Bread for the City (BFC) is a nonprofit service provider with a mission to help Washington, DC, residents living with low-incomes to develop their power to determine the future of their own communities. They provide food, clothing, medical care, and legal and social services to reduce the burden of poverty and seek justice through community organizing and public advocacy.
BFC has been providing services for over 40 years and currently owns and operates three community facilities. Under CEO George Jones’ leadership, BFC has grown from a $1.2 million operation in 1996 to a $13 million operation in 2020. To expand its capacity to serve Southeast DC, BFC transformed 1700 Good Hope Road, SE, from a parking lot into a new 28,132 sq. ft. community facility. BFC now provides the full suite of services that its clients need, including medical, dental, vision, and a behavioral health clinic; a jobs center; expanded food and clothing distribution centers; legal offices; social services offices; rooftop garden; and a fitness center with locker room and showers. BFC’s new center also expands capacity, both in hours of operation and physical space.
DC Housing Enterprises (DCHE) and co-allocatee City First provided $26 million in NMTC financing for the new BFC Southeast Center. The facility meets several community development and economic priorities:
- Turning an underutilized parcel into a high-quality, sustainable community facility
- Co-location of healthcare, job training, legal services, social services, food, and clothing distribution in a single facility;
- Expansion of BFC’s S.E. Center services to 20,000 clients through 75,000 annual visits
- Provision of services to very-low-income individuals with an average household income of $6,864 per year
- Substantial investment (approx. $26 million) in Ward 8
- Creation of 27 temporary (construction) and 64 permanent (service provider) job opportunities
- Creation of a fitness center to support the Sustainable DC Plan of cutting the citywide obesity rate by 50 percent.
Bread for the City works every day to improve the lives and access to opportunity and services for residents of these historically disinvested neighborhoods, and their new facility ensures they can continue serving residents for decades to come.