Home  |  Contact Us

Georgetown Ministry Center

Georgetown Ministry Center (GMC) was organized in 1987 by the Georgetown Clergy Association and Georgetown University, to provide a community response to the crisis of homelessness in Washington.

GMC has been housed in the undercroft of Grace Church since its founding. GMC offers counseling, information, and referral services for the homeless people of Georgetown. Additional office hours and outreach activities are offered in the afternoons and evenings, and on weekends.

A psychiatrist sees homeless people one evening a week and on an emergency basis as needed. The psychiatrist engages treatment-resistant homeless persons in the center, on the streets and during the Congregational Based Shelter.

GMC helps clients access entitlements, transitional and permanent housing, mental health and substance abuse treatment, and employment programs.

For more information, contact Gunther Stern, Director, 1041 Wisconsin Ave NW, Washington, DC 20007; phone: (202) 338-8310; fax: (202) 298-8310; office hours: 10 am–6 pm Monday through Friday; walk-in service hours, 10 am–2 pm Sunday through Saturday. Or visit the web site: www.georgetownministrycenter.org.

Congregation-Based Shelter

The Congregation-Based Shelter began in 1992. Every year several Georgetown congregations host the shelter in blocks of a week, providing ten homeless men and women with dinner and breakfast and a safe and warm place to sleep from November through March. The shelter guests are screened by Georgetown Ministry Center staff and are among the more fragile of their clients. In addition to providing a safe haven from the harsh winter and creating a comfortable, low-demand environment conducive for the service resistant homeless people, the CBS program seeks to link all residents to the continuum of care, including case management and psychiatric services, thereby encouraging them to make the changes necessary to prevent them from returning to the streets. Parishioners, friends and community volunteers cook and serve dinner each night, engaging in fellowship with the guests. Overnight volunteers, who share the evening meal and assist the paid GMC staff member with breakfast, also are a key part of this program.

In 2009, Grace hosted the shelter from December 6–20, thanks to Grace members, friends and neighbors who volunteered their time. The shelter residents slept in the sanctuary and meals were taken in the Rose Room. Contact the Grace office for more information, and to volunteer.

To join the email list for news about the Congregation-Based Shelter, send a message to .

Grace’s Table

Grace’s Table is a fellowship that provides and shares a meal at 11:30 am on Saturdays for persons who are homeless or on the margins of being homeless. From September 1 through May 31, teams of 2–3 volunteer hosts from Grace purchase and prepare the food, and then gather with guests to eat and socialize together. The number of guests varies from about 16 to 26, in addition to the volunteer cooks, Grace Church members and Georgetown Ministry Center staff. The meal gives guests an opportunity to relax with friends over a hearty meal. Our 60 minutes together each Saturday includes a reading and discussion of a Biblical passage selected by Rev. Graham. Guests take turns reading, and participate in the discussion with great enthusiasm and insight.

Grace’s Table volunteers have organized both a wedding and a memorial service for homeless friends. We seek to walk with these neighbors through the highest and lowest points of life, as we hope others will walk with us.

More than 30 members and friends of Grace Church, including a team of Georgetown University students, participate as volunteer hosts. Whether they help once or more frequently, their service is most appreciated.

During the summer months (June, July and August) we offer a “Grace’s Table Lite,” preparing bag lunches and dropping them off at the Georgetown Ministry Center on Saturday mornings, in order to say in touch with our Grace’s Table friends during the summer.

In wintertime each year, Grace’s Table offers an expanded format called “Grace’s Cold-Weather Café,” with music during lunch and workshops following. Keep your eye on the Upcoming Events page in November and December of each year for details of the upcoming Café.  To join the email list, contact Kristin Killoran Hasse at