Community

We strive to be leaders in both the retirement industry and our local Washington, D.C. metropolitan area community.

That’s why we work hard to promote the local economy and help businesses succeed. It’s also why we take an active role to do whatever we can to help charitable organizations that are important to us. Here are just a few examples:

• 

  A Wider Circle

  A Wider Circle is a 501(c)(3) charity whose mission is to help children and adults to lift themselves out of poverty. Each day, A Wider Circle provides basic need items to families transitioning out of shelters or simply living without life’s necessities. A Wider Circle also leads educational workshops on topics ranging from job skills and stress management to healthy nutrition and financial planning.

  Since their inception A Wider Circle has focused on building an organization that addresses the whole person- with programs that not only tend to people’s tangible needs but also to their inner needs. It is a holistic model that they believe facilitates long-term change.

  A Wider Circle has been named “one of the finest small charities Greater Washington has to offer” by the Catalogue for Philanthropy. The organization has also received the Washington Area Women’s Foundation Leadership Award. Its founder, Dr. Mark Bergel, has received the Greater DC Cares Essence of Leadership Award, the Community Foundation for National Capital Region’s Linowes Leadership Award, and the Andrea Jolly President’s Award from the Montgomery County Corporate Volunteer Council. In 2010, Dr. Bergel was also chosen as one of People Magazine and Major League Baseball’s “All Stars Among Us."

• 

  So Others Might Eat

  So Others Might Eat (SOME) works to help the low-income and homeless populations of Washington, DC. Originally a small soup kitchen, SOME has expanded to offer comprehensive services comprising 38 different programs and serving over 10,000 individuals every year. They help break the cycle of homelessness and poverty by providing a wide range of services including affordable housing, job training, addiction treatment, and mental healthcare. They also provide immediate essentials such as food, clothing, and medical help every day to those in need.

  The mission of SOME is to not only help relieve the daily burden and stress inherent among the poor and homeless populations, but to provide a path to independence and dignity. In 2019, SOME served 367,855 meals, provided 38,152 free sets of clothing and 12,211 showers to men and women experiencing homelessness, and provided 26,254 visits to a doctor, dentist, therapist, or case worker across our Medical, Dental, and Behavioral Health Clinics. 

•