A new shelter for people experiencing homelessness has opened in the Foggy Bottom area of Washington, D.C., amid backlash from nearby residents and property owners.
The Aston is the first shelter in the city to accept couples and adult families experiencing homelessness, regardless of their gender.
Prior to the shelter's opening on Monday, if a mother and her adult son needed a place to stay they would have had to go to two separate shelters.
"In the traditional shelter system, we do have to separate families by gender, and here, for the first time, families can stay together and rebuild. And I can't say enough about what that means because if you imagine a young man of 18 being separated from his mom, maybe, and his sister and a couple of miles apart, rebuilding becomes very difficult," said Jean-Michel Giraud, the president and CEO of Friendship Place, the organization that will help the shelter's residents with their housing goals.
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"Here, in this facility, families will stay together and that's a very important addition to the system," Giraud said.
D.C. bought the Aston, which was once a college dorm, from George Washington University in Aug. 2023 for $27.5 million. The building is located several blocks away from the northern edge of GW's core campus, in an area of Foggy Bottom-West End that's home to a few upscale hotels and restaurants.
Some nearby residents and property owners have voiced their opposition to the shelter, pointing to zoning issues and quality of life concerns.
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The West End DC Community Association went to court in an effort to block the shelter and has filed an appeal to the zoning board. In a statement to News4, an attorney for the group said the Aston violates D.C. zoning regulations — and claims the District never evaluated alternative locations.
Supporters of the shelter, however, say the debate only made the "outcome stronger."
"I'm really happy with everyone who participated in the [Community Advisory Team] and, you know, made their voices heard they made, you know, we drafted a good neighbor protocol. There was a thousand red lines on that document and all of that feedback made it better. So I think it's a great part of the process," said Jim Malec, the co-chair of the Aston Community Advisory Team.
Petro Bemah, one of the shelter's first residents, said he feels safer staying at the Aston with a private room, as opposed to traditional shelters that house groups of men in one room.
"I wasn't comfortable in staying and a lot of us out there not comfortable. That's why you see a lot more on the street," Bemah said. "This setting is very pleasant. I met some good people here and gave me, you know, some encouragement and this is this is a new beginning."
The Aston can currently house up to 50 residents and is expected to eventually expand to 100 residents. D.C. officials say they expect a typical stay to be one to three months before those residents move to permanent housing.
An attorney representing the West End DC Community Association gave the following statement to News4:
"WEDCCA’s appeal to the BZA challenges the unlawful attempt by the District to circumvent its own zoning regulations in order to operate a homeless shelter in the heart of Georgetown. Under the applicable regulations, the District must first obtain a “special exception” from the BZA, which requires a public hearing. The District seeks to evade this process given the overwhelming public opposition-both from hundreds of residents and numerous local businesses-to this location. The location of the Aston also violates the prohibitions in the GW PUD and would require Zoning Commission approval, which the District has not sought and cannot obtain. There are numerous alternative locations throughout the City that would better accommodate the Aston. Regrettably, the District has failed to evaluate any of these alternatives."
