On behalf of all the people of the Joseph’s House community: Opened in 1990 in response to the AIDS crisis in Washington, DC, Joseph’s House offers a welcoming community and comprehensive nursing and support services to homeless men and women with advanced HIV disease and terminal cancer. Our organization was founded with a deep commitment to …read more »
Communion of Saints
February 2, 2018 by
My mother and I had a deeply moving conversation the day after I returned home to care for her as she was dying. Sitting in the sunroom, alone for the first time since I arrived, we acknowledged what lay just ahead. We shared our abundant love for one another, and our tears flowed with equal abundance. As this sacred conversation continued, she …read more »
Video Highlights from Garden Dedication
June 28, 2017 by
Video from the June 24, 2017, dedication. Remarks of Patty Wudel, Executive Director Remarks of Scott Sanders, Deputy Director Lean on Me …read more »
Beauty, Wonder & Gratitude
June 27, 2017 by
On June 24, the Joseph's House community, joined by neighbors and friends, dedicated our new healing garden. These remarks were delivered by Scott Sanders, Deputy Director. At the entrance to the garden is a plaque with the words of the activist Vito Russo from 1988, some of the darkest days of the AIDS epidemic. He said, “Someday, the AIDS …read more »
Our Healing Garden Comes to Life
June 15, 2017 by
At Joseph’s House we are bringing to life a beautiful new healing garden – accessible to all of our residents, neighbors, and friends. The garden’s elegant, broadly curving ramp, now our main entrance, announces that for Joseph’s House providing full access for anyone who uses a wheelchair or a walker is our joy. The garden invites all who see it …read more »
Fall on Your Knees
December 25, 2016 by
Sitting in the nave of the National Cathedral last week, I felt shivers as we sang “O come ye to Bethlehem” with those gathered at Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem itself. It was the first time I had attended the Cathedral’s annual Christmas Prayer Service that connects the two churches via simulcast. The prayers and songs ring from both …read more »
The Week the Trees Fell and a Tyrant Rose
November 14, 2016 by
Last Tuesday, as neighbors walked by on their way to the polls, four of the beloved birch trees in the Joseph’s House garden were reduced to mulch, their stumps the only reminders of the majestic trees whose leaves had captured the afternoon sun with a particular sparkle. The day before, we had started construction on our new healing garden …read more »
The Hard Work of Living
May 19, 2016 by
Recently when the weather was softening a little and the trees were almost in bloom, Dwight finished breakfast, left the table to smoke a cigarette on the porch and walked away from Joseph’s House. For months he had been longing to get back to the part of town where he had lived most of his life. Much of Dwight’s adult life had centered around a …read more »
The Gifts of God for the People of God
February 10, 2016 by
As a child, Communion was my favorite part of going to church. Being Methodists, we only took Communion once a month and when we did, we stayed in our pews as brass trays with tiny juice glasses were passed from person to person. The infrequency of Communion and those little juice glasses themselves—fascinating miniatures much like my Matchbox …read more »
Keeping Close in the Darkness
December 1, 2015 by
We are in the season of darkness. This year we can really feel it, can’t we? Sometimes the dark can bring us closer. We pray for healing, we hope for liberation. Other times, we feel such confusion and helplessness that we actually don’t want to know about each other anymore. We grow distant. We grieve. What does this Advent darkness ask of …read more »