Tag: AWC

  One of ATI’s training partners TrainingEtc has a community service program that ATIcourses wants to publicize. TrainingEtc teams with ATIcourses to offer both open enrollment and on-site Project Management and Computer courses. You can read more about their volunteer program athttp://www.trainingetc.com/illumanation/   Imagine watching your children sleep each night on the floor instead of in a bed. Imagine them waking up each morning to pick their school clothes for the day out of a plastic garbage bag instead of a dresser. Imagine eating family dinner each night on the floor because you have no kitchen table. For hundreds of thousands of mothers, this is not something they have to imagine. This is their reality. It is a reality A Wider Circle is changing for families all over the DC Metro area. A Wider Circle was founded by Mark Bergel in 2001 in response to the cycle of poverty he saw all around him. He was so moved by their deplorable living conditions that he couldn’t sit back and watch anymore. The mission of the organization, A Wider Circle, is to help adults and children lift themselves out of poverty. Every day of the week, A Wider Circle provides basic need items to families transitioning out of shelters or simply living without life’s necessities. Their largest program is called Neighbor to Neighbor, where they provide the furniture from their showroom, all of it donated from individuals like you and me, to families moving out of shelters or who might be living without it now. In the state of Maryland, children can be removed from their homes if they are not sleeping on a bed, and Neighbor to Neighbor helps keep those families together. A Wider Circle furnishes about 15-20 rooms each day for needy families through this program. In additional to the Neighbor to Neighbor program, AWC works with numerous organizations to help individuals and families overcome their current challenges and enable them to be successful. One such organization is the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that operates the national Food Stamp Program (SNAP). This nutrition assistance program helps low-income individuals buy items they need to maintain their health such as: -Breads and cereals; -Fruits and vegetables; -Meats, fish, and poultry; -Dairy products; and -Seeds for planting. Surprisingly, there are many items that may not be purchased under SNAP: -Soaps and Shampoos; -Cleaning Products; -Vitamins and Medicines; -Paper Towels; and -Toilet Paper. AWC recognizes there is a significant gap between the items available for purchase under SNAP and what people need to stay healthy. AWC addresses this shortage by collecting items for further donation to SNAP recipients. Interested in supporting AWC’s program? You can help by contributing these items to our donation box: • Toilet paper • Paper towels • Diapers • Cleaning products • Toothpaste • Bar of soap • Shampoo Interested in donating a bed? Visit awidercircle.org for more details. Call 301-608-3504 Email furnish@awidercircle.org www.awidercircle.org