Who We Are

Woodley House provides personalized mental health supportive services and housing for Washington, DC residents. Founded in 1958, Woodley House has enabled tens of thousands of people to access mental health care and to live independently in our communities. With a team of community providers and professionals who ensure our residents receive the right services at the right time, Woodley House operates 32 homes for more than 300 residents per year across 4 Wards.

Our Mission

Woodley House enables Washington, DC residents with mental health disorders to live full and healthy lives with dignity by providing supportive housing and services.

Our Vision

All Washington, DC residents with mental health disorders have a dignified place to live, services needed to thrive, and respect and inclusion in the community—and are part of a world where mental health is viewed as health.

Our History

While working as an occupational therapist at St. Elizabeth’s Psychiatric Hospital in the 1950s, Woodley House founder Joan Doniger recognized that not all patients benefited from hospitalization, and as a result, often made returning to their communities more challenging.

Understanding that hospitalization often resulted in worse outcomes for patients with treatable mental health issues, Joan envisioned an alternative: therapeutic housing in a neighborhood setting with a community-minded environment. Her carefully researched framework provided a place where residents could learn to live with their illness, set personal goals, and work toward recovery.

With seed funding from the Eugene and Agnes Meyer Foundation, Joan established the very first mental health halfway house in the District in 1958, creating a middle ground between hospitalization and independent living. Originally known as the Potomac Residence Club, Woodley House first opened its doors to eleven residents. After a successful beginning, Woodley House received a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health in 1961 and was able to expand its staff and services. Since then, it has become a constant innovator in the mental health space.

Having seen her dream come to fruition, Joan passed away in 1972. Today, Woodley House lives on as a legacy to her pioneering and compassionate spirit.

Our Values

To achieve our vision, our core values guide how we interact with each other and our community, empowering our residents to achieve their goals and greater independence. These attributes exemplify the convictions of all those who represent Woodley House and were compiled by staff, residents, and board members.

Respect

We believe that providing Washington, DC residents with mental health support services and safe housing depends on the involvement of the people and partners in our community. We respect the needs of our residents and seek to build relationships based on dignity, trust, and equity.

- Treat our residents, staff, neighbors, and partners with dignity.
- Demonstrate respect by providing safe and comfortable homes to our residents.

Empathy

We recognize that being trusted to provide mental health support services requires an understanding of people with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and needs.

- Recruit and develop our staff to demonstrate empathy in their interactions with each other and with our residents.
- Collaborate with our residents to deliver services and support based on immediate and longer-term needs and goals.
- Create a daily environment that encourages interactions driven by caring and kindness.

Empowerment

We believe that our residents have the power to achieve their goals and work toward greater independence. Staff and residents build relationships based on trust, giving space for our residents to find their own strengths throughout their recovery.

- Provide the tools and information for our residents to develop goals and plans for achievement.
- Celebrate our residents’ efforts in reaching their goals.

Leadership

We seek to implement services and offer housing for residents who have often faced inequities in education, healthcare, and opportunity throughout their lives. We believe in creativity and innovative solutions for creating more access to mental health support services and safe housing.

- Share what we have learned to benefit adults with mental health disorders nationwide.

Annual Report for 2021

Letter from Ann Chauvin

Dear Friends,

In 2022, Woodley House is poised to grow exponentially, doubling the number of people we serve by 2030. With nearly 1,700 adults with mental health disorders currently unhoused in the District, we can no longer stand on the sidelines and watch our neighbors suffer.

Woodley House has the skills and tools to help address the longstanding structural racism and disparities inherent in both the city’s housing market and the availability of mental health services. Woodley House has helped close to 20,000 men and women over the past 63 years, providing a welcoming home and therapeutic, family-like environment in which people can work toward recovery and greater independence. That core of our mission is what we will never cease doing.

We are so grateful for your support and your participation in this community.

Ann Chauvin
Executive Director

Read the 2021 Annual Report

Read Annual Reports from previous years

“Before coming to Woodley House, I was ashamed to let people know about my mental illness. I thought they would treat me differently and define me by my mental illness. Staff at Woodley House never did this. I was always viewed first and foremost as a person. They listened to me and let me know I did not have a reason to feel ashamed and I appreciate that more than words can express.”

—Current Resident

“Woodley House has been very transformational for me. Its character-building and emotional uplifting techniques provided the basis for me to come to grip with my mental illness. I cannot thank Woodley House enough for its assistance in my emotional and mental growth and development.”

—Current Resident

“Woodley House was a lifesaver and provided great support in my long and difficult struggle with mental illness. Without Woodley House and my parents’ patient and loving support, I don’t know how I would have made it through my life.”

—Former Resident

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Meet our Amazing Team

Board of Trustees

Jeremiah Watts

President, Board of Directors

Jeremiah is the Principal of D | WATTS Construction, where he is responsible for providing project and executive oversight managing projects from design development through construction occupancy. Prior to founding D | WATTS, Jeremiah worked with HITT Contracting for more than a decade, overseeing large teams and an award-winning portfolio. He holds a BS in Public and Private Sector Organizations from Brown University.

Diane Murray

Vice President, Board of Directors Diane is enjoying retirement after serving as Assistant Vice President in the Strategy and Innovation Division at SourceAmerica. Prior to joining SourceAmerica Diane worked at Northrop Grumman for 32 years, where she served as VP, Chief Information Officer, and Deputy GM of the Global Information Technology Division, before retiring in 2009. Active in her church and community, Diane has received several awards recognizing her professional achievements and community service, including Computerworld’s Premier 100 Technology Leader and National Women of Color Technology Leadership awards. Diane received a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics from Spelman College and a Master’s degree in Operations Research from Cornell University.

Isabel Jasinowski

Secretary, Board of Directors Isabel most recently served as Vice President and Corporate Officer for Goodyear. She headed government relations for Goodyear’s Washington, D.C. office since 1995 and served as the company’s senior lobbyist. Prior to Goodyear, Isabel set up and ran the office of Business Liaison at the U.S. Department of Commerce. Having started her career as director of local issues for Gov. Jimmy Carter’s 1976 presidential campaign, she has more than 25 years of government relations and Capitol Hill experience. Isabel holds a BA in political science from Barnard College and a Master’s from Columbia University.

Norm Schneider, JD

Treasurer, Board of Directors Norm is a partner at the Kamerow Law Firm. He has been on the Board of Woodley House since 1994, serving as President, Vice-President, Treasurer, and as an At-Large member of the Executive Committee. Norm first became acquainted with Woodley House when his father, psychiatrist Irv Schneider, referred the first patient to the nascent Woodley House in 1959. Norm fondly remembers picking cherries from high up in founder Joan Doniger’s backyard for the luscious cherry pies she used to make for Woodley House events. Trained as an historian and then as a lawyer, he’s one of the few people who can truly say that he has worked with all Executive Directors of Woodley House–Joan Doniger, Edee Maeda, Debra Young, Gary Frye, and now Ann Chauvin–and he has brought both skills to the organization. He was President of the Board when the movie benefit was inaugurated with the premier of “Titanic,” a reception at the Vice President’s house, and the screening at the Uptown Theater.

Kelley Barnaby, JD

Kelley focuses her practice on consumer protection and unfair competition litigation and counseling. Kelley has extensive litigation experience representing clients as both plaintiff and defendant in state and federal courts, in arbitration, and in front of state regulators. Kelley was honored with the 2015 Burton Award for Legal Achievement for co-authoring “Cybersecurity: What Directors Need to Know in an Era of Increased Scrutiny.” After law school, Kelley clerked for the Honorable John G. Heyburn II in the Western District of Kentucky. She is recognized as a Washington, D.C. Super Lawyer Rising Star in the field of business litigation.

Debra Barrett

Debra is founder of Barrett Strategic LLC, a strategic consulting, public and government affairs, and executive coaching firm. Previously, she was SVP Global Government Affairs and Public Policy at Teva Pharmaceuticals where she directed advocacy and policy development. Before joining Teva, Debra was an assignment editor at CNN after beginning her career on Capitol Hill. Debra holds a BA in English from the University of Michigan and a Master’s in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Jeanine Boyle, JD, MPH

Jeanine is President at Rock Creek Policy Advisors. Previously, she served as Vice President of Corporate Government Affairs and Health Policy at Magellan Health. She also directed federal and state policy in roles she held at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, and PhRMA. Jeanine holds a BA from the Johns Hopkins University, a Master of Public Health with a concentration in law and public health from Harvard University, and a JD from Tulane University.

Catherine Cooke

Catherine volunteered at a Woodley House art class in 2012 and has been an ardent supporter of the organization and its mission ever since. Catherine’s career as a management consultant and strategic communicator in both the private and public sectors spans more than 20 years. She currently manages creative services and internal communications for the Office of the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives. She earned a B.A. in music at University of Delaware and an M.S. in information management at Marymount University. Catherine is pursuing her Master’s at the Maryland University of Integrative Health, with a focus on wellness coaching for people living with bipolar disorder.

Matthew Hoffman, JD

Matthew is an Attorney at the Federal Trade Commission. Previously he served as Partner at Goodwin Proctor. Matthew holds a BA from Harvard University and a JD from Yale University. He is the nephew of Woodley House founder, Joan Doniger.

Dave Joseph

Dave currently is serving as the Care and Counseling Pastor at Grace Community Church in Fulton, MD. Before Grace, Dave worked as the Minister of Family Life at The People’s Community Baptist Church in Silver Spring and worked as a missionary in Northern Canada, Saskatchewan. Dave completed his degrees in counseling and theology at Liberty University and Capital Bible Seminary. He has written two children’s books.

Vincent Keane

Vincent is President/CEO of Unity Health Care, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) and non-profit organization that provides primary health care, psycho-social services, and mental health care to the medically underserved in Washington, DC. As well as his executive responsibilities, Vincent is actively involved in the development of national health care policy as it addresses the needs of the medically underserved and poverty communities. He is regularly called upon to testify before the DC City Council. Vincent was born in County Mayo, Ireland, and was educated at All Hallows College Dublin where he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Philosophy and a Master’s of Divinity (M.Div.).

Linda Parisi

Linda grew up in Massachusetts and moved to Texas in 1976 to join the Houston Grand Opera fundraising team. In 1982, she, and her family moved to Washington, DC for a career opportunity for her husband and to be closer to Linda’s family. Linda worked with Washington Performing Arts Society in DC and then SOME (So Others Might Eat), where she served as Chief Development Officer, leading the fundraising efforts to raise $22 million+ annually and to oversee marketing, and communications. She has served in various fundraising capacities at four non profit organizations for more than 25 years.

Liz Walsh

Liz is a Consultant and Lead Content Strategist at Anne Tumlinson Innovations where she oversees research and analysis and provides clients with insights related to emerging trends and opportunities in national and local markets. Previously Liz served as Associate Director of Product Management at Evolent Health, a firm that enables major health systems to manage risk across Medicare, Medicaid, Commercial, and Self-funded populations. She also worked as a Consultant at Avalere Health where she advised clients on trends in value-based care and performance improvement. Liz holds a BA in Political Science and a BA in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania.

Holly Wittenberg

Holly is the CEO of Awesome Problem, an independent consulting firm with 25 year of experience in healthcare policy and practice, technology and hospitality. Her projects include international, national and community assessments, audits and acquisitions. Clients have included large health systems, post-acute care companies, associations and Fortune 100 companies.

Tommy Zarembka

Tommy oversees the Food & Friends’ Healthcare Partnerships Program that focuses on contracting with healthcare providers in the metropolitan Washington area. Tommy was the Chief Operations Officer at MetroHealth, a District of Columbia health center, for over five years prior to joining Food & Friends. He also co-founded Cornerstone Community that provided housing and community for formerly homeless men with HIV and a history of chronic substance abuse. Cornerstone merged with Woodley House in December 2020. Tommy is the Board President of the Potomac Soccer Association.

Staff

Ann Chauvin, LICSW

Executive Director Ann Chauvin joined Woodley House at the end of October, 2018 as Executive Director … or really, re-joined … as her first behavioral health job in the District was as a crisis counselor at Crossing Place in 1991. Ann has worked in the field of behavioral health since 1987 for non-profit organizations in New York, Maryland, and DC. Prior to her return to Woodley House, she served as as Chief Clinical Officer at SOME, Inc for 17 years where she started their Jordan House program modeled after our Crossing Place. Ann earned her Master of Social Work, Social Administration concentration and a specialization in Mental Health and has her independent clinical license in DC.

Maria Paipa Farias

Senior Director Maria Paipa Farias joined Woodley House in 2004, overseeing our clinical work, all programs and now Supported Independent Living and Compliance. She received her MA in Clinical Psychology and completed her residency in clinical psychology in Buenos Aires, Argentina before moving to Los Angeles, California to continue her career. She provided individual and group therapy while with Excelsior House, the Didi Hirsch Mental Health Center and Step Up on Second in Santa Monica, California. Moving east to New York City, Maria worked with a diverse population with the Metropolitan Center for Mental Health, among others.

Tyrone Cartwright

Chief Financial Officer

Tyrone Cartwright joined Woodley House in 2000 as Director of Finance & Administration. In 2009, he moved to the Transitional Housing Corporation. In 2015, Mr. Cartwright returned to Woodley House as Finance Director. He is past president of the DC Behavioral Health Association, a coalition of 26 community-based mental health agencies in the District. Prior to Woodley House, he served as the President/CEO of Public Health Service FCU. A native of Newark, NJ, he graduated from Elizabeth City State University with a BS in Business Administration.

Sue Breitkopf

Director of Development and Marketing

Sue Breitkopf is thrilled to be joining Woodley House as its Director of Development and Marketing. Until recently, she was Director of Development for George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design. Prior to GW, she worked as Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at the National Building Museum and for over ten years in communications, marketing, and development roles at the American Alliance of Museums. She spent the earliest part of her career as a journalist, covering a broad range of topics from the arts to footwear to food for such publications as the Washington Post, Fairchild Publications, Washingtonian and Urban Land.

Kecia Tinubu

Chief Operating Officer

Kecia Tinubu serves as Woodley House’s first Chief Operating Officer. The former Director of Operations for several Adventist Healthcare clinics in Maryland, Kecia has strengths in strategic planning, business operations, team leadership, and coaching and motivating teams toward optimal performance.

Betty Johnson

Senior Director of Programs Betty Johnson has worked nearly everywhere at Woodley House. Joining Woodley House in 2007, she has managed Holly House, Valenti House and Crossing Place. Now as Senior Director of Programs, she supervises all of our 24-hour residential programs. Prior to coming to Woodley House, Betty worked for 15 years at the Devereux Foundation as lead staff and then supervisor.

Virginia “Ginger” Cabrera, LICSW

Clinical Director

Ginger Tagliarino is an experienced clinical supervisor with a demonstrated history of working in the mental health care industry. She is skilled in volunteer management, nonprofit organizations, crisis intervention, group therapy, and psychotherapy. She received her MSW from The Catholic University of America with a focus on Clinical Social Work.

2021 by the Numbers

%

of residents remained stably housed 300 serviced through our residential programs and Food Pantry

%

of our residents were previously homeless

%

of our Food Pantry customers are DC neighbors in need

food orders delivered through our Food Pantry

Catch up with Our Publications

See all of Woodley House’s news from the last few years.

Newsletters

Newsletters 2022:

Annual Reports

Annual Report 2021

Annual Report 2020

Annual Report 2019