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Humanities Council of Washington, D.C., Receives $5,000 Grant

All across America there are communities where thousands of teenagers live in the toughest and most impoverished neighborhoods with no other option or solution for change.By offering youth educational programs and funding various community development projects, the Humanities Council of Washington, D.C. (HCWDC), a nonprofit, private organization, offers solutions to help solve this problem.

James Durkin presents a $5,000 check to Joy Ford Austin, executive director of the Humanities Council of Washington, D.C.

On March 15, 2005, the MDRT Foundation awarded HCWDC a $5,000 grant to fund the “Soul of the City” (SOTC) program. This grant was sponsored by 19-year MDRT member James V. Durkin, CFP, CLU, a Diamond Knight from Gaithersburg, Maryland.

SOTC serves 40 high school children between the ages of 15 and 18 who reside in two of the roughest and underprivileged districts of Washington, D.C. The goal of this program is to help break the cycle of poverty by giving high school-aged children the leadership skills to make changes in their neighborhoods through community development. SOTC uses the subjects of the arts and humanity to teach them that they are not victims of poverty and unfortunate circumstances, but instead that they can be independent positive members of society whose actions and volunteerism can make a difference in their lives and the communities in which they live.

Many students involved in the SOTC were deeply affected by this program and said that it had changed their lives and outlook on life. One SOTC student promised, “I will share what I learned with those in my neighborhood and my school.”

For more than 20 years, the HCWDC’s mission has been to preserve the District of Columbia’s cultural legacy while transforming the nation’s capital into a positive community through grants, programs, publications and media projects.