City Gate
City Gate is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization providing out-of-school time activities for 200 underserved youth at multiple sites throughout the District of Columbia. City Gate also provides: community outreach such as food pantry and clothing closet services; English for Speakers of Other Languages classes for international students in Northwest, D.C.; and an Urban Hands service project to involve local volunteers and out-of-town mission groups in our out-of-school-time programs.
City Gate's mission is to provide help and encouragement to people who are living on the "fringes" of society: immigrants, impoverished children and adults, etc. by providing education, opportunity, and other services so they might participate fully in our community. This year we will have two out-of-school programs: one in SE DC in the community rooms at Atlantic Gardens and Southern Hills, and one at National Baptist Memorial Church on Columbia Rd. NW. In summer we do similar activities as the after-school program but with more emphasis on expanding the kids' horizons through field trips, science, literature, music, and other opportunities that are the schools are rarely able to give. Our after school program is completely free and our summer program is mostly free to DC residents, while providing need-based scholarships so no one is turned away because of an inability to pay.
As stated in our Articles of Incorporation:
To embody a practical vision of community based upon justice, compassion, and spirituality that values every individual and which promotes the growth of love and justice in personal and social relationships.
To help those on the margins of urban society to participate more fully in the life and benefits of the larger community.
To implement strategies of partnership, and specific programs of ministries, that address the needs of urban youth, the homeless, the poor, the immigrant, and others who are disadvantaged or disenfranchised.
To provide bridges of friendship and service for individuals and mission groups to understand and participate in the struggles and challenges of the disadvantaged or disenfranchised.
To enlist support from those among the general public who wish to strengthen our communities through programs of service and education, and through development of innovative strategies and structures for social change.
Since 2000, City Gate has sought to embody a biblical vision of community and ministry that is modeled by the Hebrew prophets and Jesus:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. "
Luke 4:18-19
