Strong turnout for D.C. LGBTQ Town Hall

Representatives of more than a dozen local and national LGBTQ advocacy organizations were among the 83 people who turned out for an Oct. 21 Town Hall Discussion for D.C.’s LGBTQ Community.

The event, which was organized by the local LGBTQ event planning organization Team Rayceen Productions, was held in a conference room in the building at 899 North Capitol St., N.E., where D.C. Mayor Muriel Bower’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs is located.

Much of the discussion at the event focused on topics related to the organizers’ subtitle for the town hall event, “Protest, Liberation & Pride: Preparing for An Uncertain Future.”

Among the six panelists led by Team Rayceen leader Rayceen Pendarvis who led the discussion at the event was Japer Bowles, director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, which arranged for the meeting location.

The other panelists included June Crenshaw, deputy director of  D.C.’s Capital Pride Alliance, which played the lead role in organizing WorldPride 2025 in D.C.; Cesar Toledo, executive director of the Wanda Alston Foundation, which provides housing services for homeless LGBTQ youth in D.C.; Heidi Ellis, director of the D.C. LGBTQ Budget Coalition; and Patrick Algyer, executive director of Equality Chamber, a group  that represents local LGBTQ-owned and supportive businesses.
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“Last night we channeled the spirit of many trailblazers and movement leaders who came before us,” Toledo told the Blade in providing his thoughts on the town hall event. “It served as a reminder that by working together, we can overcome today’s challenges,” he said, adding, “Organizing is how we confront today’s attacks, economic uncertainty, and rising queer youth homelessness.”

Read more in the Washington Blade here.

Cesar Toledo Named to Out Magazine’s Out100 List

The Annual Issue Honors Changemakers in the LGBTQ+ Community Across Entertainment, Politics, Activism, Sports, and More

Cesar Toledo is the executive director of the Wanda Alston Foundation, which provides housing and support to unhoused LGBTQ+ young people in Washington, D.C. With steep cuts to corporate DEI funding, FEMA food and shelter grants, and the federal workforce, it’s been a tough year.

But Toledo — a Latino gay activist who helped launch Out for Harris-Walz, an LGBTQ+ outreach initiative that engaged over 2 million voters in the 2024 presidential election — was up for the challenge. He created new programs like Slay & Sauté, a culinary training program for residents, with help from Wegmans and DC Front Runners. The sweet smell of success was creating “delicious air fryer chicken wings and laughter over stories about burning rice,” he recalls. “It was about more than learning to cook; it was about joy, confidence, and community.”

Toledo’s only begun to slay. “The next chapter of my work is about transformation,” he says. “Not just shelter, but belonging. Queer youth deserve more than just survival. They deserve the opportunity to flourish, to dream boldly, and to live without fear. I’m building toward that future. And I’m just getting started.”

Read more in Out Magazine here.

LGBTQ homelessness on the rise

The annual 2025 Point-In-Time (PIT) count of homeless people in the District of Columbia conducted in January shows there was an overall 9 percent decrease in homelessness in the city compared to 2024.

But the annual count, conducted on Jan. 29 and released in May, shows the total number of homeless youth between the ages of 18 and 24 who self-identify as LGBTQ rose from 28 percent in 2024 to 37 percent this year.

When the data is broken down to show the number of “single” homeless youth alone and homeless youth accompanied by one or more of their children, the 2025 count shows that LGBTQ youth, 18-24, comprised 38.4 percent of all single youth and 9.1 percent of youth, 18-24, with children in “family households.”

This year’s count also shows the total number of adults who identify as LGBTQ remained mostly the same, decreasing slightly from 12 percent in 2024 to 11.7 percent in 2025.

It shows that LGBTQ adults comprised 6.2 percent of all homeless adults in “family households” and 12.4 percent of “single” homeless adults by themselves.  

Like recent past years, LGBTQ operated, and LGBTQ supportive homeless shelters and transitional housing facilities were operating at full capacity as of this week, according to those familiar with D.C.’s LGBTQ-related homeless programs.

At the time the 2025 PIT count information was released in May as part of a detailed report prepared by the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness, which conducts the PIT count for the city, D.C. officials released a statement saying the overall reduction in homelessness this year followed the implementation of a series of new programs aimed at preventing homelessness.

“I am incredibly grateful for the teams that are working every day to ensure we are able to not only provide shelter to neighbors who need it but also help them move into – and thrive – in permanent housing,” Mayor Muriel Bowser said in the statement.

“We know that when we have the right investments, the right policies, and the right people in place, we can drive down homelessness and get our neighbors into safe and stable housing,” the mayor said.

“These results show a positive change in course following increases in homelessness over the past two years,” D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS) Director A.D. Rachel Pierre said in the statement. “While there is more work to be done, this year’s PIT count is a clear indicator that the District’s investments – especially over the past year – are moving the needle In the right direction,” she said.

Cesar Toledo, executive director and CEO of D.C.’s Wanda Alston Foundation, which provides housing services for homeless LGBTQ youth, said its 20-bed facility remains filled, with a waiting list for LGBTQ youth to be admitted.

“Based on the Point-In-Time data, year after year, LGBTQ+ youth are devastatingly overrepresented among all youth experiencing homelessness,” Toledo told the Washington Blade. “While the overall decrease in the number of homeless people in D.C. is promising, there has been about a five-point increase among our homeless LGBTQ+ young people – meaning more than one in three homeless youth today identify as LGBTQ+,” he said.

The D.C. LGBTQ youth services and support organization SMYAL says on its website that its housing facilities for LGBTQ homeless youth are also filled to capacity, with all 55 beds occupied. Like the Alston Foundation, SMYAL provides additional services for its homeless clients, including case management, mental health counseling, and job-related skills.

Department of Human Services officials have pointed out that the city has arranged for the opening of additional housing and support facilities for homeless LGBTQ youth and adults.

In 2021, through a DHS grant, Covenant House, a nonprofit group that provides homeless youth services nationwide, opened a 24-bed LGBTQ youth homeless shelter that has since been expanded to 30 beds.

At least two other non-LGBTQ locally based organizations – the Latin American Youth Center and Sasha Bruce Youthwork – also provide services for homeless LGBTQ youth, including housing services, according to statements by the groups on their websites.

With most of the LGBTQ-specific homeless facilities in D.C. focusing on youth, the DHS opened the city’s first official shelter for homeless LGBTQ adults in August of 2022 following a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by Mayor Bowser. The 40-bed shelter is located at 400 50th St., S.E. 

At the time of its opening, DHS said the adult shelter was being operated for the city by the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness under a DHS grant. Like most of the LGBTQ homeless youth facilities, the LGBTQ adult facility provides additional services, including behavioral health support, substance use disorder resources, job training programs, and access to health care within the shelter at least once a month.

An “LGBTQ+” chart included in the PIT count report released by the Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness shows a total count of 650 for “all” LGBTQ homeless people in 2025, with 501 being “all adults” and 149 being “all youth.”

The 650 total figure marks an increase of 123 compared to the total LGBTQ homeless count of 527 in the 2024 PIT count. Previous PIT counts show a total of 349 homeless LGBTQ people in 2023 and 347 in 2022.

“Now more than ever, we need to meet the urgent needs of our homeless queer youth,” Toledo of the Alston Foundation said. “The demand far exceeds our existing resources,” he said.

“To truly make progress, we must expand the number of LGBTQ+ transitional housing beds, strengthen wraparound services like counseling and job readiness, and commit to long-term pathways to stability and independence,” Toledo said.

In response to a request by the Blade for an update on its programs that specifically address LGBTQ homelessness in D.C., DHS sent the Blade a statement pointing out that as part of DHS’s current shelter, transitional housing, and rapid rehousing programs there are “over 90 beds dedicated specifically to transitional age youth [18 to 24 years old] who identify as LGBTQ.”

The statement notes that while there was an overall decrease in the number of transitional age youth experiencing homelessness the proportion of youth who identify as LGBTQ “did increase from 28 percent to 37 percent – an increase that represents about 16 people.” 

The statement adds, “And as noted, the adult system of numbers of individuals experiencing homelessness who identify as LGBTQ held steady from 2024 to 2025 despite an overall drop.”

It continues, saying, “These disparities shine light on what DHS recognizes is a challenge – that individuals experiencing homelessness who identify as LGBTQ are an extremely vulnerable subpopulation of an already vulnerable population. DHS remains committed to finding additional ways to support LGBTQ adults and youth experiencing homelessness in the District.” 

The statement says DHS’s shelter diversion and rapid-exit program called Project Reconnect, which uses a variety of actions to enable a homeless person to obtain stable housing rather than enter or remain in a shelter, also reaches out to LGBTQ youth and adults experiencing or at risk for homelessness.  

Read more here in the Washington Blade.

Meet the job training groups fighting for better economic mobility in D.C.

Employment is getting harder to come by in D.C.

In fact, as of August, D.C.’s unemployment rate is at 6.0% –– the highest in the country. Its unemployment rate increased by 0.7% from August 2024.

About 17% of D.C. residents lived in poverty in 2024, and marginalized communities were hit the hardest. Last year, 30.5% of Black residents and 11.9% of Latino residents lived in poverty, while poverty rates for non-Hispanic white residents sat at 4.6%.
With little room for economic mobility in D.C., multiple organizations and non-profits are fighting to change those statistics.

From on-the-job training to employment counseling, here’s a look into some local and governmental groups working to serve D.C.’s unemployed population.

LGBTQ-focused programs

Wanda Alston Foundation

Cesar Toledo, executive director of the Wanda Alston Foundation, knows the struggles of escaping poverty firsthand.

As a first-generation Latino raised in an immigrant household, Toledo said he was able to escape the poverty cycle through educational opportunities.

“Serving as an executive director for the foundation and supporting the most vulnerable members of our community…really gives me a front line perspective to the work that needs to be done to ensure that not only can our youth survive, but they can thrive independently, live on their own and being able to afford their own apartment,” Toledo said.

The Wanda Alston Foundation provides a variety of services to open new pathways toward economic mobility, including housing for homeless LGBTQ youth in D.C., free counseling and accessible employment opportunities. The foundation also offers educational support to their housed youth so they can continue to work toward securing an education.

The organization recently launched an initiative called “Slay & Sauté,” giving those it supports an opportunity to learn cooking skills that eventually open the door to a culinary career.

Email: contactus@wandaalstonfoundation.org
Phone: 202-465-8794contactus@wandaalstonfoundati

Project LEAP
Project LEAP is a program sponsored by Damien Ministries that supports job seekers in the D.C. area who identify as transgender, gender non-conforming and non-binary.

You can request to be paired with a one-on-one job coach, where you’ll receive pre-employment training and the tools necessary to overcome economic barriers.

Project LEAP has two other programs dedicated to jobseekers. One, called Project LEAP We Thrive, is a support group for men of color to discuss the employment challenges they face. The other, called Project LEAP Job Start, is for early-career job seekers to receive mentorship on entering the workforce and ensuring their resumes and interview skills are up to par.

The project also offers a “Style Closet,” where job seekers can receive a clothing consultation to ensure they are stylistically prepared for an interview.

Email: projectleap@damienministries.org

The DC LGBTQ+ Community Center Job Club
The DC LGBTQ+ Community Center hosts weekly job club meetings to help those entering the workforce or struggling to find employment.

The group’s goal is to “improve self-confidence, motivation, resilience and productivity for effective job searches and networking — allowing participants to move away from being merely ‘applicants’ toward being ‘candidates,’” its website reads.

Meetings are held on Zoom every Wednesday at 6 p.m.

Email: supportdesk@thedccenter.org

Read more here in the Washington Blade.

Community leaders turn out for Wanda Alston Foundation Fall Reception

At the Fall Reception, the room overflowed with love and LGBTQ+ power as we launched the next chapter of the Foundation,” Cesar Toledo told the Blade.

Annual event serves as fundraiser in support of homeless LGBTQ youth

D.C. Council members Robert White (D-At-Large) and Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), the Council’s only openly gay member, and former D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams were among the more than 130 people who turned out Sept. 19 for the Wanda Alston Foundation’s annual Fall Reception.

The event serves as a fundraiser for the D.C.-based organization, founded in 2008, which provides transitional housing and support services for homeless and at-risk LGBTQ youth.

“The Foundation operates a transitional housing program offering up to 18 months of support, including case management, life skills, and connections to health services, helping hundreds of youths toward independence and stability,” the Foundation has said on its website.

D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) and Council member Matt Frumin (D-Ward 3), who did not attend the event, joined Williams, Parker and “many others” as Honorary Hosts, according to a statement released by the Alston Foundation.

The statement says the theme of this year’s Fall Reception was “celebrating queer resilience and building a bold future together.” It says it also marked the beginning of an “exciting new chapter” under the leadership of Cesar Toledo, who became the Alston Foundation’s executive director earlier this year following the retirement of longtime executive director June Crenshaw.

“As the Foundation enters a transformative new chapter, we’re scaling and deepening our impact to meet the urgent needs of at-risk and homeless LGBTQ + youth,” the statement adds.

Toledo told the Washington Blade this year’s Fall Reception raised over $55,000.

He said the location of the upscale space where the reception was held, a Penthouse Rooftop reception area overlooking the city’s Southwest Waterfront and Wharf at 800 Maine Ave., S.W., was provided free of charge by Cornerstone Government Affairs, a local consulting firm that supports the work of the Alston Foundation.

Williams, who served as D.C. mayor for two terms, from 1999 to 2007, told the gathering he was honored to have hired Wanda Alston, an acclaimed feminist leader and LGBTQ rights advocate, as the first director of his newly created Mayor’s Office of LGBT Affairs.

Alston served in that position from 2004 until her death on March 16, 2005, when she was murdered in her home by a neighbor who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 24 years in prison.

Williams joined others who spoke at the Fall Reception in saying Alston’s dedication to the rights of minorities, including LGBTQ people, inspired them to become lifelong LGBTQ allies and committed supporters of the Wanda Alston Foundation.

D.C. attorney Darrin Glymph, the longtime chair of the Alston Foundation’s Board of Directors and the principal partner in a law firm that has provided financial support for the Foundation, was honored at the reception as a recipient of the Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

Others who were honored with awards at the reception included Lamont Atkins, Director of Government & External Affairs at PEPCO, who received the Community Impact Award; D.C. Front Runners, the LGBTQ sports group, received the Partner of the Year Award; and Alston Foundation staff member JoElla Goodwine received the Icon of the Year Award.

“At the Fall Reception, the room overflowed with love and LGBTQ+ power as we launched the next chapter of the Foundation,” Toledo told the Blade.

“With leaders like Council members Robert White and Zachary Parker, allies like Pepco, and friends by our side, we didn’t just meet our fundraising goal – we smashed it,” he said.” Every dollar raised will directly support the LGBTQ+ youth at our housing facility who need us now more than ever.”

Read more here in the Washington Blade.

Wanda Alston Foundation begins culinary program

‘Slay and Sauté’ launched in Southeast D.C.

August 12, 2025

D.C.’s Wanda Alston Foundation, which provides housing and support services for homeless LGBTQ youth, on Aug. 11 officially launched a culinary program aimed at training LGBTQ youth with cooking skills for future employment.

With about 25 supporters looking on, Alston Foundation Executive Director Cesar Toledo described the program’s goals in a kitchen filled with cooking utensils and supplies of food in one of the buildings at the Wayne Place Apartments, a group of small apartment buildings on the 100 block of Wayne Place, S.E., where the Alston Foundation’s 20 youth clients currently live.

Located in the city’s Congress Heights neighborhood, Toledo said the LGBTQ youth clients occupy 10 apartments at the apartment complex. The apartment where Toledo and other Alston Foundation officials hosted visitors on Aug. 11 had been converted into office space, with the kitchen set up for the culinary training.

“They began the lessons today, making smoothies, and air frying chicken wings,” he told the Washington Blade.

Toledo reminded the visitors that the Alston Foundation, founded in 2008, is among the organizations working on addressing homelessness among LGBTQ youth, who he noted make up 40 percent of the homeless youth in D.C. according to studies.

“It’s a national crisis. And we see it firsthand here in the District of Columbia,” he told the gathering. “So, I’m happy to report that after today, we’ve raised over 60 percent of our goal,” he said, in referring to the fundraising effort for the Alston Foundation’s strategic plan, which he said has been named Queer Legacy, Bold Future.

Toledo said $17,500 had been raised so far, with the D.C. Front Runners Pride Run 5K Foundation, an LGBTQ sports organization, donating $16,000. He said the remaining $1,500 was donated by Wegmans.

Among other things, the funds have been used to purchase for use by the Alston Foundation youth residents “air fryers, rice cookers, smoothie blenders, healthy food, and condiments,” Toledo said in an earlier statement.

Among those attending the Aug. 11 gathering and expressing support for the program were Japer Bowles, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs; Chris Holland, community engagement and communications manager for Wegmans; Belinda Pearson, operations manager for the Alston Foundation; David Perruzza, owner of the D.C. LGBTQ bars Pitchers and League of Her Own; and Max Finland, property manager for the Wayne Place Apartments.

“This is a great opportunity for a program, and I love the ingenuity of it and its direct results for our residents who need skills and need to feed themselves,” Bowles said. “So, this is really cool.”

Read more in the Washington Blade here.

Trump to take control of MPD, deploy National Guard

President and his administration say nation’s capital overrun with crime

President Donald Trump announced plans to wrest control of the Metropolitan Police Department and said he will dispatch 800 D.C. National Guard troops to patrol the city’s streets.

In a press conference Monday, the president — flanked by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI Director Kash Patel, and other administration officials — claimed the moves were necessary with Washington overrun by “bloodthirsty criminals” and “roving mobs of wild youth.”

Data shows violent crime is falling, not rising, in D.C. The city’s Metropolitan Police Department reported a 30-year low in 2024 with rates dropping by an additional 26 percent in early 2025, and homicides down 12 percent year-over-year…

Cesar Toledo, executive director of the Wanda Alston Foundation, which provides housing services for homeless LGBTQ youth, told the Blade “I’m definitely concerned about the future for the LGBTQ+ community here in the District.”

“Overall, we’ve been seeing an unprecedented scale of attacks on the community from the federal government,” Toledo said. “So, an overtake of the District of Columbia, which has long been a safe haven for members of our community, is definitely concerning.”

Read more in the Washington Blade here.

‘A death sentence’: DC reaction

‘A death sentence’: DC reaction as Trump administration ends specialized suicide prevention service for LGBTQ+ youth

For the past three years, anyone dialing the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline was offered the option to “Press 3,” and be connected to counselors trained to work with LGBTQ+ youth and adults under 25.

As of July 17, that option will no longer be available.

The Trump administration, in a statement from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, said the move will “focus on serving all help seekers, including those previously served through the Press 3 option.”

“This is devastating, to say the least,” said Jaymes Black, CEO of the Trevor Project. “Suicide prevention is about people, not politics.”

Local reaction: Lives will be lost

Cesar Toledo, executive director of the D.C.-based Wanda Alston Foundation, which provides shelter and supportive services for homeless or at-risk LGBTQ+ youth told WTOP: “The latest move by HHS (Department of Health and Human Services) is not just a policy, it’s a death sentence.”

“The Trevor Project has really been a pivotal resource for our young people,” Toledo said. “Losing that specific service is going to result in lives lost.”

Toledo said the Trump administration, and state lawmakers bringing anti-LGBTQ+ bills, is “nothing short of a large attempt to really legislate the LGBTQ+ community out of existence.”

With the U.S. Supreme Court upholding Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors this week, “now, more than ever we need to step up and support the mental health needs of our LGBTQ+ youth,” Toledo said.

However, citing the AIDS epidemic and the “Lavender Scare” that led to the mass dismissal of LGBTQ+ people working within the U.S. government from the 1940s through the 1960s, Toledo said the community would “overcome.”

“We are living proof that we can live, and prosper, and seek the American dream,” Toledo said.

Read the WTOP article here.

‘Slay and Sauté’ culinary program teaches LGBTQ+ youth cooking and life skills

The challenges for LGBTQ+ youth include finding acceptance, including within their own families.

Cesar Toledo, the executive director of the Wanda Alston Foundation in D.C., said 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ+.

He told WTOP, nationally, one out of four Americans who come out as young adults are forced out of their homes by family members.

Speaking with WTOP’s Kate Ryan

Currently, he said, “On any given night, more than 200 LGBTQ+ youth are unhoused and put in very dangerous life situations here in the District of Columbia alone.”

That’s where the Wanda Alston Foundation comes into play.

Toledo said each client they serve is between the ages of 18 and 24, and each is assigned a case manager.

“We also have an employment and housing specialists, so we really try to provide these wraparound services to meet our youth where they’re at, and help them through their period with us,” which can last up to 18 months, he said.

Toledo said the foundation got good news, followed by what he called “not so good news,” this year: “We were awarded a FEMA food and shelter grant. However, because of the federal funding freeze, we are unlikely to receive any of those resources.” The grant, he said, would have been up to $15,000.

But, the foundation turned to D.C.’s very supportive community. They partnered with the D.C. Front Runners organization and held the Pride 5K, which raised nearly $7,000 toward their goal. Toledo said he took part in the run.

“I am absolutely not a runner, but I did speed walk. I did try my best and was able to do a decent job,” he said with a laugh.

He noted the upbeat tone of the event, with a sense of playfulness as people ran — or walked. And he said, “There were dogs out there, folks had tutus. It was just a beautiful moment for community to come together and rally around a good cause.”

With the money they’ve raised so far, Toledo said the foundation can launch its “Slay and Sauté” culinary program, a series of classes and workshops that will allow the youth in the organization’s shelters to learn a life skill, and perhaps, provide a launchpad to a new career in food service.

“So now, we’re going to be looking for chefs,” Toledo said. “Anyone who wants to get involved, please reach out.”

Read more in WTOP here.

Preps under way for WorldPride

The biggest week of WorldPride in D.C. is underway with a whole host of events planned over the next several days, all leading up the parade Saturday.

This is the third and biggest week of WorldPride, with events for everyone. As Capital Pride Alliance Executive Director Ryan Bos explains, this is prime time for pride in the District.

"Yes, Pride is about partying until two in the morning, but it's also important to support our community," Cesar Toledo, executive director of the Wanda Alston Foundation, said.

The foundation, which provides housing to homeless LGBTQ+ youth, has launched a campaign called Slay and Sauté in an effort to raise $15,000 to replace funds from a federal grant that was frozen earlier this year.

The money will be used to buy healthy cooking appliances and provide cooking lessons for the young people they house.

"Any given night, there's over 200 unhoused LGBTQ youth, and because of that, that puts them in really dangerous situations," Toledo said. "And so that's why it's important for, as a community, we need to come together."

Coming together and showing support: two of the major themes of WorldPride.

Read more here at NBC4 Washington.

Wanda Alston Foundation launches culinary program for LGBTQ youth

The Wanda Alston Foundation, the D.C. nonprofit organization that has provided housing and support services for homeless LGBTQ youth since its founding in 2008, announced it has launched a campaign to raise $15,000 for a new culinary program to “equip our LGBTQ+ youth with cooking skills, kitchen gadgets, and a taste for joy,” according to its executive director, Cesar Toledo.

In a May 14 statement, Toledo said the Alston Foundation had been selected to receive food and shelter funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, “but due to the federal freeze, it’s unlikely those critical resources will reach us.”

He said the new program being launched is in partnership with the DC Front Runners Pride Run 5K organization, an LGBTQ runners group. The funds will be used to provide 20 Alston House residents “with air fryers, rice cookers, smoothie blenders, healthy food, and condiments,” Toledo said.

Read more in the Washington Blade here.

Slay & Sauté for at risk LGBTQ+ youths

WUSA9’s Marcella Robertson interviews Cesar Toledo, Wanda Alston Foundation Executive Director, to learn more about the organization's Slay & Sauté campaign.

Campaign for LGBTQ+ youth culinary program in DC launches

Washington (DC News Now) — The Wanda Alston Foundation, which helps young homeless and at-risk members of the LGBTQ+ community, said it is looking to provide some of those young people with cooking skills and “a taste for joy” through its “Slay & Sauté” campaign.

The effort, which is in partnership with DC Front Runners and the DC Front Runners Pride Run 5K, hopes to raise $15,000.

The goal is to provide LGBTQ+ youth whom the foundation supports with air fryers, rice cookers, smoothie blenders, healthy foods, and condiments. Additionally, the campaign is intended to help launch monthly cooking classes, teaching young people how to prepare fun and affordable meals.

Read more at DC News Now.

June Crenshaw Steps Down from WAF

June Crenshaw, the executive director of the Wanda Alston Foundation, has stepped down from her position after nearly a decade.

The organization provides support services and operates transitional housing programs for LGBTQ young people experiencing homelessness.

“When I first joined the foundation, I was facing the real possibility of closing our shelters,” Crenshaw said in a statement. “But thanks to the unwavering support of the LGBTQ+ community and strong, steady leadership of our Board, nearly a decade later, we’ve not only kept our doors open — we’ve expanded our impact. As I pass the torch, I’m filled with pride in the organization’s next chapter.”

Crenshaw will continue serving the LGBTQ community as the interim deputy director of Capital Pride Alliance and DC WorldPride 2025.

“June’s nearly decade of service transformed the lives of hundreds of LGBTQ+ youth in the nation’s capital,” Darrin Glymph, the board chair of the Wanda Alston Foundation, said in a statement. “She led with heart, vision, and an unshakeable commitment to our most vulnerable youth. We are immensely grateful for her service and look forward to her continued leadership in the community.”

The Wanda Alston Foundation announced that Cesar Toledo will succeed Crenshaw as executive director as part of a planned transition process started in November 2024.

Toledo, who most recently served as the National Deputy LGBTQ+ Engagement Director for the Harris for President campaign, brings with him a decade of experience leading political campaigns, shaping public policy, and promoting LGBTQ inclusion.

Toledo also served in multiple positions at the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, including as its political director from October 2021 to March 2023. 

While calling Crenshaw’s leadership “transformative,” Glymph, the foundation’s board chair, said the organization was “excited for the energy and experience that Cesar brings to lead us into this next chapter.”

Read more in Metro Weekly

Wanda Alston Foundation Names New Executive Director

The Wanda Alston Foundation, the D.C.-based organization that has provided housing and support services for homeless LGBTQ youth since its founding in 2008, announced it has appointed longtime LGBTQ rights advocate Cesar Toledo as its new executive director.

In an April 22 statement, the organization said that as part of a planned leadership transition launched in November 2024, Toledo will succeed June Crenshaw, who Alston Foundation officials and LGBTQ community activists say has led the organization with distinction in her role as executive director for the past nine years.

In a statement released last November, the foundation announced Crenshaw was stepping down from her role as executive director after deciding to “to step into her next chapter.”

“June’s leadership has been truly transformative,” said Alston Foundation Board Chair Darrin Glymph in the group’s April 22 statement. “We are immensely grateful for her dedication and equally excited for the energy and experience that Cesar brings to lead us into this next chapter,” Glymph said. 

“A seasoned LGBTQ+ advocate, Cesar brings over a decade of experience leading national campaigns, shaping public policy, and building inclusive communities,” the statement released by the group says. “Most recently, he served as the National LGBTQ+ Engagement Director for the Harris for President Campaign and has built a career focused on advancing equality and equitable education,” it says.

Biographical information about Toledo shows that immediately prior to working for the Harris For President Campaign, he served since April 2023 as deputy director for Democrats for Education Reform DC (DFER DC),  a political group that helps to elect candidates for public office committed to quality education for all students, including minorities, people of color and LGBTQ youth. 

Before joining DFER DC, Toledo served as political director for the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, where he assisted in electing out LGBTQ candidates to all levels of public office across the U.S.

“I’m really excited about joining the Wanda Alston Foundation,” Toledo told the Washington Blade. “After a decade of working at the intersection of politics and policy and advancing political candidates and equitable education here in D.C., I wanted to shift my career to direct services to the most vulnerable folks in the LGBTQ+ family and our homeless youth,” he said.

Among other things, he said he would push for increasing the Alston Foundation’s visibility and mainlining its services for LGBTQ youth at a time when the national political climate has become less supportive.

A statement on its website says the Alston Foundation was founded in 2008 “in memory of Wanda Alston, a fierce LGBTQ+ activist, national advocate, and government official who was admired by District residents.”

The statement adds, “The foundation opened the first housing program in the nation’s capital in 2008 providing pre-independent transitional living and life-saving support services to LGBTQ+ youth.”

In a separate statement, the Alston Foundation announced it would hold a “thank you” celebration of appreciation for June Crenshaw from 6-8 p.m. on May 20 at Crush Dance Bar located at 2007 14th Street, N.W. in D.C.

“Let’s come together to celebrate her dedication and commitment for everything she has done for the LGBTQIA homeless youth population,” the statement says.

Read more in the Washington Blade

New DC LGBTQ Center to Celebrate Grand Opening

After more than 20 months of demolition, construction, and development, Washington finally has a brand new LGBTQ Center. On Saturday, April 26, the doors will officially open at the DC LGBTQ Center for the first time following the groundbreaking in June 2023. 

The new DC LGBTQ Center will also house office space for nine local LGBTQ organizations. Groups like SMYAL, which supports and uplifts LGBTQ youth, and the Wanda Alston Foundation, which provides transitional housing and support services for homeless or at-risk LGBTQ youth, are central to the center’s mission: to educate, empower, uplift, celebrate, elevate and connect Washington’s LGBTQ community. The center will also become the new home of the Capital Pride Alliance, the organization behind Capital Pride and this year’s WorldPride celebration.

Read more in the Washington Blade

Bowser calls for ‘extraordinary’ response to reduction in D.C. budget

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on April 15 issued an executive order calling for “extraordinary actions,” including “significant cuts in District Government services,” to address a decision by Congress to cut the city’s current budget by $1.1 billion.

Also receiving city funding are the Wanda Alston Foundation, which provides housing services for LGBTQ people; and the LGBTQ youth advocacy and services organization SMYAL.

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House vote to cut $1 billion from D.C. budget threatens LGBTQ services

The U.S. House on March 11 voted to approve a Republican proposed budget reconciliation bill to prevent a federal government shutdown that breaks from past practices by declaring D.C. a federal agency and calling for a $1.1 billion cut in the city’s current budget.

Among the D.C. organizations providing services to the LGBTQ community that could lose funding if the D.C. budget cut is approved by the Senate are the Wanda Alston Foundation and SMYAL, which provide housing and other services for LGBTQ youth.  

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DC LGBTQ youth groups face funding ‘crisis’ from Trump anti-trans policies

The D.C. based LGBTQ youth advocacy and support groups SMYAL and the Wanda Alston Foundation, which among other things provide housing for homeless LGBTQ youth, have stated in recent messages to supporters that they face a potential funding “crisis” from Trump administration policies.

In fundraising messages sent to supporters by email, the two groups say Trump’s executive orders threatening to cut off all federal funding for organizations that provide services to transgender people, especially trans youth, could prevent them from providing what they call life-saving services to trans youth as well as all LGBTQ youth in D.C.

“Right now, the Wanda Alston Foundation’s youth and staff are facing unprecedented attacks, and we are grappling with one of the most challenging funding crises in our history,” the group states in a Feb. 6 email message to supporters.

The message notes that the Trump administration policies threatening to cut off funding for trans related youth programs were occurring at the same time that D.C. government agencies have “severely delayed payments” to groups like the Alston Foundation that rely on D.C. grants.

“This bureaucratic chaos is happening while LGBTQ+ youth—already disproportionately affected by homelessness and mental health crises—face increasing hostility in the political and social climate,” the Alston Foundation message says.

Kurt Vorndran, a member of Alston Foundation’s board of directors, told the Blade the group also was initially concerned that Trump’s executive orders targeting diversity, equality, and inclusion (DEI) programs “would compromise, eliminate, or reduce our grants that we receive.” He said the Alston Foundation was relieved that the court orders halting the funding cuts at least temporarily have not resulted in the group losing any of its grant funds so far.

“We still feel that this administration has the potential for threatening our grants,” Vondran said. But he added that the fundraising appeal in its earlier email message drew a generous response from the community.

“It was the largest response ever that the Wanda Alston Foundation has received on an email appeal,” Vorndran said. “It was a great response from our community.”

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Two D.C. LGBTQ rights advocates stepping down from jobs

Longtime D.C. LGBTQ rights advocate June Crenshaw announced she is stepping down from her position for the past nine years as executive director of the Wanda Alston Foundation, the local organization that provides housing and support services for homeless LGBTQ youth.

Crenshaw currently serves as co-chair of the committee organizing D.C. World Pride 2025, the international LGBTQ Pride celebration expected to draw a million or more visitors to the city for a wide range of World Pride events in late May and early June 2025.

“After over nine years of unwavering dedication and visionary leadership, our beloved Executive Director, June Crenshaw, has decided to step into her next chapter,” a statement released by the Wanda Alston Foundation board of directors says. “While we will miss June’s daily presence, we are grateful that she will stay on through the transition to ensure a warm, seamless handover as we actively search for our next executive director,” the statement says.

It adds, “Her unwavering commitment to our mission, clients, and team has helped build a foundation of compassion, resilience, and excellence. This transition reflects her readiness to explore new paths and her belief in the bright future of the Wanda Alston Foundation.”

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