Join us for an evening with the people who make our work possible.
Please join us for an evening to celebrate the supporters behind Friendship House. For nearly 40 years, we have walked alongside Delaware neighbors who have lost a home, a community, or both, and our supporters have made every year of it possible. The Annual Party is our chance to thank you in person, catch up with old friends, and welcome new ones into the work. We would love to have you there.
Every year, Friendship House reaches more than 17,000 people across New Castle, Kent, and Sussex counties. Behind that number are specific, daily things:
- Our Empowerment Centers serve more than 6,000 people a year with a warm place to spend the day, help replacing a lost ID or birth certificate, computer and mailbox access, and case management that opens a path toward stability.
- The Clothing Bank gives good, free clothing to more than 12,000 people, and outfits students who need a school uniform or a pair of sneakers.
- Our Transitional Housing Program offers roughly 80 people a year subsidized housing and steady support as they rebuild.
- Financial Assistance keeps families in place by covering a past-due rent or utility bill, a court fine, or the cost of the documents that make everything else possible.
When you attend the Annual Party, you help keep all of it running.
We are grateful to be welcomed this year into the home of Joshua and Jin Twilley, whose Tudor-style residence anchors the south end of Kentmere Parkway.
The house has a story worth telling. It was built in 1928 by Samuel Bancroft Bird, an engineer and the grandson of Samuel Bancroft, whose gift of Pre-Raphaelite art formed the heart of the Delaware Art Museum’s collection. The architects were Brown & Whiteside, the same firm that designed the museum at the other end of the Parkway, along with the First and Central Presbyterian Church, Tower Hill School, and the Wilmington YMCA. The original construction was carried out by W. D. Haddock and Company.
In 2026 the home was carefully restored by John Milner Architects, who kept the character of the 1928 house while opening up the interior. The work added a vaulted living room, a modern kitchen, and a generous outdoor space. Standing between two buildings shaped by the same architect, the house is a fitting place to gather in a city Friendship House has served for decades.
