God’s Hope Chest Ministry works with the Family & Youth Initiative of Washington, D.C., and sponsors an annual birthday celebration for adolescent youth in foster care in need of adoption. The ministry was officially received into the church around 2006 or 2007.
Initially, the ministry was named Kids Save, but the name was changed because it was being confused with an independent organization called Kidsave International. A donor in the Washington area gave a $5,000 contribution to support the work. The mission was to help facilitate the adoption of children, particularly foster children ages 9 to 17 in the Washington metropolitan area, but that goal shifted after outreach to church members indicated that the adoption qualifications were too rigorous. Over the past several years, God’s Hope Chest has focused on birthdays because, most of the time, there are no family celebrations of birthdays for this group in our communities. This event has been celebrated annually in the church fellowship hall with 22 to 25 children and 40 to 55 adults of different ethnicities and races from Washington, Maryland, and Virginia.
Those interested in supporting this ministry are asked to contact Deacon Leon Pierce, Deaconess Dena Bowen, or Sister Oretha Chandler by calling the church office at 202-829-2773 or sending an email to office@19thstreetbc.org.