It’s a busy time of year! The cherry blossoms have bloomed, the school year is coming to a close, and everyone is planning their first beach trip of the season. Wondering what DCAF has been up to lately? Here are some updates from the first quarter:

We filled the Angelika theater for a screening of Vessel, a documentary about Women on Waves, a reproductive rights group that sails internationally to provide abortion services aboard a ship to women living in countries with anti-abortion laws. Afterwards, we enjoyed a great discussion about the film with awesome pro-choice people.

We were represented by two of DCAF’s very own — Board President Val and case manager Sarah B-S — at WIN’s Young Women of Achievement awards. WIN holds these awards annually in order to celebrate young women leaders who are making a difference in the community. Both Val and Sarah were nominated. DCAF was proud to be represented at the awards and to celebrate the great achievements that have been made!

We trained a fresh batch of case managers! In January and March, we had trainings for new case managers who were eager to get on the lines and start directly helping clients. We are excited to have trained our biggest case manager recruiting class to date! Those trainees are now well on their way to becoming seasoned CMs (thanks to the help of some more experienced folks) and are helping to improve abortion access, one call at a time.

We spoke out about abortion rights! In honor of Women’s History Month, DCAF joined DC Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton for a round table on abortion rights. Pro-choice allies from all over DC spoke out on the importance of expanding abortion access.

We raised money to fund the work we do through a few very successful fundraisers. DCAF recently benefited from “Drink 4 A Cause” at Town Tavern. DCAF board members, case managers, and pro-choice people raised more than $250 at happy hour!

We also benefited from Punk Rock Karaoke Northeast at the Black Cat where we sang our favorite punk songs and raised almost $1,000 for DCAF. Big thanks to Shira, Jay, and Lizz for making us their beneficiary!

And who could forget all of the work volunteers have been putting in raising money for DCAF’s biggest fundraising event of the year? We certainly didn’t. Our pro-choice champions have been telling everyone they know about DCAF’s work in order to raise money for our sixth annual Billiards-a-thon. The event is getting closer, be we still need your help to get us closer to our goal of $55,000! There is still time to sign up, join a team, or donate. After you spend this week fundraising, come celebrate your hard work with billiards, food, and drinks on Sunday, April 26.

By volunteer Victoria C, images by volunteers (clockwise from top left) Katie C, Val V, Emma C, Andrea G.