Bread for the City

>So, Bread for the City has a new defibrillator.

Our old defibrillator was old. No one seems to really know how old – Dr. Randi, the medical clinic director, has been here almost two decades and says it had been there longer than that.

We never used it, though! When I suggested to our medical clinic staff that our old defibrillator maybe had never been used because of how awesome our medical clinic staff is, they just laughed. But still, I think that’s probably a big reason why.

Anyway, the old defibrillator: yeah, it recently disappeared. And then we had to replace it immediately. Even though we’ve never used it, a clinic’s still gotta have one. So that’s that. Specifically, that’s about $1,500 in costs that we hadn’t budgeted.

It feels weird asking you to donate for something that’s we never used in the first place, but hey: safety first. Can you help us cover the cost of a replacement defibrillator by donating today?

>Thank you to everyone who came out to our 4th Annual Good Hope Awards on October 1 at the Capital Hilton. This event is our opportunity to honor the many incredible volunteers whose generosity is essential to our work. So check out our video recap (and at 1:49 in the video you’ll see some classic Vytas V. Vergeer). Enjoy!

A very special thank you and congratulations to our Good Hope Award winners! (To learn more about the winners, take a look at the past few weeks of Good Hope Awards-related blog posts.)

>Our favorite local newspaper, Street Sense has been busy: it recently upgraded its website, recorded a theme song with Peaches (!), and now is having its 4th annual silent auction fundraiser this Thursday. As Sommer wrote yesterday on DCist, this great publication needs the community’s support during to survive during this recession. And anyway, this event always has good food, an interesting crowd, and compelling speakers. Highly recommended!

Oh and a ps: there are special 2-for-1 coupons available in the current print issue of the paper, so pick one up and grab a date. –ed

The Details

WHAT: Street Sense Silent Auction

WHERE: WVSA Arts Connection, 1100 16th Street, NW, Grand Room, Washington, D.C.

WHEN: Thursday, October 8, 2009, at 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

WASHINGTON (October 5, 2009) – On Thursday, October 8th, Street Sense, Washington’s newspaper written and sold by members of the local homeless community, will host “Bidding for Change, its fourth annual silent auction. Over 50 items, donated by members of the local business community and individuals, will be available. All proceeds benefit Street Sense and, by extension, its network of homeless writers and vendors.

Items available in the auction include:

* Tickets Washington Wizards and Capitals games,
* Tickets to the Strathmore and Studio Theater
* A Bethany Beach getaway
* A Lush gift basket
* Handmade pottery
* Tickets to the Newseum
* Gift certificates to Brassiere Beck, Big Bear Café, Busboys and Poets, and Café Saint Ex
* Signed photographs of Alexander Ovechkin and Antawn Jamison
* Many other wonderful items.

“We so appreciate the support of our many donors to this year’s auction,” noted Laura Thompson Osuri, former Street Sense Executive Director. “Without the support of the local community, we could not continue our mission to raise public awareness on the issues of homelessness and poverty in the city, which is more important than ever as we face increasing homelessness in the face of the current economic crisis.”

This is the fourth year of the silent action, and the first held at the WVSA Arts Connection. During the event, Street Sense vendors will read poetry and one will be singing the Street Sense song.

>At our 4th Annual Good Hope Awards ceremony on October 1, we took some time to get to know one of the more unusual honorees: Bill Irving of Mid-Atlantic Shredding. That’s right: shredding. (It’s interesting, we promise!) We thank Bill for his great work and his touching acceptance speech. — ed

Here at Bread for the City, Bill Irving is affectionately known as “the shredder guy.” We always look forward to his visits to the downstairs fishbowl office in our Northwest Center.

We store of our old files that need to be shredded in a locked closet — when it’s packed to the max, we call Bill. He always enters with a smile and a wave then carries box after box after box out for disposal. This year, at Bread for the City, as we began making the daunting transition from paper charts to electronic records, our shredding needs increased tenfold. But Bill never winced — not even when our shredding closet was so full that the doors barely closed.

And he’s so nice – just so, so nice! We couldn’t ask for a friendlier, more helpful shredder guy. Thanks Bill and Mid Atlantic Shredding!

With Bill’s commitment, Mid Atlantic Shredding has been donating their services to us for the past 7 years. Mid Atlantic Shredding is a bunch of long-time vets of the record destruction business, with an uncompromising commitment to security and customer service. (Plus, they ship 99% of their shredded paper products on to domestic mills for recycling.)

Thanks, Bill, for your generosity!

—Today’s post was contributed by Bread for the City Northwest Social Services Director, Tracy Knight.

>Today’s post is by our new Gleaning Coordinator-in-Training, Vince Hill. But before we let Vince take the stage, first we want to note that Glean for the City is nominated to win $20,000 in the Tom’s of Maine “50 States for Good” contest… and we need you to help us win!

To vote for us: a) click here b) find Bread for the City’s entry (shortcut it by typing Ctrl-F and ‘bread’) and click to vote for us! You can vote every day, so the best way to help is by taking a pledge to make that daily vote on our Facebook petition here — and spread the word to your friends!

Okay take it away Vince. —ed

Hello! I was thrilled to take my first gleaning trip a week ago, as a new part of Bread for the City’s staff. I took a drive out with Jeff Wankel to Crooked Run where we met with 4 more volunteers — including people from an organization called Mover Moms. This being my first time participating in the gleaning project, I had no idea what to expect when we arrived.

What I saw was incredible. I’d already heard staggering statics on the amount of food waste in our country – but the numbers are hard to grasp in and of themselves. As bag after bag of apples accumulated under the mere 10 trees that we gleaned from, I realized the extent of this opportunity. 1000 lbs of apples filled the floor of our cargo van by the end of the day—store-bought quality produce for Bread for the City’s clients, who often have little to no access to fresh produce. The Mover Moms were also gracious enough to give us a sizable donation of children’s books.

In the van ride back, Jeff and I talked about ways to improve the weekly gleaning. My hope is to expand this project to the next level, so that we can do that much more to fight the food crisis in DC. Publicity, coordination and cooperation with other organization– and though the opportunity to open up new access to farm surplus is great in the DC area, I even think it’s something with national potential. I’m excited for the next trip, and even more excited for the upcoming year.

>[Another post from our new intern, Liz Whitehurst. —ed]

Last week, I blogged about the Invisible People project, which brings “the face and voice” of homelessness to the web. Locally, SOME’s “Success Stories” show us the powerful stories of DC residents who are moving out of poverty.

“My thing was that I was gonna die shooting dope,” says Lenny Ferguson, looking straight ahead. “Without a doubt, that’s what I thought. I had no idea that I would ever be clean.”
But when Tracy Monson met Lenny, he was well-dressed, carrying his dry cleaning and an iced tea from Starbucks. “It was hard to imagine him ever being on the streets,” says Tracy, who is Manager of Special Events and Marketing at SOME.

Lenny’s was one of several stories filmed this spring as part of a story collection effort that began with interviews conducted in 2008 with 10 graduates of SOME’s addiction treatment program. That series of interviews was initiated by SOME’s addiction counselors and social workers, who were looking for ways to encourage SOME’s clients who were dealing with addiction to enter treatment. “The goal was to have people who had gone through the process speak to them through the videos,” said Tracy.

SOME counselors engaged SOME’s recovery community in the process of screening the footage and editing it, using those who had gone through treatment to help decide what was most compelling.

The result is a series of five-minute videos, which now play in the waiting room of SOME’s Dining Room for the Homeless at 1st and O streets. “While folks are waiting, they can hear these people’s stories,” says Tracy.

In particular, Lenny’s story resonated with Tracy; her hope is that people like him will serve as an inspiration to others. “I wish more people could hear stories like that and really understand…that things can turn around completely,” says Tracy.

Lenny’s expression is unchanged as he describes his own transformation: “The old days I would wake up a lot of times with no money, sick, nose running, eyes running, couldn’t hardly stand up, didn’t know if I was gonna get enough money to go get some dope,” says Lenny. “Now I wake up, the birds sound good, the sky is beautiful, everything around me is beautiful.”

More recently, filmmaker Thom Wolf shared the experiences of formerly homeless families through interviews filmed at SOME’s Zagami House. On the SOME website, Letitia’s story is featured alongside Flash presentations that provide a virtual tour of the building and trace its transformation from an abandoned shell to a fully-renovated, 12-unit apartment complex.

Looking forward, Tracy wants to use video to reach a different audience: “We’ll work with the advocacy department to capture stories, both that are inspiring but also that help us to affect change in the city by having people speak to the challenges that they face and the things that are needed to help people move people out of poverty.”

—Liz Whitehurst