Category: Feedback

Georgetown Ministry Center (GMC) is proud to announce that the Catalogue for Philanthropy will be featuring GMC’s good work in their 2013-14 Catalogue.

A panel of over 100 expert reviewers from area foundations, corporate giving programs, and peer non-profit organizations evaluated over 210 applications, and Georgetown Ministry Center is one of 73 outstanding nonprofits to be featured in print this year.

“Individual donors can continue to make a real difference, keeping great organizations afloat during these challenging times,” says Barbara Harman, President and Editor of the Catalogue for Philanthropy: Greater Washington. “Charities were selected for excellence, cost-effectiveness, and impact.”

Georgetown Ministry Center has provided crucial social services to the chronically and most service-resistant homeless for the past twenty-five years and has grown to operate a drop-in center, conduct street outreach, and organize a winter congregation-based shelter. A caring support staff that includes a visiting psychiatrist and general practitioner build meaningful relationships with the homeless at all three locations, working seven days a week to end homelessness one person at a time.

Gunther Stern, Executive Director of Georgetown Ministry Center, says that “the Catalogue’s designation assures donors that their money is providing the highest quality services to the people we serve.” In the past two years, Georgetown Ministry Center has more than doubled the operating hours of its drop in center. On top of the critical case management and medical care they provide, the center includes shower and laundry services, a computer lab, counseling and support groups, and a safe, welcoming escape from the street. Stern hopes that being accepted into the Catalogue for Philanthropy will “encourage donors and volunteers to give generously to ensure that GMC can continue to provide high quality services to the most vulnerable members of our community.”

Now in its eleventh year, the Catalogue’s mission is to connect caring citizens with worthy community causes. The online Catalogue connects donors with volunteer opportunities, events, and more. The Catalogue’s 2013 edition will be released on November 1, and we hope you will take the opportunity to check it out!

Last winter, we met Warren, a quiet, friendly guy, who sat in our center reading or helping staff keep the center clean. We took him in to our winter shelter and began to work with him to help him find work and housing.

Through a community service group we started with the Georgetown BID, Warren proved to be a hard worker. A few weeks after he started volunteering with the BID, he joined the Block by Block Street Cleaning Team as a full-time employee!

Warren wrote GMC a letter of appreciation. We hope it will warm your hearts as much as it did ours.

To Whom It May Concern,

This letter is being written to express my heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to GMC Ministries.  A few months ago, my life had taken a turn for the worse. I had been lay-off and what I once called home, no longer existed.  With no money, no home or a job, I was slowly losing the hope and peace, I had within.  Until, a friend directed me to the GMC Ministries, in hopes of regaining my self-respect and re-building my confidence.  In my heart, I always know and felt that I was a good person, who believed in higher power and that He would not put no more on me than I could bear.  GMC Ministries afforded me the opportunity to get back on my feet and to establish a solid foundation.  Through this ministry, shelter, food and clothing were given not only to me, but to others who participated in the program. This ministry provided physical and mental screening, training sessions where resumes could update and submitted for employment and substance abuse counseling and so on.  In addition, there were volunteering opportunities where I one could be recruited and hired for a full-time position.  As a result, I had been hired by Block By Block Cleaning Company.  Now, I have something to look forward to and to be proud of.

I would like to give a special thanks to the GMC staff members Gunther, Roy, Stephanie and others for trusting and believing me when I did believe in myself.

Thank you for showing so much compassion, love and concern for others who had fallen on hard times.  May God bless and keep you always.

Sincerely,

Warren

The Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness just released the results of the 2013 Point in Time survey. Click here to view the survey results.

Some stats from the report:

• Literally homeless persons in 2013: 6,859
• Unsheltered persons in 2013: 512
• Single persons in emergency shelter: 2,459
• Single persons in transitional housing: 725

For single homeless adults:

• 7.8% have limited English proficiency
• 15.3% are U.S. military veterans
• 10.2% have a history of domestic violence
• 66.7% are chronically homeless

The report is presented in an easy-to-read and understand format. It’s not pages and pages of words, so take a look!

And, thank you again to everyone who participated in the 2013 Point in Time survey!

GMC is happy to welcome Paige Hill and her sister, Elizabeth, to our list of sandwich donors! This past Monday the two of them made sandwiches for us. Read on to hear about their experience!

When my sister and I heard that the Georgetown Ministry Center could use some more help with their daily sandwich donations, we decided to pitch in. By partnering up, we thought many hands make light work and boy, were we right. The hours of time we initially dedicated to the project weren’t necessary; because, in total the project took about 25 minutes and cost us less than $20. An easy contribution for very worthy recipients: the lunch guests at the GMC this past Monday.

It only takes two and half loaves of bread, a large jar of peanut butter and a large jar of jelly to help out the GMC! We were finished in less than a half hour and had leftovers for our lunches, as well.

We added a bag of clementines and small boxes of raisins to our contribution — healthy snacks! We were able to keep our costs under $20 all together, and best of all, we heard that our lunches were well-received…Next time we’re going to contribute on a weekend day so we can stay and meet the guests.

If you’re looking for a way to help members of your local community, donate sandwiches to the Georgetown Ministry Center!

“So when will we see you in the center next?” I asked a guest Wednesday evening.

“Hmm… tomorrow is Thursday. Pat comes on Thursday. I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Many of our guests look forward to Thursdays for the same reason: Pat Davies, sandwich donor extraordinaire. Everyone enjoys the array of food Pat brings– two kinds of sandwiches (pb&j or turkey and cheese), grapes, clementines, and assorted baked goods– but what makes us all so happy to see Pat is her desire to spend a few minutes in the center to see how everyone is doing.

Pat and her helpers (fellow parishioners of Georgetown Presbyterian Church) distribute their sandwiches and greet our guests by name. She listens– really listens– to the answer when she asks, “How are you doing?”

When I asked a few people why they like Pat, many stated that they like being able to thank her in person for the sandwiches. This sentiment is echoed generally as well; a few guests have approached me and said they wish they could meet the sandwich donors in order to thank them.

If you are a sandwich donor and have a few minutes to spare, feel free to stay and chat with our amazing guests. They want to tell you for themselves how much your sandwiches are appreciated.

–Stephanie