It began with a pastor and the mission chair from a suburban church meeting our Executive Director at our Tenley Circle site where a multicultural, international group of 30 children were attending a summer camp that included French and Spanish immersion classes. Here is Lynn’s summary of the “tour.”

We got in my minivan and headed east. In 10 minutes we had crossed Rock Creek Park and swung past Marie Reed Elementary School in Adams Morgan, the most diverse neighborhood in DC where City Gate has run programs for several years. In 2008 we were vetted by DC Public Schools to conduct out-of-school time programs onsite in the schools- including an after-school science club here at Marie Reed. Many of our students are Latino and/or foreign born.

East of the River

My tour guests were full of questions as we continued east, crossing the Anacostia River into neighborhoods seldom seen by tourists. We took Burroughs to Division to Dix, where I turned into Richardson Dwellings, an impoverished public housing community scarred by violence. What was amazing when we opened the car doors was that we had stepped into an oasis of hope and joy . . .

40 kids were spilling out of what had been a vacant Community Room until City Gate started programs here in 2008. Equally energized and excited were nearly 30 youth and adults from a church in Austin, Texas, who had been leading VBS and a variety of activities and field trips throughout the week.

My companions confirmed that seeing is believing. There is no way to “report” what happens at these sites. It is a multi-dimensional experience, an intersection of the pain of poverty with an explosion of hope that clearly has its source in the inexhaustible love of God flowing through the hearts and hands of both our kids and staff and mission teams. At the center of the Richardson Dwellings whirlwind is “Ms. Vicks” – who tends this oasis with a presence that has to be experienced!

On to Southeast DC

Back into the van . . . driving south through neighborhoods of Ward 7 for less than 15 minutes to Randle Highlands Elementary School on Pennsylvania Avenue in Southeast DC. This almost new DCPS facility had around 300 enrolled for summer programs, with about 75 participating in an afternoon, science-themed City Gate camp. We were greeted by unsolicited compliments from the school administrators for our mostly college and graduate student City Gate staff. We stayed just long enough to peek into the classrooms to see for ourselves an engaging, activity-based program of academic enrichment.

Then it was on to far Southeast DC (about another 15 minutes) to the Ward 8 neighborhood where 10 years ago City Gate’s program began at the Johenning Community Center. After several years, City Gate moved into the Community Rooms of several nearby large subsidized housing complexes. My touring guests stopped with me in the Atlantic Gardens community rooms where some kids worked on projects around tables, with others working on a bank of computers spread along the length of the room.

We finished our tour three blocks away at the Merrick Center, a wonderful new facility supported by a variety of community stakeholders along with the Archdiocese of Washington. Another crowd of kids were coming out of the Center and clustering around a snow cone machine – courtesy of another Urban Hands mission team of 15 youth and adults from Indiana.

Some things have to be experienced

These “tours” I do from time to time with folks who are planning mission trips or looking for ministry partnerships are totally unscripted. I show up with my guests unannounced. What we experience is simply real life glimpses of what happens daily at our program sites.

I suppose any “preacher” enjoys having a captive tour audience for three hours – but what moves me beyond words is the response of folks who suddenly are immersed in the needs and hopes, the problems and possibilities of the city. There’s an immediate connection and open communication and sense of trust with the children and City Gate staff – maybe finished off by sitting down and eating supper with the kids at one of our sites.

Did you know . . . that City Gate had five separate programs – involving 250 children and youth – at four different locations this summer?
. . . That Urban Hands groups from ten different states (from Maine to Florida) participated in our programs and projects?
. . . That these mission teams range from ten to 150 participants (a large group from Tennessee which provided a block party and concert for our Clay Terrace Day at Richardson Dwellings)?
. . . That 33 children at our Merrick Center program made the honor roll, and every student advanced to the next grade?

Prior to our walk, we did what we often do and hosted a lock-in: a fun, rambunctious, once-a-year, sleepover for our after-school kids and a long, exhausting, bleary-eyed night for us chaperones. Always terribly popular with our kids, I have often conjectured that this is one of the few times they get to let go and just be kids — no need to be watchful as they travel the streets, no thoughts about school or struggling with homework, just a time to play games, watch movies, and stay up much too late at night. For the staff, this is our golden opportunity to interact with our kids in the way we like best — hearing their laughter, seeing their smiling faces, and experiencing child-like joy along with them.

We always discuss the purpose of the walk with our after-school kids and ask them to make banners and signs to carry on the walk. This year, while struggling to gain the full attention of two girls who insisted on singing instead of speaking, I managed to record a song about homelessness created solely by them:

If I was in charge of the whole wide world…
I would help the homeless …
By giving them some food.
By giving them a home.
By giving them a job.

If I was in charge of the whole wide world…
I would tell the people…
To give the homeless some money.
To lower gas prices for the homeless.
To give the homeless a car.

If I was in charge of the whole wide world…
I would love the homeless.
I would treat the homeless like they were my sister.
I would treat them like they were special.
I would wake up in the morning and give them a hug.

Going in to the holiday season, I hope you will feel inspired to give as generously and love as freely as these children do. I invite you to join us as we strive to shape these children’s lives, and are shaped by them in turn.

Kristin Wiener