Every staff meeting starts with each teach member celebrating one success they had in their with work at GMC in the past week. These successes range from celebrating a guest moving into permanent housing, fundraising updates, to sharing a story of a particularly good interaction with a guest. No success is too small to uplift at Georgetown Ministry Center. At the height of the pandemic, GMC pivoted our services, and our mindset, to that since it is not safe for guests to come into the Drop-In Center, it is time to go out and meet guests where they are. Fast-forward to July 2021, and our Drop-In Center is back with indoor capacity and GMC’s morale feels renewed thanks to the grit and series of small successes from our staff.
One of our first in person events this summer was a Memorial Day Cookout. Our guests were enthusiastic to have the tradition back after a year off, and our staff were extremely thankful to have the guests there to help figure out how to get George Foreman grills working outside with a tangle of extension cords and give pointers on how to grill the perfect burger. While it may have been just one Monday lunch, it represents the small successes that are imperative to GMC’s missions. One afternoon of banter and grilling helped reconnect our staff with guests after a long year of exchanges being limited to our Walk-Up window.
On a recent visit to GMC’s latest pilot program, our Summer Pop-Up at Georgetown Lutheran Church, volunteers were welcomed back in person to GMC for the first time since March 2020. In the time since we last saw our volunteers, GMC served over 779 guests, launched the Pop-Up, welcomed a new Executive Director, Program Director, three full time staff members, two part time weekend coordinators, and 3,400 hot dinners served through our GMC Extends program. The world does not look the same as it did in March 2020, and neither does GMC. However, the past year demonstrated the resilience of GMC, and the infectious forward momentum our staff feel going into the second half of the summer. Every smile, sandwich, shower, and conversation is another step on our guests journey. GMC is there uplift and celebrate that every step of the way.