Galilee Community Development Corporation
POC: George Cooper
Mission Statement
The mission of the Galilee Community Development Corporation (GCDC) is to foster local economic development, promote the development and re-development of real estate and create viable urban communities to improve the overall quality of life for individuals and the community. This will be achieved by the provision of affordable housing, education, entrepreneurship and business development, as well as community and economic revitalization, for the economically and socially disadvantaged families in our service area. The GCDC provides outtreach services to youth and senior citizens (male and female). These services help build communities, strengthen families, and empower neighborhoods:
Financial Peace University
This is a 13-week, video-based, small group study that teaches families how to beat debt and build wealth. Since the University started in 2008, there have been 148 attendees with 118 graduates.
Employment Services
To locate jobs and prepare people for the job market through computer training, resume writing and job skills development.
Dorcas
At the Shadyside location, this program provides clothing on a weekly basis to families in need. A quarterly clothing fair is held at the location 2252 Minnesota Avenue, S.E., Washington, D.C. from 9am to 11:30am. Over 400 people a year benefit from this clothing fair. This program also supports Project Angel Tree in the month of December. Clothing are donated by volunteers.
Food Bank
The Food Bank's purpose is to acquire, store and distribute food to needy families. Food is distributed at the Shadyside location on Tuesday and Thursday between the hours of 12 noon and 2:30 pm. Emergency distributions are made as needed.
Populations served include; youth, seniors, ex-offenders, the sick and shut-in, Suitland Community, referrals from Social Services and other agencies, needy families in Metropolitan area and self-referrals from Internet searches.
The number of persons served in 2010 include 235 households with a total of 848 people.
Men Under Construction (Young Boys)
This is a 12-week program created and developed that gives willing young males an opportunity to meet and talk to living success stories and give them spiritual guidance as well as widen their horizons by providing them with the principles of leadership.
Classes include: personal money management, public speaking, table etiquette, picking a college, the “right” woman, successful job interviews, rejecting negative peer pressure, dealing with authority figures, personal health and hygiene, and more. In these classes, students are trained to be leaders.
At the end of the 12-week program, a “Rites of Passage” ceremony is held for the students that successfully complete the program.
In existence for over 20 years, with over 600 students, and 300 graduates, all attendees come away from the class with something that will make a major difference in their lives someday. The program has sparked nationwide interest from mentor groups as far away as Cincinnati, Detroit, Dallas, Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Richmond.
Prison Outreach
This program is a community-based program to improve and enhance the social needs for the betterment of people throughout the Washington, DC metropolitan area. This program advocates a positive community as a whole to bring inmates and their families closer by sharing the Word of God and regenerating their past to a positive future.
The program provides Biblical teaching and counseling to the inmates of three correctional facilities (CCA/DC Jail, Patuxent and Upper Marlboro). Through the help of extended social service programs, the program assists in providing food, clothing, shelter, and spiritual counseling to ex-offenders, with the emphasis on assisting homeless ex-offenders by providing information which leads them to a broad range of shelter support, educational, and employment opportunities.
This program also supports “Project Angel Tree,” a program that reaches out to the children of inmates and their families .
Through a set of recovery support services, Mission Gate Ministries maintains two Aftercare facilities for ex-offenders that prepare them to reintegrate back into society clean, dry and crime-free.
Renaissance Seniors Academy
This program offers weekly activities that include, but are not limited to, trips to the theater, plays, shopping centers. and luncheons. In-house activities include various arts and crafts, poetry reading, short stories and games. Information sessions are also scheduled that are facilitated by representatives from companies and agencies such as AARP, The Arthritis Foundation, Washington Hospital Center Community Relations and the American Diabetes Association. Hot lunches are also provided for a minimal cost.
This group meets each Tuesday from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. The population served are senior citizens 55 and above. The number of people served in 2010 was between 33—40
STARS (Young Girls)
STARS (Striving Toward Adulthood Responsibly and Spiritually) was designed to minister to females ages 13-18.
STARS is a program designed to promote excellence and to help young ladies develop into mature, responsible adults physically, mentally and spiritually. The program covers such topics as Spiritual Development, Dressing for Success, Personal Relationships, Etiquette, Educational Opportunities, Money Management, Personal Hygiene and Nutrition.
This program is a vehicle to instill in our girls some of the knowledge they will need to make good decisions, encourage them to identify their spiritual gifts and talents and to increase confidence in themselves.