The H3 Project — home, health, happiness — has been doing street outreach across D.C. since 2020, seven days a week, ten hours a day, holidays included. Founded by Ami Angell, the organization shows up at Union Station and major downtown hubs, working quietly and persistently to connect people in need with housing, healthcare, and support.
In 2025 alone, the team provided nearly 2,000 essential items, administered 217 doses of Narcan, helped 234 people apply for SNAP or Medicaid benefits, and facilitated 93 housing matches.
But outreach is rarely straightforward. Some people have been on the streets for years. Some have learned not to trust. Getting through the door — even just a little — takes creativity.
“What works for one individual may not work for another person,” Angell said. “It’s figuring out the way in.”
Enter Synergy
Angell used to carry cigarettes on outreach — she didn’t smoke herself, but offering one was a way to open a conversation. Then a friend told her about Juliana pigs, a hypoallergenic breed known for being as warm and eager to connect as a trained service dog.
In March, Angell adopted a five-pound Juliana pig and named her Synergy. Now she comes to work every day — either training at H3’s Union Station headquarters or trotting alongside Angell on a pink harness through the streets of D.C.
The effect has been immediate.
“When she comes around, it seems like she’s a magnet,” said H3 client Randall Baldree. “Everybody wants to be around her. It helps with the emotional support.”
The door that finally opened
Synergy can spin in circles, leap over hurdles, and play a toy piano. But her most remarkable trick is simpler than any of those.
Angell had known one woman — in her late 60s, long-term homeless — for seven years. For seven years, she had resisted every attempt at case management. 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.”
More than a mascot
The name was chosen deliberately. There is, Angell believes, a synergy to what the little pig offers — a reminder that life holds more than the moment a person is stuck in, and that the person in front of you is not defined by where they are right now.
“For my homeless clients, they aren’t defined by who they are now,” Angell said. “This is just one piece of their life. They deserve to be somewhere better.”
Research backs up what Angell has seen firsthand. A pilot program in California that made homeless shelters pet-friendly helped over 4,000 people keep their animals while accessing support — and led 886 people into permanent housing, at a higher success rate than the statewide average.
Synergy won’t end homelessness. Angell knows that. But she opens doors. And sometimes, a door opened just a little is all it takes.
“She’s working to make the world a better place,” Angell said, “in her own way.”