News for First Helping
5 Ways We Work With Other Nonprofits To Make Change
James Weeks of our street outreach team helps refer chronically homeless clients to crucial services provided by over 30 nonprofit partners.
DC Central Kitchen doesn’t exist in a vacuum. We are aware that other nonprofits are out there doing important work to make change. This is why we’re always trying to build connections with those programs. Here are some of the partnerships we’ve built:
Meal Distribution
We’ve partnered with 88 nonprofits around DC to provide 5,000 balanced meals every day. The nonprofits receiving our meals reinvest the money we save them back into their unique programming where it can make an even greater impact.
First Helping
Through our street outreach program, we’re using over 180 balanced meals each day to engage hundreds of chronically homeless men and women with crucial services provided by over 30 nonprofit partners, who can offer the next step on the road to recovery. Last year, our outreach team referred 59 of those clients to stable housing.
Culinary Job Training
The majority of students in our Culinary Job Training Program are referred to us from other nonprofits. As students work their way through the course, we ensure they still have access to the crucial social services provided by our nonprofit partners so they can stay committed to their studies.
Healthy School Food
We’re excited to be part of the DC Farm to School Network, where we work with nonprofits like the DC Greens to educate and connect D.C. schoolchildren with the sources of their food by creating experiential learning opportunities such as chef demonstrations, farmer visits, and taste tests. This effort is crucial to empowering kids to eat healthier.
Funds for Programming
We can’t forget Martha’s Table and the United Way of the National Capital Area, who we just partnered with to raise funds to fight hunger through the United Way’s Do More 24 event. We’ve also joined Martha’s Table for the past 4 years to promote Sips & Suppers, a celebration of food and community that has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for both organizations.
March a Breakthrough Month for First Helping
March was a month of breakthroughs and new chapters for First Helping clients. Some of clients who we have been engaging for a long time on the streets opened up to receive some additional support.
Take for example a man named Maurice, who spent 27 years in prison, and then came home in 2010 with no support system. He came to First Helping’s feeding site every day for a meal and began to develop a relationship with our outreach team. Maurice was a client that was often seen, but never heard. He always stayed to himself and very seldom spoke.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Maurice revealed to First Helping that he suffered from a drinking problem, and feared that if he didn’t get into a treatment program he would return back to prison to finish up his time on parole until 2024. Maurice had his clothes in hand and was ready restart his life that day, and the First Helping team was able to get him into a treatment program.
Check out some of our other First Helping successes from last month:
Substance Abuse
- 1 male clients entered drug program
Outpatient Mental Health Linkages
- 3 clients received outpatient Mental Health services
Benefits/Employment
- 1 client completed Home Health Aid Certification and is now employed
- 1 client entered the Culinary Job Training Program through First Helping Outreach
- 1 client participated in UPO Weatherization Training
- 1 client was enrolled to receive Veterans Benefits
- 1 client was enrolled to receive Supplemental Disability
Highlights
- 2 clients received eye glasses from Lens Crafters
- 1 client received a TB test
- 2 clients received their driver’s license
- 7 clients came to the Empowerment Workshop entitled “What Gets in My Way”
James Weeks: How I Found A New Beginning
Four years ago, I was hungry, homeless, and feeling hopeless. I heard about DC Central Kitchen’s white van on South Capitol Street that served meals. I found much more than breakfast. I found hope and a new beginning.
Today, I’m asking you to donate to DC Central Kitchen to change more lives.
An outreach worker told me about DC Central Kitchen’s Culinary Job Training program. I enrolled, and 14 weeks later I graduated with a food handlers’ license and a job.
Now I’m no longer standing in line waiting for a sandwich. From a hot, healthy meal to intensive training and finally a steady job, DC Central Kitchen has helped me completely turn my life around.
This April, DC Central Kitchen gave me a new opportunity: there was a job opening in the same street outreach program that gave me my new beginning. Today, I’m driving the white van every morning to help people like me get the services and support they need to change their lives.
I ask you to please make a donation today. Your gift buys an opportunity for the people like me who are ready to change, but need a hand getting out of the sandwich line and into the driver’s seat.
