Bread for the City

Bread for the City is a comprehensive front line agency serving the poor of Washington, D.C., USA. The agency began as two organizations: Zacchaeus Free Clinic, which began in 1974 as a volunteer-run free medical clinic, and Bread for the City, a project by a coalition of downtown DC churches created in 1974 to feed and clothe the poor. As of 2011^[update] Bread for the City offered food, clothing, social services, legal representation and medical care without charge to eligible DC residents.

Bread for the City began as two separate organizations. One was its namesake, Bread for the City, started in 1974 by the Emmaus Fellowship, a coalition of five churches in downtown Washington, DC, in order to feed and clothe the poor. Also started in 1974 was the volunteer-run Zacchaeus Free Medical Clinic, an outgrowth of the Community for Creative Non-Violence (CCNV), a group of activist ministries working to ensure that every DC resident had access to food, shelter, clothing and medical care.

The Zacchaeus Free Clinic opened under Dr. Jack Bresette in cramped basement quarters with three exam rooms, a small lab and pharmacy, and a US$30,000 budget. Both the clinic and Bread for the City were run by volunteers and located on rent-free property owned by Luther Place Memorial Church. In 1977, Bread for the City hired its first full-time director.

During the 1980s, Bread for the City experienced a growth in demand for its services and began to serve around 3,000 clients per month. It opened satellite offices throughout Northwest DC, and in 1991 it opened its first satellite office in Southeast DC. During the early 1990s, the two burgeoning organizations developed the Jane Addams Social Services Program to help clients of both organizations apply for public benefits. In 1990, BFC and ZFC were awarded two federal grants to operate outreach activities to help elderly and disabled individuals apply for Food Stamps and Supplemental Security Income. The launch of this program began the integration of the services offered by the two agencies, a process that ultimately led to their merger.

After one year of running the Jane Addams Social Services Program, it became evident that many eligible clients were being denied public benefits. The Young Lawyers Section of the Bar Association of The District of Columbia approached ZFC with a proposal to supply volunteer attorneys, and the organization leveraged their support to battle these unfounded denials. The Bread for the City Legal Clinic grew from this initiative, and a full-time legal director was hired in 1993.

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