Who
We Are
A Wider Circle is
a 501(c)(3) grassroots nonprofit organization that serves individuals
and families living in poverty in the Washington, DC metropolitan
region. Our programs reach low-income children, teens, seniors,
individuals who are disabled, and adults who lack
access to the resources that many of us take for granted.
Our
Mission The
mission of A Wider Circle is simple:
to help individuals and families lift themselves out of poverty.
At the heart of A Wider Circle's work is the realization
that breaking the cycles of poverty requires more than just
the provision of basic need items; it also requires a restoration
of dignity and self-worth.
Two of
our star participants at a workshop for children on visualization
and creativity.
Our
History In
2001, Dr. Mark Bergel was working as a health professional and part-time
professor when he volunteered to deliver food to impoverished residents
in the Washington, DC area. He was startled by the depth of poverty,
poor health, and general inequalities he witnessed in the region. As
he went home-to-home distributing food, he met families living without
a secure food supply, without beds on which to sleep, and without access
to basic health and wellness information.
With these families
in mind, Dr. Bergel began discussions with social workers, shelter
managers, school personnel, and nonprofit leaders in the region
about creating an organization that would develop programs to address
the "whole person" - programs that would not only tend
to people's tangible needs (e.g., food, shelter, and furniture),
but also to
their "inner needs" (e.g., stress management, financial
planning, and healthy self-esteem).
A Wider Circle was
founded in October 2001 and began delivering programs in February
of 2002. That year, we served 1,081individuals, and by 2007 that
number increased to over 7,225.
