Samaritan's Arlington Community Garden Thrives Again!

Thanks to The Home Depot of Alexandria's gift of vegetable plants and seed, and a lot of dedication from Samaritan's Next Step participants, staff, and volunteers, a spring planting day at our Arlington office on April 23rd, the day after Earth Day, was a big success!

A group of current and former NOVA Next Step participants led by Michael Tucker, who helped build the garden's three eight-by-four-foot redwood raised beds when it was first installed two years ago, as well as volunteer Dana Winner, amended the soil with fresh compost and put in a variety of plants chosen by the participants, including sweet and hot peppers, tomatoes, carrots, strawberries, and basil.

And since then, Michael has been making special trips to the office to keep the southwest-facing garden watered during early heat spells.

"Planting and caring for the garden at Samaritan has significant meaning to me because it allows me to give back to Samaritan for all the assistance that was given to me from Samaritan," Michael says, adding it that it allows him to "be a part of positive activities in the community that enlighten my soul and fill my spirit with the joy and peace that God's love provides."

Julio Da Silva, Samaritan's Deputy Director, Programs, and the Lead Caseworker at the Columbia Pike location, offers the following thoughts on why he believes the garden has become important to fulfilling Samaritan's mission.

Why a Community Garden?

Samaritan Ministry is an organization that exists to help empower our neighbors to overcome homelessness, poverty, systemic racism, and other debilitating challenges one step at a time. Our community garden, Julio says, is just one more tool that helps us to move our participants from where they are toward better and sustainable lives. Julio notes that our community garden offers the following benefits:

• Connection and Community Building

This is more than just offering our participants fresh fruits and vegetables. It is a chance to stay connected with us as an organization, with other participants, and with our Arlington community. By being connected with others through planting seeds and maintaining the garden, we are offering them an opportunity to build and strengthen collaborative relationships and gain a sense of belonging.

• Therapy for Mind and Body

The community garden helps not only the physical bodies of our participants as they maintain the garden and consume its nutritious bounty, but being in nature and working in the garden also reduces anxiety, depression, and stress, improving their mental health.

• Developing Healthier Habits and Financial Literacy through Food

As our participants become more involved in our community garden, they are also offered opportunities to learn how to cook healthy meals, save money on groceries, and to see how this all fits into living healthy, whole lives.

Volunteer Dana Winner is pictured above at right, and a group of participants led by Michael Tucker, center, are shown at top with Samaritan staffers Julio Da Silva and Sarah Wood.

WELCOME NEW VOLUNTEERS!

Thanks to the wonderful turnout and support at Samaritan's 40th Anniversary Next Step Breakfast in March, we’re happy to welcome four new volunteers to our team.

At our Congress Heights main office, Holly Johnson has joined us as a Front Office Coordinator (FOC), and Michael Knipe has come on board as an Associate Caseworker. Michael is also a member of St. Mark’s Capitol Hill.

At our Northern Virginia office, we’re pleased to welcome Bari St. Cyr (St. Alban’s, Annandale) and Kathy Cosmas (Trinity, Arlington), both serving as Front Office Coordinators (FOCs).

We’re deeply grateful for their willingness to share their time and talents as we continue our mission of supporting neighbors facing poverty, homelessness, and other serious challenges. — Sy Jones, Partner Council and Volunteer Manager

JOIN IN: If you'd like to volunteer with Samaritan, too, please reach out to Sy at sjones@samaritanministry.org to learn more!

Pictured above from left are Kathy Cosmas, Holly Johnson, and Bari St. Cyr.

Samaritan's Southeast Offices Join Forces!

Continuing a two-year effort to right-size Samaritan's footprint in the DMV to better position the organization for stability and growth for our next 40 years of serving our neighbors in need, Samaritan in April relocated our Southeast DC casework activities from our U St. SE DC office to Samaritan's administrative and educational hub at 3111 Martin Luther King, Jr. Ave SE in Congress Heights, consolidating all of our SE DC operations under one roof.

Going forward, all Next Step participants who have been receiving mail at the U St. office should change their address to 3111 Martin Luther King Ave. SE, 20032, and pick up their mail there. This address will also remain Samaritan's main address for receiving donations and mail of any other kind.

Samaritan now has two offices: the Congress Heights location and our Northern Virginia office at 2207 Columbia Pike in Arlington.

Pictured above outside Samaritan's Congress Heights office from left are STRIVE Trainer Dr. Cheryl Mercer, ABE Education Coordinator Demetia Savoy, and SE Lead Caseworker Doris McRoy.

40th Anniversary NSB2026: THANK YOU!

It's impossible to say how grateful we are for the more than $160,000 contributed to our 40th Anniversary Next Step Breakfast Campaign this spring.

These funds are critical for keeping our doors open and our caseworkers and educators providing our uniquely personalized, love-first Next Step counseling, Adult Basic Education, and STRIVE employment readiness training.

We're also incredibly proud of the program of speakers, so if you were unable to attend, or you would like to hear the speeches again, we recommend you go to our YouTube channel to view talks by Bishop Marianne Budde, Andy Shallal, and many more at THIS LINK.

And if you've not gotten a chance to make a gift to this campaign yet, it's not too late! Just use the donation button below, or send a check to Samaritan at the address below.

DONATE

SAMARITAN MINISTRY OF GREATER WASHINGTON • 3111 MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. AVE. SE, WASHINGTON, DC 30032 • INFO@SAMARITANMINISTRY.ORG