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Let us tell you about Sandra…

…master crocheter and designer. She is the fastest crocheter in our Knit and Crochet Group, completing baskets in a hour, sweaters in a day, and blankets in a weekend. The beauty of Sandra’s pieces is that they are so artistic and organic; she doesn’t follow patterns, barely worries about counting stitches, and lacks no inspiration. Give her a hook and some yarn and she’s off, drawing ideas from what she sees in nature, on the street, and in magazines.

April Showers, Baby Showers!

We are happy to kick off our first online craft auction this spring with Sandra’s adorable baby blanket and booties! These would make a great present at a baby shower. Want them? Place a bid below in our online auction!

Happy bidding!

[wpauction id=”2″ /]

Monday knitting class, Tuesday house meeting, Wednesday tai chi workshop… the usual programming is only the beginning of everything we have planned for this week. Here’s a little preview:

Wednesday evening, students fromThe Gathering ministry group at Georgetown University will be providing dinner for our guests again. (Click here to read about the last dinner.) This time, they’ll be bringing pizza along with their musical instruments, and they hope to have a jam session with our guests.

On Thursday, Georgetown Ministry Center will be closing at 2pm. We are repainting our walls a happy “Lemon Chiffon” color. Would you like to help? Feel free to drop by; we should be painting until 6 or 7pm. If you can, shoot Stephanie an email (stephanie@gmcgt.org) to let her know you’re coming.

Friday is when we usually show a movie using one of our small computer screens. This week, however, we are showing the movie on a big screen at Georgetown University, where students from The Corp will be providing a delicious, catered lunch.

Stay tuned for recaps and pictures of all these wonderful events!

April– the cherry blossoms bloom, squirrels come out of hibernation, the days get longer, winter clothes are put away…

Hypothermia season may have officially ended on March 31, but that doesn not mean that the danger of hypothermia is gone until November. If anything, spring is prime hypothermia weather.

Everyone, including the guests coming into our center, is shedding their winter gear. Fine when one has a warm place to go at night, but not safe when one is homeless. Now that the hypothermia shelters have closed, the number of people back on the street at night, bracing the rain and wind, has increased.

An email I received today quoted the National Alliance to End Homelessness and their report Winter Homeless Services: Bring Your Neighbors in from the Cold:

According to Dr. James J. O’Connell from the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP), the most dangerous cases of hypothermia do not occur when the ambient [surrounding] temperature is far below freezing. Instead, Dr. O’Connell says, the worst cases they see arise when the days are warm (between 40 F and 50 F) and the nighttime temperature drops to the mid-30s.

Help us keep our guests dry and clean!

We are always in need of socks and underwear. Dry, clean base layers are crucial to staying healthy and warm. Bring them to our center: 1041 Wisconsin Ave, between 10am-5pm during the week or 10am-2pm on the weekend.

On Wednesday night at 7pm, Georgetown students in The Gathering, a college ministry group on campus, prepared a wonderful meal for GMC guests and friends. Salad, multiple trays of lasagna, a selection of salad dressing, beverages, and cookies– these students provided tons of food and even better camaraderie and conversation.

These Georgetown students approached GMC a few months ago with a big desire to help and become involved. They planned the dinner, made the flyer, and invited our guests to share their space on campus for dinner. Conversations ranged from music and movies to stories of acts of kindness and lessons learned from living on the street.

It was a relaxed, wonderful evening and we cannot wait to see what these students have planned for us next! We thank them for their enthusiasm and support.

If you are a fan of our Facebook page, you probably saw that we want to repaint our walls a warmer color. We were choosing between these colors:

We put blocks of each color on our wall (what a conversation starter that was!) and let everyone ruminate on what would look best for the center: what would look warm and inviting, reflect light, and go well with the gray accent wall in our kitchen.

Today, we voted during our House Meeting and the winning color is… LEMON CHIFFON!

HELP US PAINT!

On Thursday, April 12 at 2pm, we are going to start taping and putting down drop cloths. Come by and join GMC staff and members. We will work until the early evening (6 or 7pm). This might turn out to be a two-day project, so stay tuned for another painting day if you can’t make it on April 12.

PLEASE RSVP if you plan on coming – send Stephanie an email (stephanie@gmcgt.org) or RSVP on our Facebook event page!