next step—already fully funded—is the construction of new transitional housing: one men's home and one women’s home, with pads already poured and construction expected to take five to seven months. Each will house residents participating in Compassion United’s 12-18 month transition program, which has an 86% success rate, Redus said.
A planned Phase 3 will bring long-term supportive housing in the form of on-site quadplexes for clients with chronic mental or physical health challenges who are unlikely to sustain independent housing, Redus said.
He said the expanded campus is already helping clients move forward more quickly by bringing multiple agencies together in one place.
“We’re not just constructing buildings—we’re building futures,” he said.
