CSM HAS BEEN SERVING IN WASHINGTON, D.C. SINCE 1991
Washington, DC is a unique city in that the primary purpose of its creation, in 1790, was to serve as our nation’s capital and house our federal government. Over the past 200 years it has grown from a small city/county with plantations, small residential neighborhoods, and a few government buildings, to a thriving city/state with its own culture, history, and economy. Its right to self-govern has shifted throughout the decades. It is a city under the control of Congress, but its citizens have no voting Congressional representation since its inception. Washingtonians didn’t receive the right to vote for President until 1965, and the current form of city government was authorized by Congress in 1970. Washington, DC is the voteless capital of a democracy. A city that is a symbol of power and democracy to the world, but inside it you can find the most powerless and disenfranchised. A city whose residents still fight for their most basic right as Americans.
Washington, DC was also the first predominantly Black major city in the nation. But in recent years, D.C. has gone through a significant change due to gentrification. It is one of the most gentrified cities in the US with over 40% of The District’s neighborhoods experiencing change since 2000, making it consistently one of the most expensive cities to live in the United States. In these same areas, the black population has decreased by 23% while the white population increased by over 200%. As neighborhoods have shifted due to gentrification, lower income residents have been pushed out of their homes as more wealthy people move into the city. Over the span of 15 years, 20,000 Black Washingtonians have been displaced out of the city. Due to these changes, businesses and resources have focused development in the wealthier, white neighborhoods, and have left whole communities without equal access to daily necessities like grocery stores and healthy food options
WHAT TO EXPECT ON YOUR TRIP
At CSM DC we partner with a wide variety of ministries and organizations that are doing good work in their communities. One morning you may be sorting donations at DC's food bank, helping a senior citizen clean up their yard, or sharing a meal with someone experiencing homelessness. In the afternoon you could be helping run a VBS for a local church or preparing food to be distributed to those in need around the city. Wherever we serve we strive to honor God by loving His people wherever they are at. We go where we are welcomed, and where there is a need.
CSM WASHINGTON, D.C. CITY DIRECTOR
Tyler Hendon
tyler@csm.org | @wthendonTyler is originally from Gadsden, Alabama. After a year-long apprenticeship studying philosophy and theology in Cambridge, Tyler started his CSM journey as a City Host in 2016 in New York City and San Francisco. He has been a CSM Director in Washington, DC since 2018, and has over twelve years of student ministry experience; which includes working with students in the United Kingdom, Togo, West Africa, and Guyana. His favorite part of CSM is helping students engage with the issues of justice and reconciliation through the gospel.