Friends Place on Capitol Hill

February is Black History Month, and I’m grateful to introduce myself as the Hospitality Manager of Friends Place.

My name is Kay Cannon, and as a Black woman working in a Quaker guesthouse just blocks from the U.S. Capitol, I think often about what it means to hold space — for rest, for dialogue, for civic engagement, and for community across differences.

Friends Place is more than affordable lodging. It’s a gathering space rooted in Quaker values of peace, integrity, and justice. I’m proud to help steward that space and to welcome groups who come to learn, advocate, and build relationships that shape our collective future.

If you’ve stayed with us before, welcome back. If you’re new here, I look forward to welcoming you soon.

— Kay Cannon

Wrapping up 2025 with 🤍
Year after year, you choose Friends Place — and that trust never goes unnoticed. We’re always grateful to host you and can’t wait to welcome you back ✨

We want to celebrate our fearless leader Sarah Johnson as her time as Friends Place director has come to a close.

It seems like only yesterday that Sarah came on board as director, starting from when the new drywall was getting put up and when the first pieces of furniture were getting picked out! In her four years at Friends Place, Sarah has hosted 392 groups and 6,791 guests, welcoming each of them with exceptional kindness and hospitality. She spearheaded our civic engagement programming, launched our community events, and led our Friends Place Fly-Ins, engaging over 2,060 guests in training and advocacy over the years! We will miss the amazing menus of local restauranteurs she would curate for our events, her uncanny ability to fix pretty much anything, and always being there to answer the phone or get the door late at night! With her at the helm, we quadrupled the number of guests we were able to serve in a year, doubled annual revenue, and engaged thousands of guests with civic education workshops and events.

Her beloved home state of Michigan has called her back, and we are sending her off with love and gratitude as she embarks on her next steps!

To get in touch with the Friends Place team, you can reach us at our main email and phone number, [email protected] and 202-543-5560.

Photos from Continuing Revolution 2025! We partnered with Pendle Hill to host a hybrid young adult retreat on the themes of q***r liberation and spirit rooted justice. Participants explored the intersections between their political, personal, and spiritual lives. Sessions included a DC LGBTQ+ history walking tour, community safety and deescalation training, storytelling for trans rights, a plenary with Dr. Sa’ed Atshan titled “On Faith, Hope, and Justice: Reflections from a Q***r Palestinian Quaker” and so much more! Huge thanks to all of the participants and everyone who joined as guest speakers and facilitators. We had a wonderful time being in community with everyone. 🕊️🌈❤️

Showcasing our beautiful collage quilt from last year’s Continuing Revolution! This year we will be gathering June 12-14th at Friends Place and on Zoom. Even if  you can’t join onsite in DC, we welcome you to join us virtually! On Saturday, June 14 we will gather for an Art Making session with Cai Quirk. Sign up today to join us to make visionary art in community with other young adults.

This spring at Friends Place has been filled with lobby visits from Friends schools! We hosted and trained over 120 students from 7 schools including Friends School of Mullica Hill, State College Friends School, Plymouth Meeting Friends School, and Friends School of Wilmington, pictured here! In between exploring museums and monuments, students practiced sharing their advocacy stories and lobby visit roadmaps on asks ranging from protecting SNAP and Medicaid, opposing mass detention and deportation, promoting peacebuilding, and investing in community violence interruption! We are so proud of their advocacy for peace, justice, and human rights during this critical time as Congress navigates the budget process.

Our team had an amazing day in Philadelphia with ! We joined the eighth grade class on their day of service guiding them through writing letters to Congress based on policy issues they are researching for their civics symposium. Later, we joined the tenth grade Quakerism class for a lobby training as they get ready to lobby their member of Congress on protecting SNAP and Medicaid, opposing mass deportation, and speaking up for racial justice! They practiced sharing powerful personal stories and roleplayed speaking with their rep’s chief of staff, played by our program assistant for militarism and human rights, Devra!
Thank you to for hosting us! And thank you to our friends at and who we said hello to. We can’t wait to be back soon!

Happy Earth Day! Inviting everyone to come by Friends Place this Thursday April 24th from 6-7 PM to join us for our Earth Week Clothing Swap. Bring up to 5 items that you want to donate and come find a recycled outfit from other members of our community. We will be sharing information during the swap about federal and local environmental advocacy opportunities. You can RSVP here: https://www.friendsplacedc.org/event/earth-week-clothing-swap-friends-place
Hope to see you this Thursday evening!

Olivia joined the eighth-grade class at the National Cathedral School for two workshops at their annual Diversity Forum. Together, they explored the theme “fLAWed” and our collective responsibility to create and uphold laws that advance justice, equity, and inclusion. The students discussed how budgets serve as moral documents that reflect our shared values and had the chance to collaboratively design their own federal budget proposals that reflected their own collective priorities. They talked about what’s at stake in the budget process right now— including the urgent need to protect programs like SNAP and Medicaid from cuts. They closed the day with a lobby training, practicing how to have persuasive conversations with elected officials about how to protect key programs from funding cuts! Thank you to the wonderful students and faculty for hosting us for the day and for such thoughtful participation! We can’t wait to see what amazing social change work these students continue to do in their communities.

FCNL is looking for their next cohort of leaders and changemakers! They are accepting applications for the Advocacy Corps program, a 10 month-long program where young adults between the ages of 19-30 get paid to organize their local community around federal legislation. This year's cohort will be lobbying Congress on migration policies, challenging the practices of sweeping and indiscriminate deportation, while also uplifting legal pathways for longstanding community members, protecting the rights of refugees and asylum seekers, and securing humane migration solutions for immigrant communities. Please share this application with young adults in your networks. The deadline to apply is Friday, April 18th. More information on the program and the application can be found here: https://www.fcnl.org/act/young-adult-advocates/advocacy-corps

Last Saturday, we invited people to Friends Place to build kites for peace. People designed and built their peace kites and then we walked to the National Mall to fly them during the 2025 Blossom Kite Festival! 🌸🪁

Some pictures from our Art for Social Change workshop during FCNL’s Spring Lobby Weekend. Participants created posters with messages to oppose cuts to SNAP and Medicaid and designed a banner that said “Everyone Deserves Food and Healthcare”. The group made some really cool pieces, and we loved adding them to our guest gallery at Friends Place!