The Community for Creative Non-Violence (CCNV) is a

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

-based charity that provides services to the poor and homeless including food, shelter, clothing, medical care, case management, education and art programs.

History

In 1970, Father J. Edward Guinan and some graduates of

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C. Chartered in 1821 by the United States Congress, GWU is the largest Higher educat ...

founded and opened the Community for Creative Non-Violence, a communal home in Washington, D.C., dedicated to social change.From political protest to bureaucratic service: The transformation of homeless advocacy in the nation's capital and the eclipse of political discourse by Elwell, Christine Marie, Ph.D., AMERICAN UNIVERSITY, 2008, 358 pages Father Guinan had written the Paulist Council to establish a planned community, based on a poor and simple alternative lifestyle of service to others.Signal Through the Flames: Mitch Snyder and the America's Homeless Paperback – Oct 1 1986 - by Victoria Rader (Author) Father Jack Wintermyer eventually found them a House on 23rd Street where they created a community house. The early CCNV community relied heavily on George Washington University for people and resources. After the

Paulist Fathers The Paulist Fathers, officially named the Missionary Society of Saint Paul the Apostle ( la, Societas Sacerdotum Missionariorum a Sancto Paulo Apostolo), abbreviated CSP, is a Catholic society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men founded ...

approved the community, Guinan was joined by six people from GWU. The community met at the Newman Center on GWU's campus and planned numerous protests. Guinan's statement of purpose at this time was "to resist the violent; to gather the gentle; to help free compassion and mercy and truth from the stockades of our empire." Shortly after its founding, in 1972, the CCNV turned to running a soup kitchen near the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

Zacchaeus Zacchaeus (sometimes spelled Zaccheus; grc, Ζακχαῖος, '; he, זכי, "pure, innocent") was a chief tax-collector at Jericho in the Bible. He is known primarily for his faith in climbing a sycamore tree to see Jesus, and also his gen ...

Community Kitchen.Sutton, Robert P. Modern American Communes: A Dictionary. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2005. Print.Hombs, M. E., & Snyder, M. (1982) Homelessness in America: A Forced March to Nowhere. Washington DC: Community for Creative Non-Violence. In 1972

Mother Teresa Mary Teresa Bojaxhiu, MC (; 26 August 1910 – 5 September 1997), better known as Mother Teresa ( sq, Nënë Tereza), was an Indian-Albanian Catholic nun who, in 1950, founded the Missionaries of Charity. Anjezë Gonxhe Bojaxhiu () was ...

—whom they did not know well because this happened seven years before the Nobel Prize, came with her friend

Eileen Egan Eileen Egan (1912–2000) was a journalist, Roman Catholic activist, and co-founder of the Catholic peace group, American PAX Association and its successor Pax Christi-USA, the American branch of International Pax Christi. Starting 1943 she remaine ...

to serve the first bowls of soup when the kitchen opened, eating with the first guests. In 1973, the CCNV opened the Hospitality House providing medical facilities for the homeless. CCNV says they fed 200 to 300 homeless people a day, seven days a week. In 1982, CCNV staged a protest in Lafayette Park across from the White House. The Department of Interior refused CCNV a permit to occupy Lafayette Park. The CCNV took it to court and lost on appeal. CCNV activists staged a homeless camp anyway and dubbed it "Reaganville." On Thanksgiving, 1982, six hundred homeless individuals arrived for a traditional dinner. CCNV continues to sponsor an annual

Thanksgiving dinner The centerpiece of contemporary Thanksgiving in the United States and in Canada is Thanksgiving dinner (informally called turkey dinner), a large meal generally centered on a large roasted turkey. Thanksgiving could be considered the largest ...

for the homeless. The meal was first served in Lafayette Park, across from the

, and later moved to the grounds of the

U.S. Capitol The United States Capitol, often called The Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the seat of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, which is formally known as the United States Congress. It is located on Capitol Hill at ...

. Later, CCNV activists, headed by

Mitch Snyder Mitch Snyder (August 14, 1943 – July 3, 1990) was an American advocate for the homeless. He was the subject of a made-for-television 1986 biopic, '' Samaritan: The Mitch Snyder Story'', starring Martin Sheen. History Snyder grew up in ...

, entered and occupied an abandoned federal building and housed hundreds overnight while demanding that the government renovate the building. The Reagan administration agreed to lease the federal property to CCNV for $1 a year. On November 4, 1984, after Snyder fasted to draw attention to the plight of the homeless, President Ronald Reagan ordered the renovation of CCNV’s shelter. A $14 million renovation was completed in 1988.

References

{{Authority control Charities based in Washington, D.C. Homelessness charities Organizations established in 1970 1970 establishments in Washington, D.C.