The Father McKenna Center: More Than a Soup Kitchen

CCNV employees working in the kitchen

CCNV employees make dinner. Photo by Dianna Heitz

On a typical Wednesday night, the Father McKenna Center – located near Union Station – serves hundreds of meals to the needy in Washington.  

Before you get the idea that the center is just another soup kitchen, think again.  

Each day, more than 100 men come to the center to shower, get their laundry done, eat or rest. But that’s not all. The center also provides HIV/AIDS testing, group support meetings, emergency food assistance, rent and utility help, referrals for food stamps, bus fare and work-appropriate clothing.  

From November to April, the center stays open all the time to keep the homeless out of the cold.  

And the staff does all this out of the small basement of St. Aloysius Catholic Church in Northwest.  

The center was started after the death of Fr. Horace McKenna, who was known for helping the neediest in the neighborhood, according to Tom Howarth, director of the center. When McKenna died in 1982, many feared the support system would, too.  

“The parish said Horace was a saint and wanted to honor him” so it opened the center in 1983 to keep his traditions alive and help homeless men get back on their feet, Howarth said.  

“Some people ask ‘why only men?’ People are the least sympathetic to homeless men,” Howarth said. “They tell them to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, but some of them don’t have boots, let alone bootstraps.”  

That’s why the center acts as more than just a place for a meal. Howarth said one of the goals is to give men the help—and emotional support—they need to get out of the cycle of poverty.  

“Society wants [ the homeless] out of sight, out of mind,” Howarth said. “I can’t think of anything worse to say to somebody than ‘I don’t expect anything out of you.’”  

Every day there’s a group support meeting in a chapel adjacent to the center, where Howarth said the men are able to “resocialize.”  

They are told to wake up, take off their hats and pay attention. It’s not just a place for center staff to lecture them; it’s a conversation about daily struggles, successes and how to start to improve their situations.  

Howarth refers to the men who visit as his “friends,” and it’s that sort of friendliness and supportive environment that many of the men say is what makes the center unlike any other in the District.  

“The McKenna Center is unique because they have a meeting section,” said Larry, a man who was attending the morning meeting. “I don’t just come here for the food. They get you on the [right] track. Look at me. I was homeless.”  

Others share similar stories of achievement.  

“They helped me stop being complacent,” said Lydell, another man at the meeting. “If you can take the first step, they’ll help you with the second step. They’ve helped me get stable.”  

Most of the visitors emphasize that the center isn’t just a place for a meal and a bus pass. It’s a support team that can help make getting back on one’s feet a real possibility.  

“It’s the only place where you can get encouragement rather than being at a drop-in center. They get you on the path you need to be,” said Wayne, another visitor.  

What also makes the Father McKenna Center special is that some of the staff members were formerly down on their luck, just like the men who stop by each day.  

Virginia Jenkins started out as a volunteer during a time she was unemployed. Eventually, she was offered a job at the Father McKenna Center, and is now a receptionist, greeting people.  

Tony poses for a photograph
Tony, from CCNV, was homeless before being employed as a receptionist. Photo by Dianna Heitz

She asks them to sign in and explain their reason for stopping by. Reasons vary from “attending a meeting” to “just chilling.”  

When Jenkins took some time off during an illness, Tony, a regular visitor at the time, stepped up for a few weeks to take her place. Howarth offered Tony a full-time job and a place to stay earlier this year.  

Before that, Tony had been homeless and unemployed.  

“I first came to the Father McKenna Center because I wanted to take advantage of what they had to offer that didn’t cost anything. I was in a cocoon,” he said.  

He had been living on the streets of D.C., which he says “isn’t really living. It’s dangerous.”  

Since starting the job with the center, Tony says he can think with a sober mind for the first time in 20 years.  

“I’m excited about my new beginning,” he said. “My life was at a standstill for two-and-a-half years. I owe the McKenna Center all the credit in the world.”  

Tony’s success story has encouraged other McKenna Center visitors to follow his lead.  

“They see me and think that if I can do it, then they can definitely do it,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m just blessed. That’s the bottom line.” 


Issues |Hunger|Nonprofits


Region |Washington DC

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