Wes Pinkney was ecstatic the day Mary’s House for Older Adults opened on Anacostia Road in Southeast D.C.
“This is a place for the residents of Washington, D.C.’s LGBTQ+ same-gender-loving to have a safe space,” its founder, Dr. Imani Woody, said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony in spring 2025.
The building was designed, according to Woody and its website, to be “D.C.’s first affordable LGBTQ+ affirming communal living space for adults 60+.” Mayor Muriel Bowser called it “a model for the whole city,” and her administration invested nearly $1 million in the project through a loan from D.C.’s Housing Production Trust Fund.
Pinkney, 71, told the News4 I-Team he worked with Woody for years to turn her dream for Mary’s House into reality. On opening day, he said he finally felt like he was home.
“I clicked my heels three times,” Pinkney said.
But just three weeks later, the man who said he clicked his heels like Dorothy on opening day felt like he was in a tornado.
“What I saw was, there were straight people in the house,” he said.
“We got nine straight people and five gay folks,” he added.
It wasn’t their orientation that Pinkney said bothered him, though he was surprised about the makeup of the communal space. Still, he said there was a “tug of war.”
Mary’s House residents and a former staffer who spoke with the I-Team described harassment, calls to police and even a death in its first eight months of operation.
Pinkney – who moved out of Mary’s House after our interview – and a former staffer told the I-Team some of the home’s non-LGBTQ+ residents told them they were never told about Mary’s House’s focus on that community.
“It seemed to have lacked a little bit of the care and nurture that you would think that typically went into something like this,” said former program manager Terrence Odom. He said he left his position, citing a lack of structure and oversight.
“It is illegal to discriminate based on sexual identity, Mary’s House spokeswoman Kristi Halford said in an email to the I-Team.
While the home was marketed as a safe place for the LGBTQ+ community, “anyone can apply to live at Mary’s House,” she wrote.
‘Homophobic little remarks’ and police calls to Mary’s House
Mary’s House resident Sidney Robertson told the I-Team he has experienced harassment and seen others harassed too.
“It’s just not a friendly atmosphere. There’s been homophobic little remarks here and there,” he said.
Harassment at Mary’s House is not Robertson’s only concern; he’s said he’s seen police at the home a few times.
D.C. police and fire records show 11 visits since the end of April, with nine visits by police for reports of robbery, harassment, theft and, on June 20, a dead body.
“There were police and ambulances and everything all over the street,” Robertson said.
Records from the D.C. Medical Examiner show a man died of an overdose inside Mary’s House.
The I-Team asked Robertson if he would move out if he could.
“I’d be gone in a flat second,” he replied.
Pinkney, Robertson and the former staffer told the I-Team they took their concerns to management and at times to the board of directors well before contacting the I-Team.
“Resident council and property management work together and communicate as needed to address resident concerns,” Halford said.
‘We take resident concerns seriously’
For weeks, the I-Team tried to talk with the people who built and run Mary’s House. News4 was told two different people would do interviews, but that never happened.
“We take resident concerns seriously and are following the processes we’ve put in place to ensure the environment reflects the mission and values of Mary’s House for Older Adults,” Taylor Kampla of Mary’s House said in a statement.
The I-Team asked to talk with other residents of the house. We were told by a representative that the head of the “resident circle” would have to approve it. We never heard from him.
D.C.’s Department of Aging and Community Living told the I-Team that Mary’s House is not managed by the city. They said they offered their support.
“We remain in communication with its leadership and are exploring additional ways to expand supportive programming, refer prospective LGBTQ residents, and assist current residents,” a statement said.
That’s little comfort to at least two residents who said they were promised so much more, after the home got the mayor’s support on opening day.
Mary’s House repaid the loan they received from D.C.’s Housing Production Trust Fund and used for construction, a spokesperson said. But when the I-Team checked with the city, a spokesperson with the DC Department of Housing and Community Development said the loan was still listed as unpaid. The Mary’s House representative suggested the discrepancy is a lag in city reporting.
Several private corporations donated to Mary’s House, including a one-time donation from our parent company, Comcast, in 2022 for digital skills training.
News4 asked Robertson if he thought D.C.’s funds were a good investment.
“No. It’s just a lie. The whole thing is a lie,” he said.
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