A Johenning Retrospective
Finishing a Chapter, Continuing the Story
In the fall of 2000 the ink was barely dry on City Gate's articles of incorporation when the DC Baptist Convention asked us to develop an after-school program at Johenning. Nobody could have known that within three years, the Center would lose $250,000 in funding from Southern Baptists, threatening its very existence.
By that time City Gate had formed a strong bond with the Johenning community and refused to walk away from this underserved neighborhood. We offered to do whatever was necessary to keep the Center open. We found a school to share the space (and facility costs), and expanded not only our programs with children and youth, but added daily meals, plus a food pantry and clothing closet. While continuing programs at multiple sites throughout the city, we made the Johenning Center our primary focus.
Initially City Gate's programs at Johenning were directly supported by funds from or through the Convention. When those resources dried up, we secured grants plus contributions from churches and individuals that actually enabled us to expand these programs. In 2006 City Gate invested $150,000 in direct service to the Johenning community — not including 10,000 meals served, or the value of food, clothing, and other in-kind services.
These programs came to an abrupt end this summer with the decision by the DC Baptist Convention to move a charter school into the Johenning Center, providing them with an income stream that allows much-needed renovations to be made.
The irony of successfully responding to the challenge to keep Johenning open, only to have the resulting programs dismantled while the needs remain, has spilled over into a new surprise. Losing the Johenning facility made us aware of new opportunities to serve even greater needs. A large public housing community just eight blocks away — home to more than 600 children living at poverty level — has become our new program base. Additional sites and new partnerships with both faith- and community-based organizations are helping us reach out effectively to some of the most vulnerable residents in Southeast DC.
City Gate wants to thank all the volunteers, organizations, and churches who worked so hard over the past several years to impact hundreds of lives at the Johenning Center. Even as we embrace new partners, resources, and opportunities, we realize the impact that closing programs at Johenning has upon those for whom the Center has been a vital place of help and hope. We will continue to serve these friends to the extent possible, even as we shift and expand our ministries to nearby locations. We invite your continued volunteer and financial support in meeting these needs.
Lynn Bergfalk, City Gate Executive Director