Category: What’s New

Almost every Wednesday, we’ll hopefully be posting announcements on our blog with an assortment of announcements — what’s new, current needs, and upcoming events. Feel free to spread the word to any of your friends or colleagues!

GMC Art Therapy Group

GMC is starting its very own Art Therapy group led by a psychologist who is volunteering with us. Please help us get this group off the ground. We are in need of two simple supplies — newsprint pads and crayons. Newsprint pads are pretty inexpensive — $2 to $6 depending on the size — and we hope you can help!

Supplies can be dropped off at GMC any day between 8am and 4pm. Please let the staff person know that they are for our art therapy group.

Current clothing need: Men’s Pants

We are in need of men’s jeans and shorts! Our most frequently requested sizes are 34-40.

In kind donations can be dropped off at our center any day of the week between 8am and 4pm. Please call ahead to schedule a drop off time. When dropping off donations, feel free to stop your vehicle at the end of the alley, call the front desk at 202-338-8301, and request for a volunteer to come collect your donation.

Do More 24

The United Way runs a 24-hour long fundraising campaign for all of its member non-profits. On June 19, please consider donating to GMC through the Do More 24 website (www.domore24.org). There are prizes for the organizations who raise the most money and who have the greatest number of unique donors, so GMC could win up to $15,000 if we have a lot of people who donate. Every little bit helps!

Where have all the patients gone? 

Representative Tim Murphy opened yesterday’s House subcommittee hearing on the shortage of psychiatric beds with this question. A panel of experts, including GMC’s own Gunther Stern, spoke for over two hours about the lack of adequate mental health care and the impact it has on families, taxpayers’ dollars, and our society.

This hearing, held by The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, is part of the Committee’s ongoing oversight of Federal spending on research and treatments for mental illness. The hearing, as described in the hearing’s memo,  examined “the strain that this shortage exerts on the seriously mentally ill throughout our communities in the form of homelessness as well as increased contact with law enforcement and the criminal justice system, more generally.”

Keep reading for a few excerpts from panelists’ testimonies.

Read more…

This has been a brutally winter. The entire city has been working extremely hard to make sure no one dies from exposure this season. In addition to the hypothermia vans and shelters, this year the city started stationing warming buses throughout the city, where the homeless can board and warm up for 30 minutes, 3 hours, the entire night… however long they need. We have heard great feedback from our homeless guests and other providers about the success of these buses.

Still, there are people who are sleeping outside, whose mental illness prevents them from coming inside, or who think they are strong enough to brave the cold, wind, and snow. During the day, GMC staff and our medical team checks on these individuals. However, we can’t often do outreach at night, when people are most vulnerable.

And so, we decided to create a group of volunteers to do street outreach for us when it gets cold and when the weather’s supposed to be bad.

Read more…

Opportunity Lost

We made a mistake. An oversight has resulted in Georgetown Ministry Center being left out of the United Way and Combined Federal Campaign this year. To those who have given through the United Way and CFC in the past, we thank you so much for your past support. It is still possible to write in Georgetown Ministry Center the United Way campaign. We will be a part of the United Way and CFC again next year, but in the meantime ask for your continued support. Georgetown Ministry Center’s Executive Director, Gunther Stern, would be happy to chat with anyone about the United Way and other ways to give.

Opportunity Gained

Though we lost the United Way and CFC this year, we are happy to announce a new giving opportunity through the International Monetary Fund’s Helping Hands Campaign. If you are an IMF employee or know someone who is, please let them know that Georgetown Ministry Center is now part of the Helping Hands campaign.

With the HHC, 100% of every dollar donated will go to the designated organization, plus a 50% matching grant from the Fund up to $5,000.

The IMF’s Helping Hands Campaign runs from September 16, 2013 to November 15, 2013, and donations can be made by check or payroll deduction. All pledges must be made by November 15, and all checks must be received by November 22, 2013 to be eligible for a US tax deduction in 2013. For more information, please contact Stephanie Chan, Communications Director at GMC, or find it on the IMF website.

Upcoming Opportunities

We are still part of the World Bank’s Community Connections Fund, which will take place during November and December this year. As the time gets closer, we will release more information and details. The World Bank typically matches 50% of donations, although in some strong giving years, the World Bank Community Connections Fund has matched 100% of donations! We have had great support in the past from friends at the World Bank and encourage World Bank employees to help us grow this way.

The Catalogue for Philanthropy named Georgetown Ministry one of the best small non-profits in the greater DC area in 2013-2014. Around November 1, the Catalogue for Philanthropy will list us in their print and online materials detailing opportunities to give through CFP and volunteer at GMC. We will have a celebration later in the year to honor this achievement and encourage participation in any form. If you are not an IMF or World Bank employee and would like to give through an organization, you might consider doing so through the Catalogue for Philanthropy.

Last Friday, August 9, Georgetown Ministry Center had its very first outing, and we were able to take a group of our amazing members to a Nationals Game! Thanks to superstar volunteer Maggie Handel, we were able to invite the members in our center who regularly help us keep our center and our alley clean, who help staff manage the computer lab, and who help diffuse heated situations in the center. It felt great to be able to thank and celebrate our members!

After Maggie and Stephanie had their request for Nationals tickets approved, Maggie arranged for transportation and food. Most people take the Metro or Circulator to the game and have to deal with massive traffic and crowds. Not us! We arrived and left in style via American River Taxi! Everyone loved riding on the water taxi, and seeing the monuments from the Potomac was breathtaking.

Shaun Guevarra, President of American River Taxi, was able to offer us round-trip tickets for the price of one-way tickets, and we were able to raise 87% of our transportation cost through our small fundraiser on Crowdrise. A huge thank you goes out to everyone who donated and helped get the word out for us.

Once we arrived at the stadium, we picked up half smokes, chips, and drinks courtesty of Ben’s Chili Bowl concession stand and made our way over to our seats. As we chowed down on our dogs, we watched the Nationals’ score go up and up.

The highlight of the night? Look who caught a ball that was hit straight into the middle of our group!

It was such a wonderful night. Great weather, great people, great game. Thank you so much to everyone who helped make this night possible and to our wonderful guests who help clean our center and alley day after day!

Check out the rest of the Photo album on our Facebook page!