The Council of the District of Columbia recognized the Anne Frank House’s 30th anniversary during Shabbat services at Adas Israel Congregation in Washington on June 17.
The Anne Frank House, named after the Jewish teenage diarist who died in the Holocaust, provides permanent housing and social services support to homeless men and women with chronic mental illness.
D.C. Councilmember Mary Cheh (D — Ward 3) presented the resolution, which was passed on May 2, to Anne Frank House co-presidents Ellen Ficklen and Lisa Stand.
“I am proud to join the entire Council of the District of Columbia in saluting Anne Frank House on reaching its 30th anniversary of working to combat homelessness in Washington,” Cheh said in a statement.
Adas Israel congregants founded the non-profit organization, which is independent from the synagogue, in 1987. The organization was named after Anne Frank because the teenager, and other victims, were displaced and left homeless throughout the Holocaust.
Ficklen and Stand said in a joint statement: “In an entry in her famous diary, Anne Frank wrote, ‘…most of all, I long for a home of my own.”
—Justin Katz
