Our Approach
CARE DC is a movement standing alongside ten schools in neighborhoods where historic and ongoing systems of oppression—segregation, disinvestment, economic inequity, and marginalization—prohibit our students’ brilliance from fully shining. Our work addresses these root causes so that children’s brilliance, passions, and dreams can flourish, paving the way for economic mobility and a powerful future. By partnering with schools as a bridge between educators, families, and community resources, we build power, self-determination, and radical possibilities. Through a chapter-based model that invests in a connected network of schools from preschool through graduation, we mobilize communities to transform public education—strengthening connections between neighbors and schools, advocating for equity, securing resources, and igniting possibilities. Our vision is for communities to be on an intentional journey of healing from racial injustice—becoming loving, united spaces where schools are well-nourished and able to harvest a prosperous future for our youth.
Organizational
(Top-Down) Approach
Change is driven by policies, programs, and leaders within formal institutions.
Focuses on efficiency and compliance within existing systems.
Addresses symptoms (e.g., test scores, funding formulas).
Solutions are often designed by experts outside the community.
Change is usually incremental and vulnerable to shifts in leadership or policy.
Participation is limited to what the institution allows.
Movement
(Bottom-up) Approach
Change is driven by the people most impacted, who organize collectively for justice.
Focuses on justice, healing, and liberation, even if it challenges existing systems.
Addresses root causes (racism, economic inequity, exclusion from decision-making).
Solutions are co-created by the community, honoring lived experience and wisdom.
Change builds cultural power first, which reshapes institutions from the ground up.
Participation grows as people organize themselves into a collective force.
CARE DC in Action
Families, educators, neighbors, and youth lead through Hopes and Dreams, Power Our Schools, and the Educators Advancement Team (EAT).
CARE DC builds safe, joyful, healing-centered spaces where families reclaim power and challenge inequities
CARE DC works to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline, build economic mobility, and increase civic efficacy.
CARE DC recognizes that those closest to the challenges are closest to the solutions.
CARE DC builds long-term power by nurturing a pipeline of community justice leaders and networks of family advocates.
CARE DC ensures accessibility through family-style meals, childcare, and open meetings, so all families, community members and more can engage fully.
We believe the old saying still holds: it takes a village to raise a child. But in D.C., that village must also be a movement—one that organizes, heals, and builds power to make sure every child is surrounded by care and opportunity.
— Quote Source
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Family-style Meals
Nourish the Soul
We provide family-style meals at our school meetings to build community, share meals, and foster comfort, care, and connectedness that deepen awareness and belonging.
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Strategic Formula
Assemble, Address, Act
Assemble, Address, Act is our strategic formula stretched across the school year—building trust in the fall, naming and tackling issues in the winter, and acting together in the spring—so our community moves forward with intention and strength.
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Childcare
Foundational Support
We provide childcare at our school meetings so families can focus fully on the conversation, build camaraderie, and access the information and community support they deserve.
We have the power.
This image is the first dollar made from a neighborhood yard sale for our Anacostia schools.
Economic progress driven by the community, for our schools.