For the first time, Teens Opposing Poverty has coordinated a week-long mission outreach to the homeless in Washington, DC. Part of the week’s activities included visiting other organizations that work poor and homeless people.
We visited So Others Might Eat (SOME) and DC Central Kitchen. Both of these organizations do incredible work for the poor and homeless. DC Central Kitchen provides 5,000 meals a day that are served through a variety of soup kitchens, Meals on Wheels and other programs. They also have a training program that moves people from homelessness to employment (at a living wage) in the food service industry. SOME has a soup kitchen, food pantry, clothes closet, low income housing, a warehouse full of furniture and other essential items and a long-term rehab program, along with providing medical, dental and mental health care.
The people who took us on our tours were passionate about what they do and totally focused on their mission.
That is a good thing and a not-so-good thing.
It’s good because passion and focus on your mission may be the only motivations to carry you through tough times when you are in the nonprofit world. It also keeps all of us who work with an organization or ministry on track. I am often the same way with TOP, and it has been an important reason why we have stayed alive during the lean seasons.
But that kind of focus can also be a negative. We (fingers pointing back to me) too readily put on blinders and fail to connect with our fellow servants. Thus we often re-invent the wheel, creating unnecessary duplication of services.
I’ve had people suggest that we do all sorts of things to combat poverty from job training to setting up day centers for the homeless to transitional housing. In my wild imaginings I picture TOP doing those things. But other people are already doing that, and it’s not our mission. We are often the first point of contact for the people we serve. Our job is to encourage them, find out what keeps them on the street, and point them to the resources that help them into a new life.
Getting to know other organizations helps us to do a better job of fulfilling our mission and opens our eyes to new possibilities in how we serve others. A fringe benefit of this interaction is that we learn things that help us do a better job of running the organization.
If you’re involved in a church or nonprofit organization, I challenge you to open the door and walk down the street to other churches and nonprofits and groups who serve the people you serve. Learn what they do and how they do it. Don’t be afraid to form partnerships and cross referrals. Every once in awhile take off the blinders of passion for your own organization and learn a little from others. You’ll be glad you did.
God’s grace to you
Steve Jennings