CCNV has pursued countless courses of action:

A tent city in Lafayette Park across from the White House - dubbed "Reaganville" - brought the presence of unsheltered people closer to the center of power and became a symbol of the great discrepancy in values in our nation.  In 1982, CCNV helped organize and participated in the first congressional hearings on homelessness in America in nearly 50 years.  Follow-up hearings occurred at the CCNV-operated Federal City Shelter in 1984.  Since that time, CCNV has helped organize and participated in dozens of House and Senate hearings on homelessness and hosted a hearing in 1993 that foreshadowed the introduction of the D.C. Homeless Initiative.

On November 4, 1984, after a highly-publicized fast and CCNV's aggressive campaign, President Reagan ordered the renovation of the Federal City Shelter.  With the 1988 completion of the $14 million renovation, the 1,350-bed Federal City Shelter is the largest and most comprehensive facility of it's kind in America.

In November, 1984, D.C. voters passed the CCNV-sponsored Initiative 17-"The D.C. Right to Overnight Shelter Act of 1984."  Passage of the Act, with more than 70 percent of the vote, marked the first time that voters in America created a legal right to shelter for the homeless people.  For over a decade CCNV has made visible the hunger in this land of plenty by sponsoring an annual Thanksgiving Dinner for the Homeless in the shadow of the seats of power-originally in Lafayette Park, across from the white house, then on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol.

Beginning in November 1986, members of CCNV lived outside on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol during a five-month campaign for passage of The Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act.  Our presence, along with other shelter providers hosted by CCNV, propelled the April 1987 passage of the Act which authorized $1 billion in aid to unsheltered people.  In the Fall of 1988, just prior to the Presidential election, 12 activists, led by members of CCNV began a 48-day water-only fast to focus attention on the lack of domestic agenda by either party.  Activists from around the nation came to express their concern through six weeks of daily acts of civil disobedience at the Capitol.

CCNV also played a leading role in the organization of the National Housing now march.  On October 7, 1989, 200,000 people from around the nation marched on the U.S. Capitol to demand affordable housing.