Collaborative Solutions for Communities

What Collaborative Solutions for Communities does

Collaborative Solutions for Communities (CSC) is a Washington DC-based nonprofit organization founded in 1996 (originally as the Columbia Heights/Shaw Family Support Collaborative) that provides community-based social services to families, youth, and individuals across the Washington DC metro area. CSC's service portfolio spans Family Services, Youth Enrichment, Violence Prevention, Housing, Workforce Development, Training Institute, and Community Partnership programs, delivered through community-based settings, schools, and reentry programs.

The organization's underlying practice model combines evidence-based frameworks including Strength-based Approach, Solution Focused Brief Therapy, Family Group Conferencing, and Trauma-informed Care, alongside the proprietary TAMAR (Trauma, Addiction, Mental Health, and Recovery) program. CSC integrates persons with lived experience alongside licensed social workers on community case teams, applying liberatory frameworks including Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed and Popular Education principles. The organization is a member of the Healthy Families/Thriving Communities Collaboratives Council (HFTCCC), an umbrella network established in response to a federal court mandate to decentralize DC child welfare services.

CSC operates on a donation and grant-funded nonprofit model, with revenue derived from charitable contributions, Giving Tuesday and Thanksgiving Basket Drives, and program service delivery. Services are provided at no direct cost to clients. The organization has impacted over 20,000 families cumulatively across nearly 30 years of operation and operates from its Columbia Heights headquarters at 3333 14th Street NW, Washington DC, with a lean team of 11-50 staff including Executive Director Penelope Griffith, Finance Director Tayo Coker, and HR Director Brenda Chandler.

Name

Collaborative Solutions for Communities

Legal name

Collaborative Solutions for Communities

Website

https://wearecsc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Collaborative Solutions for Communities is a Washington DC-based nonprofit providing family services, youth enrichment, violence prevention, housing, workforce development, and trauma-informed programs including TAMAR. It serves at-risk families, youth, and adults across the DC metro area.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Social Services

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Child and Youth Services (62411)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Community Centers & Neighborhood Support Services (BPAGAEAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Wraparound & Community-Based Behavioral Support (ABA-Adjacent) (EDAKAHAO)

Keywords

• Community social services
• Family support programs
• Youth enrichment services
• Violence prevention programs
• Trauma-informed care

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: CSC operates as a nonprofit organization accepting donations from individuals, foundations, and corporate partners. The organization runs specific fundraising campaigns including Giving Tuesday with stated goals of $7500 and Thanksgiving Basket Drives to support families and youth in need.
2. Program Services: Revenue generated through providing social services programs including family services, youth enrichment, violence prevention, housing support, workforce development, and community partnership services to families and individuals.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Collaborative Solutions for Communities (CSC) is a nonprofit community services organization delivering direct social service programs to families, youth, and individuals in Washington, DC. Core offerings include Family Services, Youth Enrichment, Violence Prevention, Housing support, Workforce Development, Training Institute, and Community Partnership services, all delivered at no direct cost to clients and grounded in trauma-informed, strength-based, and solution-focused practices such as the proprietary TAMAR (Trauma, Addiction, Mental Health, and Recovery) program and Family Group Conferencing.

Product overview

Collaborative Solutions for Communities (CSC) is a nonprofit community services organization that offers a portfolio of direct service programs rather than a software product. CSC's services include Family Services (connecting families to resources and support), Youth Enrichment, Violence Prevention, Housing assistance, Workforce Development, and a Training Institute. The organization also operates the TAMAR (Trauma, Addiction, Mental Health, and Recovery) program, an evidence-informed, trauma-focused initiative serving youth and adults in community-based, school-based, and reentry settings. These programs are delivered directly to the community rather than as a technology product or software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• TAMAR: Trauma, Addiction, Mental Health, and Recovery program - an evidence-informed, trauma-focused initiative helping youth and adults heal, grow, and reclaim their futures.

Products and services

• Family Services Connects families in Washington DC to resources and support systems to develop supportive and strong family units, addressing housing instability, violence exposure, child welfare involvement, and economic hardship.
• Youth Enrichment Provides youth enrichment programming for at-risk young people in Washington DC, including gang intervention and Safe Passage programming to reduce youth violence and support positive development.
• Violence Prevention Delivers violence prevention services, including gang intervention and Safe Passage, aimed at reducing youth violence and supporting community safety in Washington DC neighborhoods.
• Housing Provides housing support, including transitional housing and housing stability services, for families and youth such as those aging out of foster care in Washington DC.
• Workforce Development Offers workforce training, job readiness, and employment support for adults and youth in the community, including youth aging out of foster care.
• Training Institute Provides training programs for community members and partners, supporting capacity building in CSC's service areas.
• Community Partnership Coordinates community partnership services, connecting CSC's work with broader neighborhood-based organizations and the Healthy Families/Thriving Communities Collaboratives network in DC.
• TAMAR Program (Trauma, Addiction, Mental Health, and Recovery) Evidence-informed trauma recovery program for youth and adults, delivered through community-based, school-based, and reentry settings, helping participants heal, build coping skills, and reclaim their futures through structured group sessions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 20,000 families impacted through nearly 30 years of service
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Healthy Families/Thriving Communities Collaboratives Council (HFTCCC)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1997CSC is part of the Healthy Families/Thriving Communities Collaboratives network established in DC. The HFTCCC is the umbrella organization comprising community leaders and stakeholders responsible for organizing and supporting the individual and collective efforts of each Collaborative. CSC (formerly Columbia Heights/Shaw Family Support Collaborative) was established in response to a court-ordered mandate to decentralize child welfare services.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Mary's Center: Washington DC-based nonprofit providing integrated health, education, and social services to families across the DC metro area. Most directly comparable to CSC given overlapping family-services and community-based delivery model serving similar at-risk populations.
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington: Regional youth development nonprofit serving at-risk youth across DC through community-based programming — comparable to CSC's youth enrichment and violence prevention lines.
• Sasha Bruce Youthwork: DC-based nonprofit delivering youth and family services including shelter, violence prevention, and reentry support — overlapping directly with CSC's youth enrichment, violence prevention, and family services lines.
• CentroNía: DC-based community organization providing early childhood education, youth development, and family support services — comparable to CSC in its neighborhood-anchored, multi-generational service model.
• Crittenton Services of Greater Washington: DC-area nonprofit focused on children, youth, and families facing adversity, with comparable trauma-informed and community-based service approaches to CSC.
• Latin American Youth Center (LAYC): DC-area nonprofit serving low-income and immigrant youth and families through education, workforce development, housing, and wellness services — strong overlap with CSC's workforce development, housing, and family support programs.

Broad incumbents

• National Urban League: National civil rights and urban-services organization with affiliates serving families and youth in DC. Comparable mission orientation around community empowerment, though at national scale.
• YMCA of Metropolitan Washington: Broader community-services organization operating across the DC metro with youth, family, and wellness programming — overlapping with CSC's community-based service mission but at much larger scale and scope.
• United Way of the National Capital Area: Regional umbrella that funds and coordinates many DC-area community-based organizations including CSC's peer network — relevant as both funder and broader-incumbent operating in the same social-services ecosystem.
• Boys Town: National nonprofit providing child and family services, including trauma-informed care and family support — operates in many of the same program categories as CSC but at national scale and with a much larger infrastructure.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CSCempowers
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCw3AN1XN0Qn8ODHaGKURUAw
• Facebookfacebook.com/CollaborativeSolutionsForCommunities
• Instagraminstagram.com/cscempowers
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/collaborative-solutions-for-communities

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Collaborative Solutions for Communities