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During outreach, we used to see Johnny Rossettos, aka “Charlie Noodles,” all the time. Sitting either in front of the Avenue Suites on Pennsylvania Ave, by the West End Library, or on GW’s campus, Georgetown Ministry Center staff, Georgetown residents, and GW students came to know him well.

Gunther reminisces that Charlie Noodles “was a real character around the GW campus who had a biting wit.” Our Case Manager, Roy Witherspoon, concurs and recalls that the first time he met Noodles, he told Roy, “Google me!” And that’s what Roy did. He found Charlie’s Story.

Yesterday, we saw Charlie Noodle’s obituary in the Washington Post. Death is always sad, but we are glad that Charlie is no longer experiencing any pain.

We’ll leave you with this poignant quote from Noodles, which is quoted in the GW’s article “Charlie’s Story.”

If I’m mad at you, that means I love you, because I won’t get mad at someone I don’t care about.

We know you were all probably wondering while sitting on the beach this summer what we’ve been up to at GMC. Our Fall Newsletter 2013 is out, and we hope you’ll take a few minutes to learn about the many exciting opportunities we’ve had and will soon have.

Some highlights from this issue:

• Gunther’s piece on health (his and that of mentally ill homeless individuals) and the lack of progress in getting care for the people who need it most
• GMC roots for the Nationals
• The Catalogue for Philanthropy has named us as one of the best small non-profits in DC
• save the dates, new faces at GMC, and so much more!

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!