Christ House has been taking in Washington’s sickest homeless patients since 1985, people discharged from hospitals with nowhere to heal. On December 1, 2026, it gets a chief executive who has run a shelter system, served in a mayor’s cabinet, and spent six years volunteering, governing, and then directing a domestic violence organization before that. Christ House announced the appointment of Lauren C. Vaughan on November 2.
Vaughan arrives from Samaritan Inns, recently renamed Nuvaya, where she was president and CEO of a Washington-area nonprofit running 24-hour transitional treatment and shelter programs with behavioral health, housing, and supportive services for people experiencing homelessness and substance use challenges.
A Career Built Across the District’s Safety Net
The résumé reads like a map of the District’s service systems. From 2009 to 2015, Vaughan moved from volunteer to board member to executive director of My Sister’s Place, one of the longest-serving organizations supporting victims of domestic violence. From 2015 to 2018, she served as Secretary of the District of Columbia under Mayor Muriel Bowser, a cabinet seat.
Her earlier work brought her into close partnership with Christ House’s own leadership, Dr. Janelle Goetcheus and the Rev. Allen Goetcheus. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she kept essential services running at Samaritan Inns through the worst of the crisis.
“I’m honored to join Christ House and look forward to working alongside its dedicated staff and supporters to build on its remarkable legacy of providing compassionate care, dignity, and hope to people who need it most,” Vaughan said.
What Christ House Does, and What the Board Is Betting On
Christ House runs a medical respite program for people experiencing homelessness who need a safe place to recover from acute illness or injury, and Kairos House, a permanent supportive housing community. The model fills a specific gap in Washington’s hospitals: a patient too sick to be discharged to the street, and not sick enough to keep a hospital bed, goes to Christ House instead, with medical care on site and time to heal. Its founding vision dates to 1985: welcome people with dignity, provide excellent care, and build a community where healing can take hold.
The leadership handoff is an inside one. Vaughan’s previous work frequently brought her into close partnership with Dr. Janelle Goetcheus and the Rev. Allen Goetcheus, the figures at the center of Christ House’s history, so she arrives knowing the house’s culture from the partner side of the table. As the need for comprehensive, coordinated care grows, the organization says it is holding to that founding vision while it expands the partnerships around it.
Board chair Sara Groff pointed to the combination Vaughan brings. “Her nonprofit leadership experience, knowledge of the District, and clear dedication to bringing people together around common goals bode well for our organization, our staff, and most importantly, the people we serve,” Groff said. Interim CEO Vincent A. Keane added his own welcome: “I am confident that Lauren is the right leader for Christ House.”
Vaughan holds a Master of Science in Engineering and Technology Management from The George Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Media from Hampton University. She is a graduate of Leadership Greater Washington, and the Washington Business Journal named her a Woman Who Means Business in 2023.
She starts December 1. The patients arriving that week will not know a transition happened, and that, for a house built on uninterrupted care, is rather the point.
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