1.3 to 2 million Americans will be homeless at some point during the year – and 14,000 of them live here. Half are members of families with children, and kids who are homeless encounter other problems as well: poor health and nutrition, difficulty reading, trouble in school. So the housing crisis is often a family crisis – sometimes compounded by HIV/AIDS, which is, increasingly, a disease associated with poverty and minority status. The District’s AIDS statistics are alarming and saddening: the average rate for comparable metropolitan areas is 18.9 per 100,000 persons: here the rate is 31.5. Once again, interconnections are everywhere: suffering for the afflicted, and a price to pay, in human and social terms, for those who are left behind – many of them children who are orphaned by the disease. In a diverse community like this one (almost 200 countries are represented here) the housing, employment, education, and health concerns simply grow. So it is no surprise that this section of the Catalogue is our largest, representing the extraordinary labors of many small organizations that work to address one or more pieces of the puzzle, and to make life better for those who need help: children with disabilities, immigrants learning English, older folks who need companionship, women escaping abusers, teens who seek leadership opportunities, adults looking for jobs. Your compassionate philanthropy means hope and opportunity for so many of our neighbors.