Shepherd's Table Announces Expansion to Help Serve Homeless, Needy

Silver Spring, MD — As the Silver Spring-based nonprofit Shepherd's Table launches a three-year, $5-million fundraising campaign to expand its service, it will introduce the public on Monday to its new facility, called "Progress Place," and its plans to significantly increase the number of people it helps each year.

Progress Place will help facilitate an expansion of Shepherd's Table's food-service program for local underprivileged and homeless persons and families. At a launch event from 3 to 4 p.m. on Monday at the Silver Spring B&O Railroad Station, the public will be invited learn more about the organization's expansion plans, including moving into a new building by the end of the year.

According to Shepherd's Table staff, its Progress Place will move into a new building this December, located at 8100 Georgia Avenue.

The new facility is reportedly the result of a public-private partnership between Montgomery County and Washington Property Company, and it will allow Shepherd's Table to take over the entire food services operation, expanding its core program from serving 9 to 19 meals a week.

"We will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner during the week, and brunch and dinner over the weekend," Senior Development and Communications Associate Vilna Kothary said in a statement. "Clients will also have access to programs in the Resource Center, Clothes Closet and Eye Clinic, which are critical services for people on their journey towards independence and self-sufficiency."

As a result of the program expansion, Kothary said Shepherd's Table is projecting to serve more than 100,000 meals in 2017, anticipating a 20-percent growth in the total number of individuals the organization serves, and she said there will also be new opportunities for volunteer and community engagement.

To fund the expansion, which Kothary says is critical, it will require additional personnel, food and program maintenance expenses--therefore Shepherd's Table is launching its three-year, $5-million fundraising campaign, which it is calling "It's A New Day: Transforming Lives, Growing Our Community."

"As a member of the Montgomery County Homeless Continuum of Care, this planned program expansion will double Shepherd's Table's impact in the community, so we can do our part to set a path to end all types of homelessness in Montgomery County," Kothary explained.

The most recent annual Point-in-Time survey, conducted by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, indicates there are more than 12,000 homeless persons in the D.C. region. In Montgomery County specifically, there were 981 homeless persons counted.

The report indicates an overall decrease in homeless Montgomery County households with children, but a 4-percent increase in individuals.

The expansion of Shepherd's Table's services will allow the organization to help feed more of those people.

"This is the most important time in our history. We not only make a move to a new building, but we take a huge leap of faith as we commit to doubling our services, increasing the number of meals we serve to an anticipated 100,000 in 2017," said Jacki Coyle, Executive Director of Shepherd's Table. "Our faith is based on our mission, which has never faltered, and one which has been supported by a strong and generous community. We will serve more, engage more, and impact the lives of everyone in our community."

In addition to feeding local homeless and underprivileged persons and families, Shepherd's Table offers other basic services, including social services, medical support, clothing and other assistance. The organization says it has "never failed to open its doors" for even a single day, since first launching in 1983.

Visit the organization online at www.shepherdstable.org .