Beacon House
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Mission Statement
The mission of Beacon House is to promote the academic advancement and personal growth of children in Washington, DC’s Edgewood neighborhood. We envision a future in which children in Edgewood become empowered lifelong learners who achieve their greatest potential.
About This Cause
Beacon House was founded by Reverend Donald E. Robinson, a retired DC government social worker and ordained Unitarian Universalist minister known affectionately as “Rev,” in 1991. At that time, Edgewood was known as “little Beirut” due to the proliferation of drugs and violent crime. He wanted to provide a place where children in Edgewood could be safe and surrounded by people who would encourage them to stay in school. Rev named Beacon House thinking of the role of a lighthouse in a storm – that it would serve as a “beacon” of safety. Rev provided homework help to a dozen children in a basement apartment in the Edgewood Terrace affordable housing community, now named Edgewood Commons, in Northeast D.C.’s Edgewood neighborhood. Early support from Edgewood residents and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area Unitarian Universalist churches were critical to our growth. Today, our flagship Education Program serves more than 150 youth annually (in a typical year) by providing afterschool academic mentoring, enrichment, and college readiness programs in two 6,000-square-foot centers located in the Edgewood Commons affordable housing community. In 1999, Beacon House established a youth football program to engage Edgewood children in activities that motivated them to stay engaged at school and keep them out of trouble. Under the leadership of Athletics Director Rodney Cephas, Beacon House has grown its Athletics Program from a one-team operation to a highly respected, championship-winning multi-sport operation which engages over 300 boys and girls and more than 100 highly dedicated volunteers in a typical year. Our Athletics Program supports our education-focused mission by reinforcing the importance of school and prioritization of academic accomplishment. In 2014, Dr. Monica S. Ruiz of the George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health found that participation in Beacon House’s Athletics Program was significantly and positively correlated with increased resilience, connectedness with peers and parents, higher self-esteem, and greater ability to resist peer pressure as well. Dr. Ruiz also found that on mental health measures such as diminished depression and heightened self-esteem, increased participation in the athletics program produced a “dose-response” relationship in which the stronger the participation, the stronger the positive effect. Dr. Ruiz refers to this as the “Beacon House effect.” Over the course of 30 years, and as a result of Rev’s vision, Beacon House has helped hundreds of students graduate from high school with a plan for continued education. In 2003, Beacon House was selected by the Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington as “One of the Best” DC area nonprofit organizations for the first time. We are proud to have enjoyed an affiliation with the Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington ever since. In 2007, we received our first funding commitment from the US Department of Education’s highly competitive 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant program (21st CCLC). According to the Afterschool Alliance, 21st CCLC funding is awarded to only 1 in 3 applicants. We have enjoyed 21st CCLC grant support continuously ever since, and we secured a new three-year 21st CCLC funding commitment in 2021.