First, let me introduce myself. I’m Crystal Laverde, and I joined Wharton Gladden and the Power of One Fund as Senior Project Manager. Though I’ve worked in the non-profit field for my entire career, it’s generally been in healthcare services. The Power of One Fund has three areas of focus: homelessness, domestic violence and substance abuse. I knew when I came on board that I had a lot to learn about these issues and the many agencies in our community that work to address them.

And I guess that’s how I ended up spending last Wednesday evening handing out hot dogs, hamburgers, baked beans and chips at the Bethesda Center for the Homeless.

The Bethesda Center, which just celebrated its 25^th anniversary, is unique among the city’s shelters for a couple of reasons. First, it’s both a day shelter where people can rest, get mail, do laundry, etc., and an overnight shelter where they can sleep. Second, it serves both men and women. The center doesn’t have its own large kitchen facilities, which is why they welcome churches, community groups and others who are willing to prepare and serve meals.

That’s what we were there to do. Kathy Sebastian and Gary Rivers are both long-time volunteer leaders with the fund, and they donated hot dogs, burgers, buns and drinks. Rosalyn Jackson, who’s the mother of our fearless leader Algenon Cash, made a tray of baked beans. By 6 p.m., a small crowd had gathered outside where Gary manned the grill. We had 150 servings, give or take.

When we were finally ready to serve, the first person in line was a woman carrying a baby. I’m going to interrupt myself here briefly to try and articulate something (poorly, most likely). It’s easy not to think about the homeless people living and working in our community. And when we do think about them, it’s easy to lump the entire population into one faceless stereotyped box labeled “The Homeless.” And I think part of the reason we do that is because, if we think about homeless people as individuals with experiences, likes, dislikes, personalities, memories and the rest, it just hurts too much. It’s too frightening to look at the people standing in that line and know how easily each of us could end up standing there as well.

But because of what we do at the Power of One Fund, we need to see the faces and understand the lives of the people we want to serve, as painful as that will be at times. Going forward, we’ll be growing the fund to the point where we can make grants to community partners. We’ll have to evaluate the effectiveness of those agencies’ programs, and, yes, we’ll have to make tough choices. We don’t ever – ever – want to forget the individuals who are the reason we do what we do in the first place.

Which brings me back to Bethesda. We had enough food to serve “seconds” to everyone who wanted them, and even “thirds” to a few. I learned that I’m apparently the only person in America who doesn’t prefer blackened hot dogs. (Seriously, I lost count of how many requests I got for “the most burnt one you have.”) I learned that, in order of chip preference, Doritos beat cheddar/sour cream, but they both beat barbecue and sour cream/onion every time.

But the most important thing I learned was just how many people in our community need help, and how many more people there are willing to give their time, talents and treasure. The Bethesda Center was started by ordinary people who saw a need in the community, and it’s ordinary people who keep the center running today.

One of the things we wanted to accomplish with the Power of One Fund is to tap into that individual, altruistic desire to help others. We believe that a single person with enough passion and commitment can change a life. If enough of those passionate and committed people get together? Watch out!

Personally, I’m honored and humbled to be part of this wonderful group, and I look forward to all of the great work we’re going to do in our community.