The DowntownDC Business Improvement District’s (BID) Safety/Hospitality and Maintenance Employees (SAMs) kicked off the New Year with their first monthly employee meeting on Jan. 14 at the Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church (900 Massachusetts Avenue).
The Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church (MVPUMC), located in the heart of DowntownDC, was founded in 1850, renovated in 2008 and is renown as the Methodist Episcopal Church in the South.
The church provides many ministries, including the “Shower and Hope 4 All” ministry to support the homeless. This ministry provides hot showers, breakfast and fellowship to homeless individuals in Downtown. The Hope 4 All ministry overall helps to make the transition from homelessness into housing easier for individuals. Members play a role in crafting resumes, preparing individuals for interviews, strengthening basic math skills and administering a vulnerability index used to qualify people for rapid rehousing and more.
During the SAMs’ first meeting of the year, Pastor Donna Donna Claycomb Sokol and Director of Operations Kathryn Mackereth welcomed the SAMs and expressed gratitude for their continued maintenance of Downtown, beautification of the streets and their high-level of service.
The BID’s red-uniformed SAMs work 362 days a year to keep the streets of Downtown clean, safe and friendly. Their maintenance tasks include removing trash and recycling, sweeping sidewalks, removing gum and graffiti and beautification efforts such as hanging flower baskets and painting public fixtures.
At the January meeting, upcoming events and the year’s expectations for the SAMs were also discussed.
The BID then presented to the church donated towels and toiletries to help support their homeless ministry.
Each month, two SAMs are recognized as SAMs-of-the-Month for their remarkable service. Staring off the new year with excellence, the winners for December were Safety/Hospitality SAM Lawrence Alston and Maintenance SAM Jose Tomas Avelar.
Lawrence Alston, who has worked for the DowntownDC BID since 2009, says helping people is what he enjoys most about his job. December’s win is Alston’s third or fourth time being recognized as employee of the month. A native of Landover, M.D., Alston said the Walter E. Washington Convention Center (801 Mt. Vernon Place NW) is his favorite venue in the BID. The convention center holds a special meaning for him, he said, because his father worked there. Alston has an 11 year old daughter, coaches little league football in his spare time and is a San Francisco 49ers fan.
Jose Tomas Avelar, originally from El Salvador, started working as a DowntownDC BID SAM in 2009. During his time at the BID, Avelar has been honored as employee of the month multiple times in addition to being named employee of the year. Avelar said that there are so many different places and things to see and enjoy in the BID that it’s hard to identify just one. Avelar has three children and said he enjoys going to church and spending time with his family.