A Milestone Year: Celebrating Nonprofit Anniversaries During America’s Semiquincentennial
It would be difficult to live in DC and not be aware that it is America’s 250th birthday. At this time of reflection and anniversary, Spur Local is highlighting critical nonprofits that have been hard at work in the capital region for 10, 30, and 50 years. Join us in hearing firsthand from the local nonprofit leaders that have changed the Greater Washington landscape for the better as they look forward to their own milestone anniversaries.
10 Years of Growing Community, Skills, and Produce
A Farm Less Ordinary was founded by husband-and-wife duo Greg Masucci and Maya Wechsler to provide meaningful employment and community for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. As they sat in a Thai restaurant and wrote ideas on the back of a napkin, they both knew the importance of this new venture: “We wanted to build something for not just our son, but people like him.”
In Virginia, special education services terminate at age 22, and those who are unable to drive or find work are left behind at home. “Nobody should be an island by themselves,” Greg states. “These kids are graduating into loneliness, and I think that’s heartbreaking…when you leave school, work becomes your primary social conduit. But when you’re not employed, that doesn’t exist.”
AFLO has employed over 100 growers in their 10 years, including partnerships with local high schools. “They’re called growers because they grow vegetables, skill sets, community, and as people.” The program’s skill building in the farming, retail, hospitality, and cooking industries have helped growers land jobs like being gardeners and landscapers or running their own coffee shop. Greg puts it best: “Society is better served by integrating these folks in a meaningful way.”
The next 10 years of AFLO promise to be jam-packed, literally. With thousands of brand-new raspberry bushes planted this year and plans to build an onsite commercial kitchen, the farm is now aiming to increase jam and jelly sales revenue, improving sustainability and helping to hire more employees on top of existing costs.
To see the AFLO magic where it happens, Greg invites you to join them in their anniversary celebrations at Feast in the Field this September. The creative four-course meal is prepared by local chefs using produce from the farm itself, plus locally sourced protein and drinks. “It’s a beautiful event for a wonderful cause,” reflects Greg, adding that the growers are the evening’s servers, and there’s a special recognition of them at the end. “The growers are so proud of what they do, and giving them an opportunity to celebrate that is really magical.”
30 Years of Creating Identity, Wholeness, and Wellbeing
“The Smith Center for Healing and the Arts is most known for creating life affirming and community building spaces like support groups, healing circles and cancer retreats,” says Executive Director Lisa Simms Booth. These spaces produce profound healing, and in 1996, one such retreat inspired founder Barbara Smith Coleman to create the Smith Center and bring that transformative power to DC. Now, they continue to expand their offerings, such as 12 weeks of free therapy and mental health support for cancer patients “at a time where it’s difficult to find mental health support in general.” Simms Booth states proudly that healing and the arts are not supplemental, but should instead be considered a standard of care. Cancer can be a very isolating experience, and the Smith Center team uses arts programming “to help you find wholeness in being creative and a community that knows what it’s like and that you’re not the only one.”
Reflecting on 30 years of the Smith Center, Simms Booth notes that the celebration is not just of the center, but “a testament to the community of support we have.” They are maintaining this mindset of sustainability into the next 30 years, as “cancer numbers continue to climb, and our area in DC has some of the worst outcomes for patients.” Their next goal? To reach folks who could benefit from their services but are outside of the traditional pathways like hospital referrals. “I feel a deep commitment to the vision of our founders and carrying on the legacy of that work,” Simms Booth reflects. She is very mindful of furthering the founding vision “so more people with cancer and their families find solace and hope and what they need.”
Smiling, Simms Booth says to look forward to a big in-person celebration later this year.
50 Years of Sharing Stories, Identity, and Familia
For half a century, GALA Hispanic Theatre has been a reliable source of professional theatre, bilingual innovation, artistic expression, and community in DC. To put that into perspective, GALA’s co-founder and Executive Director Rebecca Medrano has seen kids who came with their parents to GALita, the bilingual children’s theater, grow into parents who are now bringing their children. “It’s really exciting,” she explains, adding that bilingual children’s theater is also how she met her late husband and GALA co-founder Hugo Medrano. When Mr. Medrano passed in 2023, he was the longest serving Producing Artistic Director in the DC area.
When asked how the DC landscape has changed since GALA’s founding, Ms. Medrano responds “A lot. When we started, there were only 8 theaters or arts groups. The Kennedy Center had just opened.” GALA started as a collective, mostly of Central American artists who came here to find expression. They had a newspaper, an art gallery, and a tiny little stage. Over time, the stage has taken precedence, and the GALA we know today has been in the Tivoli Theatre for over 20 years.
GALA’s 50th season closed a bit early this year due to some needed renovations, but they’re excited for what’s to come. This upcoming season, “The Start of a New Beginning,” looks to the theatre’s future as a longstanding pillar of storytelling and culture in the community, including the Latinx-written Nueva Era: New Play Festival in December. Ms. Medrano stresses the importance of keeping the theatre open for the whole community – not just Latinos, but also people interested in the culture. She says there’s a misconception that people who don’t know Spanish can’t enjoy a GALA show, but their programming is very accessible and/or bilingual. The main stage productions include translated surtitles like operas; for children’s shows, writers intentionally transition between languages such that all audiences can understand the plot; and in some pieces, actors speak up to 3 languages without compromising the story.
Looking back on GALA’s half-century of impact and community, Ms. Medrano’s takeaway is simple. “I love doing what I do. I feel blessed.”
These are just a handful of organizations that are in long-term, committed relationships with our DC community. They have weathered the same storms we have, remaining steadfast in their missions and devoted to supporting us. Each anniversary they hit is a recognition of impact as they get one step closer to their vision. DC and our longstanding nonprofits have changed and evolved together over time, growing in partnership and collaboration. In honor of our nation’s 250th, consider starting to support local nonprofits now so that they continue into our shared future. These remarkable impacts are not built in a day, and continuous community involvement will be what continues to make them possible.