Forming People for Others, available to be of generous service for and with others is at the heart of Georgetown’s Jesuit values. At Georgetown SCS, we cultivate this commitment to service-learning and justice in a variety of ways, including coursework and dedicated opportunities for direct service. Last year, Mission in Motion highlighted our annual SCS Day of Service, which included a training by the Center for Social Justice on street outreach to persons experiencing homelessness followed by packaging materials and distributing them in teams throughout the downtown neighborhood surrounding SCS. This year, the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged plans for such an in-person event but the crisis of homelessness continues and it has been exacerbated by the challenges of the global pandemic.
In this week’s Mission in Motion, we sit down with Nayeli Garcia, Volunteer and Social Media Coordinator for the Father McKenna Center, a community partner steps from the Capitol that serves men struggling with homelessness and families in Ward 6 dealing with food insecurity. Georgetown has been a community partner with McKenna Center for years and has supported the Center’s work in many ways. In this interview, Nayeli outlines some concrete ways that members of the SCS community can help support the persons and communities served by the Father McKenna Center.
- Can you tell us a little bit about the Father McKenna Center and your role?
There are three programs that make up the McKenna Center: the Day Program, the Food Pantry Program, and our Hypothermia Program. Our main program that we emphasize is our Day Program for men who are experiencing homelessness. We provide basis services to our guests: a meal, showers, laundry, phone use, and clothing. Although we offer basic necessities for them, our main goal is for our guests to seek case management to help them.
We also provide a Food Pantry for residents who reside in DC’s Ward 6. To be eligible, our patrons must reside in our neighborhood and show that they need our help (for example, food stamps). We allow out patrons to shop in our Food Pantry. During each visit, our guests take about $70 worth of groceries that consists of canned food, fresh produce, meat, milk, eggs, and bread.
Another important program that we provide at the Center is our Hypothermia Program. This program makes people think that we are a shelter because we provide beds for about 20 men during the winter season. What makes this program different from other programs is our dedication to help our guests leave homelessness for good. This program is for men who have applied to take part in our Day Program. Along with a warm bed and a hot shower, our guests have the opportunity to meet volunteers who prepare and eat dinners with them during the winter season.
With a small staff, it is impossible for us to keep running if I did not do my part to recruit and welcome new volunteers to the Center. As the Volunteer Coordinator, my job is to make sure that we have the help we need to operate our programs. It’s amazing to be the one person to welcome new volunteers to the Center and see their journey continue the more they come back to help out. I believe it is my job to cultivate these relationships for my volunteers to enjoy their time at the McKenna Center.
On top of welcoming new and regular volunteers, I also manage the Center’s Instagram page and take lots of photos!
- How has the Center and the services it provides adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic?
Unfortunately, in the beginning, we temporarily had to suspend our Day Program services to encourage our guests to stay in the shelters to prevent the spread of COVID. As things were getting better towards the end of the summer, we resumed our services in mid-July with providing breakfast/lunch and clothing and doing it outdoors. On top of serving our guests as safely as possible and doing our part to clean and sanitize, we added more services as we strived to follow health protocols. Now, as it is getting cold, we are still standing strong to continue to serve our guests and to serve them as warmly as possible. The cold may be an obstacle for us as we continue to serve our guests outside, but if need be, we will move our services indoors if the weather is not good for us to serve them.
The one program that we continued during the pandemic is our Food Pantry Program. With changes happening every week or month, we knew that this was the one program we could not end despite facing COVID. My full-time volunteers had to change the way we were serving our patrons, we had to figure out what we could and could not do, and we found ways to make our pantry work efficiently. To encourage social distancing, my volunteers have to put in extra work to make sure we provide the best service to our families.
From the moment we suspended our Day Program, we knew that we could not take in volunteers. I had about 50-60 volunteers helping out at the Center on a weekly basis and that number changed when stay-at-home orders were enforced. For three months, I had three volunteers running the Food Pantry for five days a week. In the beginning, it was not as much as a burden for my volunteers, but it got busy when we resumed our services in July.
I understand and know why the McKenna Center has not been able to recruit the help that we need now. There are still a lot of unknowns about the virus and all we can do is be as safe as possible until we have definite answers. I am grateful for the volunteers who do come to lend a hand. Even just one person makes a difference when it comes to serving a cup of coffee or shopping for groceries in our food pantry.
Regardless of how little staff we have, I am grateful that I can turn to them when we need help because at the end of the day, we are a team.
- What are the biggest needs right now and how can members of the SCS community best support the work of the Center during this holiday season?
I believe there are three things one can keep in mind to help us during the holiday season: volunteer, share, or learn.
Lately, there has been a yearning for individuals to do more than stay at home. As far as I know, we are one of the few organizations in DC who provide direct service opportunities to those who are interested in lending a hand. The good thing about volunteering is that it is something you want to do, not be forced to do. It would help us greatly if you are able to lend a hand.
If volunteering is not something you want to do, I encourage you to share and spread the word to others about the Center. It’s always great to know how people hear about us. Check us out on Facebook and Instagram to see more of what we do.
I believe that knowledge is power. Our organization is different from others since we are not your typical day center. There are two words to describe what kind of organization we are: tough love. Having an idea of what makes the McKenna Center what it is today or to even know the extent of homelessness in DC will help anyone understand why we run the Center the way we do. This can help for those interested in volunteering.
If you have any questions or simply want to know more on how you can make a difference, feel free to email me at Ngarcia@fathermckennacenter.org
For more information about how to serve in the city during these times, please visit this resource developed by Georgetown’s Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching & Service