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Recently on our Facebook page, we posted an article about Columbia, S.C.’s plan to evict homeless individuals from the streets surrounding Main Street, a hotspot of shops, banks, and restaurants. (Read about it again in the NY Times.) The plan, to be enforced by police, gave homeless residents three choices: go to a shelter, go to jail, or leave the city.

In the NY Times article, Robert Adelman, a sociologist at the University of Buffalo, points out that “[…] all of these ordinances and policies just redistribute homeless persons. They don’t solve the problem of homelessness. You can’t jail people out of homelessness.” We’ve said this before, and we’ll say it again: homelessness it not a crime.

The “solution” to homelessness that Columbia’s city councilors have come up with will not solve homelessness. It merely sends the message of “not in my backyard.” If the city wants to improve the lives of its residents, the focus should be on treatment to those on the streets with mental illnesses and making sure that they have the help they need.

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!

Thanks to a grant from the Rotary Foundation of Washington DC, our kitchen and bathroom cabinets received a much-needed facelift from water damage and the wear-and-tear from so many people using them. Our old cabinets had doors that wouldn’t close due to swelling from water damage and chipped paint and went from looking like this…

…to this!

Thank you, Rotary Foundation of Washington DC, for helping our center look neat and presentable!

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!

Please join GMC staff, board members, and volunteers in giving back to the DC Public Schools that support GMC!

Join Team GMC at the DC Pubic School’s Beautification Day on Saturday, August 24 from 9am to 1pm. This annual DCPS event was established in 2005 as a citywide “spruce up” of all DC public school buildings in preparation for the first day of school. Beautification efforts will include landscaping, trash pick-up, light painting, planting flowers, and other external beautification efforts.

We are hoping to be placed at either Hyde-Addison Elementary School (O Street NW) and/or Stoddert Elementary (Calvert St). Both of these schools have been amazing supporters during GMC’s Help the Homeless campaign and have had their students walk for our help the homeless fundraiser. Georgetown Ministry Center would like to say thank you for their years of support by supporting them!

We will be registering as a group under Georgetown Ministry Center’s name, so please fill out the form below if you would like to be part of Team GMC.

More informations about the DCPS can be found here.