Message from Our Executive Director

The work continues as it is intensified to give and do more especially because the need is there. We are grateful for the support from the volunteers and those that support us financially. Because of you, residents staying at the New York Avenue, Men's Shelter, Adam’s Place, and the Harriet Tubman Women's Shelter are receiving a hand-up and not a handout.

Your generous act of love allowed us to provide new warm winter coats on Christmas Day in 2021 and Christmas Eve in 2022, along with a meal and a blessing bag filled with goodies.  

We have been able to alternate our services each month at a shelter with a meal, prayer, an opportunity to sign up for the Life Skills Center Program, and toiletries.

Adams Place Men's Shelter was recently added to the cycle. We hope to provide new coats, blessing bags, and a meal to the three shelters this Christmas 2023.  That's why it is very important you support our 2023 5K Walk for the Homeless in October.

Since COVID, The Widow's Pantry is moved by our theme, One Team, One Mission, One Goal Motivated by Love. Due to the responses from COVID, we are all doing more to ensure our mission is not compromised.

If you have been sitting on the fence since COVID get moving and join us for the next event.

Call The Widow's Pantry at (202) 723-6839, or email us at widowspantry99@gmail.com to sign up for our next serving event

Keena Trapps

Founder & Executive Director

The Widow's Pantry, Inc.

Tierre Wright joined The Widow’s Pantry family in February 2022. He was willing to help with a fundraiser and ended up getting involved in helping the Life Skills Center get off the ground.

Tierre is a Washingtonian and a single parent to Ashton and Tierra.

Our Life Skills Center opened on April 19, 2022, under the directorship of Reverend Benjamin Robinson. Tierre became our next director in August 2022, when Reverend Robinson step down. Tierre was a perfect fit even knowing Reverend Robinson left some big shoes to fill.

Tierre’s life's mission for himself is helping people by leading them to do better in life.

Tierre is familiar with working with youth, but he is now challenging himself to work with those 50 and over. He says it’s a blessing as he finds this group is more consistent and enjoys taking on new challenges.

Tierre’s short-term goal for The Widow’s Pantry Life Skills Center is connecting Widow’s Pantry to apprenticeships that will connect students to jobs.

Tierre is always ready to help. You will see him out at our serving events volunteering.

Thank you, Tierre, for bringing your share to the table!

Wayne's I. Young

Wayne Young is the son of Deshonda (Dee Dee) and Wayne Young who are long-time volunteers. Wayne graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, from Towson University.

Deshonda would bring the youths from her church to serve, which included young Wayne. He was about 14 years old when he started volunteering with The Widow's Pantry.

Now that Wayne has graduated, he is relieved that he is done with school. He feels like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders and he is finally free to make his stamp on the world.

One of Wayne's hardest hurdles was making a mistake while scheduling his classes which caused him to need another semester to graduate. He started the semester thinking he was graduating but was not made aware of the mistake until it was too late to change anything.

Wayne recommends to incoming freshmen, not to get caught up in all the drama and hype. Stay in your lane and do what you do best. Make sure that you decide on your major by the end of your sophomore year. Managing your time is key and if you do that, college will be easy and the time will fly - so enjoy it!

Wayne is interested in investing in the stock market and trading in the foreign exchange market. He believes we all should have some knowledge in stock and he plans to use this as another source of income along with real estate and any other ventures that may present themselves.

Wayne had lots of encouragers, especially in his family who are always supportive. The person who encourages him the most is his mother.

We asked Wayne how did the Widow’s Pantry impact his life and he replied, "The Widow’s Pantry taught me to never judge anyone by their circumstances. There were a lot of people out in the park that had a good head on their shoulders, but the ball just didn’t roll their way. You can learn something from anyone no matter their current situation. I am fortunate to not have had their circumstances, but it would take nothing for me to end up in that same situation. It has always pushed me to be better no matter what trials may come my way."

Dr. Matthew Austin

The Widow’s Pantry congratulates Dr. Matthew Austin, one of our volunteers, as he celebrates his doctor’s degree from Notre Dame of Maryland School of Pharmacy.

Matthew served with The Widow’s Pantry at the age of 14. He credits our founder, Keena Trapps for the impact she has made in his life. His belief in God was inspired by her inviting him to church where he learned to pray and develop a strong commitment to his faith and serving the community. He says that The Widow’s Pantry has shown him how important it is to give back and how essential it is to do the work of God. He is striving to become a missionary to serve and spread God’s word. This is something he always tries to live by.

Matthew is currently working at the Rite Aid Pharmacy in Baltimore, Maryland, and studying full-time for his board exams.

Matthew would like to become more consistent with his serving in the community, now that he has time. He is excited that he can finally help people especially those that look like him with their health.

He feels honored to have Dr. in front of his name. He recognizes that he has a large responsibility that he plans to live up to.

Matthew believes that his most challenging issue is with self-belief. He sometimes feels like he doesn’t belong. The term he used was, “Imposter Syndrome”. He is working on overcoming this belief.  

To all the incoming freshmen this fall, Matthew encourages them to find something they really enjoy doing, learn how to network by attending events, and learn time management skills.

Carlene Hardie is a Washingtonian who comes from a big family. She is The Widow’s Pantry Life Skills Center’s first graduate. We honored her on February 8, 2023. Carline's testimony is a great success story.

Carlene started with the Widow’s Pantry Life Skills Center after attending our presentation at an Oxford House meeting In June of 2022. While attending classes at the Life Skill Center she often assisted other students. She encouraged others in the class to keep moving forward.

Carlene has her challenges. In the past, she suffered a stroke and lost a lot of her memory and found it hard to remember things. During class, she wrote a lot of notes to help her memory. The classes encouraged her to become more productive with everyday projects and increased her typing skills.

Not only is the Life Skills Committee proud of her accomplishments but so are her family members. At her graduation 10 of her family members surprised her by showing up at the ceremony with flowers to let her know how proud they were of her.



Today, Carlene has her own apartment and is working at the Kennedy Center. Her only request to The Widow’s Pantry is that we do more outreach and marketing to let others know about the program that gave her a second chance.

This year marks our 8th Annual Walk for the Homeless. The Walk Committee is excited to bring the walk back again. The cost to participate is the same as last year and includes a walk shirt.

Don’t wait, register today to be one in the number. Your participation purchases a winter coat for a resident in a shelter or helps with the purchase of a laptop for a student in the Life Skills Center Program.

Can’t walk, make a pledge of any amount, We are challenging those not walking to join the Friends of the Pantry Pledgers by making a $100.00 tax-deductible donation. Your donation will help to purchase four warm winter coats.

Consider being a sponsor this year and have your organization’s name printed on the back of our walk shirts. Either way, you are supporting a great cause.

PLEASE NOTE: The location for The Widow's Pantry Life Skills Center is moving to Capitol View Library, 5001 Central Avenue, SE, Washington, D.C. effective Tuesday, August 15, 2023.

Thank you, Starbucks for being a great host!