Carpenter's Shelter

This Giving Tuesday, Help Families and Individuals Build a New Beginning

At Carpenter’s Shelter, we believe everyone deserves a safe place to call home—and a community that supports them along the way. This Giving Tuesday, your generosity can help families and individuals experiencing homelessness find safety, rebuild stability, and work toward a brighter future.

For more than three decades, Carpenter’s Shelter has grown from providing bedding in a church basement on cold nights to offering comprehensive services that help families and individuals overcome homelessness. Through the Hoffman Center, Alexandria Community Shelter, David’s Place, and Winter Shelter, we provide safe shelter and support that helps more than 1,080 children, women, and men take their next steps toward permanent housing.

Your support makes this work possible. From meals and case management to educational opportunities and housing assistance, you help create the conditions for lasting change—while ensuring each person is treated with dignity and respect.

Solutions through collaboration | Empowerment | Education | Dedicated to serving with respect.

Rebekah and Luke: Finding Home and a Community That Cares

Just three months after moving into their Alexandria apartment, Rebekah* and her nine-year-old son, Luke*, were forced to evacuate because of a fire. With no family nearby and nowhere to go, Rebekah needed a safe place for her son—and support as she figured out what came next.

Two weeks later, they arrived at Carpenter’s Shelter. With meals, a place to sleep, and caring staff beside her, Rebekah could focus on their future. She earned her driver’s license, became a Certified Nursing Assistant, and found a job.

While Rebekah worked toward her goals, Luke found friends, books to explore, and space to play soccer in the courtyard. Amid so much change, there were moments to simply be a child.

“I have no family in the area,” Rebekah shared. “I consider the whole Carpenter’s Shelter staff as my family.”

After four months, Rebekah and Luke moved into a two-bedroom apartment in Arlington with rental assistance through Carpenter’s Shelter’s Rapid Re-Housing program.

Today, their lives hold room for new dreams. Rebekah hopes to become a nurse so she can help others. Luke dreams of playing professional soccer, and his mom is there for him—taking him to practice, helping with tutoring, and encouraging his future.

“My goal is to make sure that my son is successful, that he gets the right education and the right opportunity,” she said.

This Giving Tuesday, your generosity helps families like Rebekah and Luke’s find the safety and support to begin again—and the space to dream about what comes next.

Names have been changed to protect confidentiality.