What went wrong?
Seventy-five years ago, literacy among Black children in Washington, DC was above 90%. Today it is 23%. That collapse is what systemic issues, government mismanagement, and misguided education reforms produced.
CARE DC is rebuilding the model that allowed Black children to thrive: neighborhood chapters where families, educators, and neighbors organize together for their schools.
We are not proposing something new. We are adding to a blueprint our elders drew.
Why We CARE
We CARE because our COMMUNITIES do. D.C.’s Black children are already successful. Our schools need to showcase their brilliance. Too often, traditional public schools in Wards 5, 7, and 8 are expected to do more with less. Disinvestment and disenfranchisement have put our communities on the back burner. They have no capacity to give schools what they need when they are fighting to put food on the table. In a city like D.C., that is fundamentally unjust. At CARE DC, we help communities make strong schools.
We CARE because our FAMILIES do. Our families show up for their students in many different ways. We know that their work is not always appreciated. We work to make sure that every family has what they need to advocate for their students and schools. Neighborhoods work because families work together to make them successful. At CARE DC, we strengthen families and their students.
We CARE because our TEACHERS do. Despite the inequality in resources, our schools manage to educate, develop, and grow passionate learners every day. That’s not because of DCPS central office, nor is it the immense resources of the surrounding neighborhoods. It’s because of the educators, leaders, and staff who show up for our kids. At CARE DC, we support our educators, leaders, and staff.
Our Programs
Our programs are designed around our educators, families, and neighborhoods to strengthen schools.
Our work creates just schools.
Building a Just Future Together
With time, we aim to grow more chapters, and the programs within them, throughout Washington, DC, so that every community and school has the power to cultivate its own path toward justice.
Our youth need their village to be strong—without it, someone else will write their future.
✨ Experience our Storybook to see these possibilities in motion—through the faces, stories, and moments that show racial justice taking root in our schools through the hands of our communities.