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The Washington Home Invests $425K to Build Ward 6 Older Adult Connecting Hub

New collaboration unites eight community organizations to strengthen community care for older adults through expanded health, wellness, and social activities

WASHINGTON, DC (June 17, 2026)  – Working to enhance network support for older adults across the District, The Washington Home (TWH) has awarded $424,600 to launch the Ward 6 Sweet Caroline Older Adult Hub Collaborative, a coordinated effort among eight community organizations working together to improve health outcomes, strengthen social connections, and expand access to critical services for older adults.

The investment will support an integrated network of healthcare providers, aging services organizations, and community partners that will collectively serve more than 1,355 older adults through coordinated monthly partner meetings to plan and fill service gaps, enhanced programming, and coordinated mobile and tech outreach to underserved older adults in the community.

Rather than requiring older adults to navigate multiple systems independently, the collaborative creates a more connected pathway to services, ensuring individuals can access the care, resources, and social supports they need to remain healthy, engaged, and independent.

“As people age, strong community connections can be just as important as access to healthcare,” said Crystal Carr Townsend, MPA, CEO of The Washington Home. “When older adults are connected to trusted programs, meaningful relationships, and coordinated support services, they are more likely to maintain their health, independence, and quality of life. This collaborative investment helps create the community infrastructure necessary to ensure older adults in Ward 6 can access the resources and connections they need to age well.”

The Ward 6 Sweet Caroline Older Adult Hub Collaborative is part of TWH’s redesigned FY26 grant strategy, which prioritizes collaborative solutions that improve coordination, reduce duplication of services, and create sustainable community impact. In FY26, TWH awarded more than $4.5 million to organizations serving older adults across all eight wards of the District through initiatives focused on healthcare access, social connection, workforce development, and aging in place.

Improved Access Through Coordinated Care

The collaborative is designed to address three critical factors influencing healthy aging:

Intentional Collaboration
Monthly coordination meetings that will be led by the Hub Convener helping partners work together efficiently and fill service gaps.

Enhanced Programming
Strengthening of existing community hubs with expanded health, wellness, and social activities that increase engagement and support healthy aging.

Strategic Outreach
Conducting coordinated efforts to connect with underserved populations through mobile services and technology.

Research continues to show that social isolation and delayed identification of health concerns can contribute to poorer health outcomes among older adults. Integrating more coordinated, accessible, and community-rooted support for older adults across Ward 6 can help strengthen their network of care.

Collaboration Partners Deliver Impact

TWH is proud to partner with these eight organizations to deliver the following services across the health care continuum so older adults can receive multiple points of support:

    • Capitol Hill Village: Delivers social isolation intervention and wellness programming at various sites across the Ward, while conducting outreach and strengthening caregiver programming based on Memory Studio.
    • Howard University – Hayes Senior Wellness Center: Provides health and fitness, nutrition services, benefits assistance, social engagement, cognitive health support, and direct connections to nursing, pharmacy, and medical services at Howard University.
    • Iona Senior Services: Operates a Dementia Navigators program, ensuring timely follow-up after screenings and helping families access appropriate services and maintain stability at home.
    • Plants and Blooms Reimagined: Offers nature-based therapeutic programs that use plant and flower activities to promote social connection, mental wellness, and engagement, including pop-up Bloom Mobile events.
    • Seabury Resources for Aging – Lead Agency for Ward 6: Provides social programming, community dining, care management, screenings, caregiver support, and transportation to improve health access and reduce isolation.
    • Story Tapestries: Facilitates programs at Waterfront Village that promote communication, creativity, and emotional well-being.
    • Waterfront Village: Offers arts and wellness programs to attract disconnected populations, tracks support needs in Southwest, Navy Yard, and Buzzard Point, and hosts a drop-in gathering space that helps neighbors connect.
    • WildTech: Provides basic digital literacy training and device access, as well as virtual training opportunities and technical support, to reduce social isolation.


Sweet Caroline Older Adult Hub Collaborative partners celebrate TWH’s funding of its new grant initiative designed to create a more connected, coordinated approach to older adult care services in the District.

“Aging well depends on more than access to healthcare – it depends on connection, community, and knowing where to turn when help is needed,” said Gregory Meeropol, Director, Hayes Senior Wellness Center — Howard University. “This collaboration brings together organizations that have deep roots in Ward 6 and a shared commitment to ensuring older adults are not left to navigate services alone. Thanks to The Washington Home’s investment, we can build stronger pathways to support, reduce isolation, and help more older adults thrive where they live.”

About The Washington Home

The Washington Home is a private foundation that provides funding to entities that create and deliver innovative, compassionate, and well-managed programs to improve the quality of life for elderly and/or terminally ill residents in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.

Founded in 1888, The Washington Home, until recently, provided long-term care to residents of its nursing home facility in upper Northwest Washington, DC, hospice care to patients in their own homes, and care in the inpatient hospice wing of the nursing home.

In recent years, the Board of Directors of The Washington Home directed a repositioning of the organization by ceasing hands-on care and consolidating its financial resources to be deployed for maximum impact in accordance with its longstanding mission. Learn more at www.TheWashingtonHome.org.