March 2005

D.C. Nonprofit Founder Shares Wider Circle of Compassion

Mark Bergel with a family that A Wider Circle sponsored for summer camp.

Mark Bergel, CAS/MS ’87, CAS/PHD ’96, did his fair share of reading about the ailments of society and theories on how to fix them when he was working toward his doctorate in sociology. As a part-time faculty member at AU, he required his students to do some volunteer work, and he did some, too.

But it wasn’t until he got involved in delivering food to low-income residents in their neighborhoods that Bergel saw how desperate the real living conditions are for thousands of people living in poverty in Washington D.C. “I was struck by the tragic cycles. A woman of 45 who looked 65… kids with obesity, asthma, diabetes. It seemed that way in every home to which I went,” he says.

Bergel knew he wanted to affect change, and do more to reverse the cycles of poverty and poor health. So he began talking with school administrators and shelter managers about the services they offered. He found they were telling him the same thing: Each entity offered one service – assistance for finding a place to live from a housing organization, for example. “But no one was focusing on the whole person and the whole life they’re living,” he says. “I knew if I went to talk about stress management and told people try to do relaxation in the evening, but they went home and had no bed, it wouldn’t be very effective.”

In 2001, Bergel founded the nonprofit, A Wider Circle, to provide a wide range of services for low-income D.C. residents. The name A Wider Circle is based on widening the circle of compassion, he explains. “Einstein said, ‘we restrict our compassion to those closest to us.’ I agree. If we shift our perception to what we’d do for our own mother, father, sister, or brother, we wouldn’t let these conditions go on.”

With a background in holistic health, he and other health care practitioners offer workshops in stress management, yoga, t'ai chi, and “things we believe will empower people and see themselves differently and have different daily habits,” Bergel explains. “We also provide things they need: beds, dressers, computers – so people don’t have daily anxiety about those issues.”

“The essence of health is connection,” says Bergel, who works with the help of a volunteer board, a small staff, and an impressive troupe of student interns (15 from AU alone this spring). About to move into their new office space at 1221 M St. in April, they are now focusing on several new programs:

• A Public Housing Initiative, in partnership with the D.C. Housing Authority, to create a new city-wide wellness program for the 15,000 residents in public housing.
• A School Community Project, in partnership with Davis Elementary School in Southeast D.C., to provide a wide range of after-school programs for students and workshops for parents, faculty, and staff.
• A Shelter Support Program, offering weekly holistic workshops in nutrition, t’ai chi, and more for kids and their parents living in shelters.
• A Community Connections component, to address the needs of anyone not in a shelter, low-income school, or public housing by matching communities who donate items with those who need them.

“Words don’t do justice to the challenge,” says Bergel. But more than 320 community visits and 220 workshops later, he knows he’s making a difference. “There are thousands of people who don’t just want handouts. They want opportunity. We do our best to help them create it for themselves,” says Bergel. “Empowerment is our one key word.”

There’s no limit to what people can do to help, says Bergel. “The key is just to start doing something.”

Bergel invites AU alumni and friends to join him on April 16 to do some planting, painting, and t'ai chi near his M Street office, or to simply get in touch for more information on future volunteer opportunities: 301-657-1010, e-mail contact@awidecircle.org, or visit http://www.awidercircle.org/