According to Washington, D.C.’s annual Point-In-Time count released in May 2026, the city’s homeless population has increased about 4.4% since last year. With a count of 5,363 people facing both sheltered and unsheltered homelessness, it’s clear there is a need for intervention.
The H3 Project (the three H’s in question stand for home, health, and happiness) is a grassroots nonprofit in the D.C. area that does outreach work across the city in an attempt to end homelessness and human trafficking. Every day, the team “meets individuals where they are at,” from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., including on holidays. They are especially present in D.C.’s Union Station and major downtown hubs.
In 2025, the organization assisted in providing nearly 2,000 essential items to people in need, administered 217 doses of Narcan, helped 234 people apply for SNAP or Medicaid benefits, and managed 93 housing matches, according to its website.
Now, H3 has a new team member supporting its outreach efforts.
She’s a 5-pound pig named Synergy, and she belongs to Ami M. Angell, who started the organization in 2020.
Angell and Synergy. @synergy4change_h3/Instagram
“We have to think outside the box, because every individual is unique,” she told The Washington Post about her clients. “What works for one individual may not work for another person. It’s figuring out the way in, and if you can get that door open a little, then you can get it open a lot larger.”
In the past, Angell used to carry around a pack of cigarettes, even though she didn’t smoke herself. It was a way to start a conversation with people in need — or acts as a de-escalation tool to manage a crisis.
But then her friend told her about Juliana pigs, a hypoallergenic breed of pig that is as friendly and eager to please as a service dog.
“A lot of the folks that we work with, they’ve never seen a pig, let alone touched one,” Angell told The Washington Post. “With pigs, it doesn’t matter your age, your race, your gender; they love you equally.”
Synergy was adopted in March, and now she comes to work with Angell every day; either training in her pen at the organization’s headquarters in Union Station, or on a harness and leash on outreach duty.
Synergy the pig. @synergy4change_h3/Instagram
“When she comes around, [it] seems like she’s a magnet,” H3 client Randall Baldree said in a video for The Washington Post about the little pig. “Everybody wants to be around her. It helps with the emotional support.”
Synergy can also do tricks, like spinning in a circle or leaping over hurdles. She can even play a toy piano. Engaging people in her roster of talents helps lower the barrier to entry.
Perhaps the most exciting example for Angell so far was a woman in her late 60s, whom she has known for seven years, and was very resistant to case management.
But then she met Synergy.
“Now she wants to work with me,” Angell said. “As long as the pig is right there, she will answer my questions, she will do the work with me. She’s moving forward because of Synergy.”
The pig’s name is a reflection of what she offers.
“There is a synergy to it all,” Angell explained. “I just wanted her to ground folks and remind them that there’s always more to life and more to be than what is right now. For my homeless [clients], they aren’t defined by who they are now. This is just one piece of their life. They deserve to be somewhere better.”
A client with Synergy. @synergy4change_h3/Instagram
Angell, and other experts who work with homeless populations, know that pets are a “lifeline” for unhoused people, providing stability and support that would otherwise be overlooked.
In fact, prioritizing unhoused people’s relationships with their pets has been a proven model of success.
In California, a pilot project that made homeless shelters pet-friendly had major outcomes, allowing over 4,000 people to keep their pets while getting support, and encouraging 886 people to move into permanent housing with their pets — a higher success rate than the statewide average for California.
Angell knows Synergy won’t end homelessness — but she does believe that her companionship will get people one step closer to relief.
And, when she’s not working with clients, Angell uses the pig as a way to talk to the general public about the work she does to end homelessness.
“She’s working to make the world a better place,” Angell said of the pig, “in her own way.”
@washingtonpost For some unhoused people, pets can help prevent substance use or motivate them to seek stability, said Ami M. Angell, founder of a crisis intervention group. Angell’s mini pig, Synergy, can be the bridge between them accepting help versus doing it alone. Read more from The Washington Post at the link in our bio. #minipig #goodnews ♬ original sound – The Washington Post
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Featured Image: @synergy4change_h3/Instagram
