Our History

The Neighborhood House was founded in 1901 in Southwest Washington by Charles F. Weller, Eugenia Winston Weller and John B. Sleman, Jr. Social services were provided out of a house at 470 N Street, S.W. Leadership was provided by a resident staff of four workers and a large corps of volunteers.

Alice Pike Barney was an active volunteer and benefactor of the House. Her daughters, Natalie and Laura, continued the Barney family interest for many years. In 1933, the name Neighborhood House was changed to Barney Neighborhood House and Social and Industrial Settlement.

In 1960, Barney selected the Mt. Pleasant area in Northwest Washington as its new home. Social and community development services were rendered from loaned facilities until a suitable property was obtained in March 1963 at 3118 16th Street, N.W.  In 1973, the growth and expansion of services soon necessitated the acquisition of an additional facility at 1737 Columbia Road, N.W. to house a Senior Citizen's Center. In the continued sustained growth of the organization, in 2001, Barney moved its Administrative and social services to 5656A 3rd Street, NE and located it’s supportive services to 504 Kennedy Street, NW.

In April 1981, Barney was designated the lead agency for services to the elderly in Wards I and IV. A new branch office was opened at 8th and Jefferson Streets, N.W. and nutrition and supportive services to 1,000 senior citizens at 14 satellite centers were inaugurated. Today we have 16 centers in operation

Today, the Barney Neighborhood House remains a stable institution in a changing community, providing a means of uniting the community in the delivery of social services to its residents in need.