2020 DC Forum Schedule

Monday, March 9

5:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Registration
• Lisa Miller – Meetings and Events Manager, Citygate Network
Holiday Inn Washington—Capitol 550 C Street SW, Washington, DC 20024
NOTE: Hotel Registration is on the 1st floor. Citygate Network check-in is on the same floor, outside the Congressional II meeting room.

6:00 p.m. – 6:10 p.m.
OFFICIAL START: Prayer for Our Nation
Holiday Inn Washington—Capitol
Congressional II

6:10 p.m. – 6:50 p.m.
Dinner
Holiday Inn Washington—Capitol
Congressional II
Religion and politics can certainly be talked about at our dinner table! Connect with other Citygate Network members and start to engage informally on the issues most important to you.

7:00 p.m. – 7:20 p.m.
SESSION 1: Where Is God in Washington These Days?
• Todd Lamphere – Chief of Staff, Paula White Ministries
Holiday Inn Washington—Capitol
Congressional II
Hear what you don't hear on TV, in the papers, or on your devices about the state of true spirituality in the nation's capital. You might be surprised—even comforted—to know how things really are, and how much prayer is prevalent through the city, with both Democrats and Republicans.

7:20 p.m. – 7:45 p.m.
SESSION 2: Understanding What's at Stake in the Next Election
• Stanley Carlson-Thies – President, Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance
Holiday Inn Washington—Capitol
Congressional II
The country has never been more divided, and even Christians appear to be split on what kind of leadership is needed. Take a look at two scenarios and see how the end results might affect your family and your ministry.

8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m
Capitol Hill Orientation Walking Tour (optional)
• John Ashmen – President, Citygate Network
We'll walk three blocks to Independence Avenue, then two more blocks and onto the Capitol grounds, near the Reflecting Pool. We'll follow Southwest Drive and Southeast Drive past the House office, and then take First Avenue past the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court. Our return route will take us back to the National Mall and then down 4th Street back to the hotels. This will be a great (re)orientation and time of fellowship—and a nice time to stretch your legs after a possibly long plane ride. If you're not familiar with D.C., it's worth braving whatever the elements might be.

Tuesday, March 10

Breakfast is on your own. The Holiday Inn Washington—Capitol has one of the best breakfast buffets for blocks around. If fast and light is what you want, there is a Starbucks right in the hotel and a McDonalds at the end of the block. If you want to combine an early walk with breakfast, go out the door, turn right on C Street, then right on 3rd Street. Between D and E Streets, there are a lot of options, including Rise and Shine, on the corner of 3rd and E.

WHAT TO WEAR TODAY: For all meetings throughout the day, a suit and tie is appropriate dress for men; business attire for women is a must. Those are the “uniforms” everyone wears in Washington.

WHERE TO GO TODAY: Our first meetings will be in the Museum of the Bible, 400 4th Street SW. It’s literally a four-minute stroll via the sidewalk, and by inside passage, it’s two-and-a-half minutes. There is security to gain entrance. It could take as long as 15 minutes to get from outside the front door to a seat in our meetings venue, Scholar’s Initiative Room on the fifth floor.

WHAT TO BRING TODAY: Travel as light as possible as you will have to go through security several times in the hours ahead. Also—AND THIS IS IMPORTANT—you will need a government-issued identification, like a valid driver’s license, a Global Entry card, or a passport.

8:00 a.m. – 8:40 a.m.
SESSION 3: Looking Through the Narrow Window
• Robert Marbut – Director, U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (Homelessness Czar)
Museum of the Bible
Scholar's Initiative Room
There is a change of direction in Washington—coming from the top—regarding how to solve the homelessness crisis. There are new facts and numbers that have many long-seated bureaucrats in an uproar. Robert Marbut is smack in the middle of all of this, and he knows there is a narrow window to communicate the predicament we are actually in when it comes to homelessness, addiction, mental illness, and more. He knows how to get out of it, and in this session you'll learn how we can help him.

8:40 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
SESSION 4: Fighting Generational Homelessness through Education
• Barbara Duffield – Executive Director, SchoolHouse Connection
Museum of the Bible
Scholar's Initiative Room
If we believe that "lack of education" is another one of the many reasons why so many people are on the street, generation after generation, then each of us at our missions and ministries have to intentionally teach people how to break the cycle. Get new facts and figures and learn what we all should be doing in this critical area to get men, women, and children off our streets.

9:15 a.m. – 9:40 a.m.
Walk to HUD
It's about an eight-minute walk (two to three blocks) from the Museum of the Bible to the office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. If you need to connect with Uber for a lift, that's fine. We should be gathered at the South Entrance of the HUD building by 9:40 a.m. to start the process of going through security. A government-issued photo I.D. will be required. Sessions 5 – 7 will be in HUD's Departmental Conference Room on the 10th floor.

10:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.
Welcome – Opening Remarks & Prayer
• Paula White – Special Advisor, White House Faith and Opportunity Initiatives
HUD's Departmental Conference Room on the 10th floor

10:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.
SESSION #5: Remarks on the Current Efforts of HUD
• Ben Carson – Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
HUD's Departmental Conference Room on the 10th floor

10:30 a.m. – 11:20 a.m.
SESSION #6: A Real Place at the Table
• Paul Compton – HUD General Counsel
• Anna Maria Farías – HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity
• David Woll – HUD Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Planning & Development
HUD's Departmental Conference Room on the 10th floor
More and more experts are saying that to truly affect the problems of hunger, homelessness, abuse, addiction, and mental illness, the faith community will need to play a major role. But the faith community, for the most part and for the longest time, has not been invited to the table, nor has it felt welcomed there. Thankfully, that has recently started to change; we now have a place setting and we have influence. How we respond is up to us. Leading this session via a panel are the very individuals who are responsible for grants—those who can address protection from faith-based discrimination and rule enforcement.

11:20 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.
Stretch Break
During this break you can walk down the hall and stretch your legs and also engage with panelists and others in attendance.

11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
SESSION # 7: Hot Spots Update
• Andy Bales – CEO, Union Rescue Mission, (Los Angeles)
• Roger Huang – CEO, City Impact Ministries/San Francisco Rescue Mission
• John Ashmen – President, Citygate Network
HUD's Departmental Conference Room on the 10th floor
Nowhere has the issue of unsheltered homelessness been more horrific than in California, Oregon, and Washington. Numbers have grown beyond expectations, and top politicians are finally facing backlash for holding firm on policies that do not appear to be working. What are service providers on the streets seeing and what solutions are they suggesting? What is the federal government’s plan?

12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m.
Lunch on Your Own
L'Enfant Plaza (immediately west of the HUD building)

1:15 p.m. – 1:40 p.m.
Walk to Museum of the Bible
Follow your same path back to this popular destination and to the Scholar's Initiative Room on the fifth floor. We will start PROMPTLY at 2:00 p.m.

2:00 p.m. – 2:40 p.m.
SESSION #8: Producing and Measuring Improvements in Mental Illness
• Shannon Royce – Director, Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives, U.S. Dept. Of Health and Human Services
• Ben O’Dell – Program Specialist, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Museum of the Bible
Scholar's Initiative Room
Citygate Network members report that the number of people in their care that have some form of mental illness is between 30 and 70 percent (depending on location, services offered, and more), but it is one thing we historically haven't talked much about—and we need to start. This session will open the door to much needed conversation within our circles. The government is placing renewed emphasis here…and so should we. Find out what's changing and how to be on the leading edge of what's now going on.

2:40 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.
SESSION #9: Making Our Counts Really Count
• John Pughe – Director, Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives, U.S. Department of Commerce
• Kevin Quinley – Director of Strategic Initiatives, U.S. Census Bureau
Museum of the Bible
Scholar's Initiative Room
The 2020 Census gets kicked off in two days. Citygate Network is leading a coalition that’s bringing together all of the faith-based service providers to make sure homeless people are correctly counted so the government has accurate data, which will lead to a better understanding of how many people are really in need. Learn about the collaboration and what you can do locally to be part of this once-every-decade critical data drive.

3:15 p.m. – 3:40 p.m.
Snack and Phone Call Break

3:40 p.m. – 4:20 p.m.
SESSION #10: How to Meet (and Make an Impression on) Your Lawmakers
• John Ashmen, President, Citygate Network
Museum of the Bible
Scholar's Initiative Room
In this valuable session, we will go over handouts that outline the key talking points you should use with Senators and Representatives (and/or their staff) on Wednesday. You'll get the "dos" and "don'ts" for navigating—it's a huge complex—greeting, engaging, and departing. We'll end with prayer and a blessing from another one of our leaders.

4:20 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Session #11: Justice Must be Served
• Katherine Sullivan – Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs
Museum of the Bible
Scholar's Initiative Room
What's happening with immigrations along our border with Mexico...and what's happening all across the country with human trafficking—young women and even young men being taken against their will and sent across the country—is showing up at rescue missions and similar ministries more and more these days. Not only do we need to know how to serve these precious people, we also need to know our obligations under the law. This is where you will learn what's happening and how to intelligently and sympathetically engage.

5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
SESSION #12: Making the Case for Tax Breaks for All Donors
• Sandra Swirski – Executive Director, Alliance for Charitable Reform
Museum of the Bible
Scholar's Initiative Room
Many connect the downturn in the nation's support for nonprofits to the Tax Cut and Jobs Act that removed the charitable contribution incentive as it existed for 100 years. Efforts are still underway to restore things through the Universal Charitable Giving Act, and now a new bill from Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL)—and there is headway with both initiatives. This session will track the most recent movement and help you understand what has to happen to get things back to where they were, or to an even better place.

6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Dinner on "Main Street"
We're picking up the tab for dinner down on SE 8th Street in the historic Barracks Row neighborhood. It's the oldest commercial district in D.C., named after the Marine barracks that were built there in 1801. The area has seen massive changes over the years but is now benefitting from a renaissance that began about 20 years ago. This quaint commercial corridor has more than 30 restaurants. We've selected four of them in order to offer the best in culinary variety and small-group fellowship.

Wednesday, March 11

It's breakfast on your own again today. Hit the options close to home or step out and try something closer to Capitol Hill…where you'll eventually be going.

8:35 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Capitol Hill Meetings

This day is filled with pre-arranged appointments (which Citygate Network has scheduled for you or you have scheduled for yourself—your choice). You'll meet with lawmakers and/or their staff in Senate and House office buildings. In most cases, you will meet with staff members (e.g., legislative directors, legislative assistants, etc.) who have the job of clearly articulating both your thanks and concerns to the elected representative for whom they work. If Citygate Network handled this for you, your schedule was arranged after you registered and should have been provided to you upon arrival at the DC Forum. If you don't have it, see Lisa Miller.

Proceed directly to the location of your first meeting. Citygate Network staff will be available to assist you and accompany you as requested throughout the day. The staff, when not in meetings, will "camp out" in the Longworth Cafeteria on the House side and the Dirksen Cafeteria on the Senate side.

When your appointments are done, you are free to leave…or hang around in Washington and enjoy the sights and sounds of this always-buzzing city. We encourage you to connect with others in our group and get together for dinner, if you have the time. Citygate Network staff will be staying around for another day or two.

When you get home, text or email the outcomes of your Capitol Hill meetings to us. Contact info will be given at the event.

5:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Registration • Lisa Miller – Meetings and Events Manager, Citygate Network Holiday Inn Washington—Capitol 550 C Street SW, Washington, DC 20024 NOTE: Hotel Registration is on the 1st floor. Citygate Network check-in is on the same floor, outside the Congressional II meeting room.
6:00 p.m. – 6:10 p.m. OFFICIAL START: Prayer for Our Nation Holiday Inn Washington—Capitol Congressional II
6:10 p.m. – 6:50 p.m. Dinner Holiday Inn Washington—Capitol Congressional II Religion and politics can certainly be talked about at our dinner table! Connect with other Citygate Network members and start to engage informally on the issues most important to you.
7:00 p.m. – 7:20 p.m. SESSION 1: Where Is God in Washington These Days? • Todd Lamphere – Chief of Staff, Paula White Ministries Holiday Inn Washington—Capitol Congressional II Hear what you don't hear on TV, in the papers, or on your devices about the state of true spirituality in the nation's capital. You might be surprised—even comforted—to know how things really are, and how much prayer is prevalent through the city, with both Democrats and Republicans.
7:20 p.m. – 7:45 p.m. SESSION 2: Understanding What's at Stake in the Next Election • Stanley Carlson-Thies – President, Institutional Religious Freedom Alliance Holiday Inn Washington—Capitol Congressional II The country has never been more divided, and even Christians appear to be split on what kind of leadership is needed. Take a look at two scenarios and see how the end results might affect your family and your ministry.
8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m Capitol Hill Orientation Walking Tour (optional) • John Ashmen – President, Citygate Network We'll walk three blocks to Independence Avenue, then two more blocks and onto the Capitol grounds, near the Reflecting Pool. We'll follow Southwest Drive and Southeast Drive past the House office, and then take First Avenue past the Library of Congress and the Supreme Court. Our return route will take us back to the National Mall and then down 4th Street back to the hotels. This will be a great (re)orientation and time of fellowship—and a nice time to stretch your legs after a possibly long plane ride. If you're not familiar with D.C., it's worth braving whatever the elements might be.

8:00 a.m. – 8:40 a.m. SESSION 3: Looking Through the Narrow Window • Robert Marbut – Director, U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (Homelessness Czar) Museum of the Bible Scholar's Initiative Room There is a change of direction in Washington—coming from the top—regarding how to solve the homelessness crisis. There are new facts and numbers that have many long-seated bureaucrats in an uproar. Robert Marbut is smack in the middle of all of this, and he knows there is a narrow window to communicate the predicament we are actually in when it comes to homelessness, addiction, mental illness, and more. He knows how to get out of it, and in this session you'll learn how we can help him.
8:40 a.m. – 9:15 a.m. SESSION 4: Fighting Generational Homelessness through Education • Barbara Duffield – Executive Director, SchoolHouse Connection Museum of the Bible Scholar's Initiative Room If we believe that "lack of education" is another one of the many reasons why so many people are on the street, generation after generation, then each of us at our missions and ministries have to intentionally teach people how to break the cycle. Get new facts and figures and learn what we all should be doing in this critical area to get men, women, and children off our streets.
9:15 a.m. – 9:40 a.m. Walk to HUD It's about an eight-minute walk (two to three blocks) from the Museum of the Bible to the office of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. If you need to connect with Uber for a lift, that's fine. We should be gathered at the South Entrance of the HUD building by 9:40 a.m. to start the process of going through security. A government-issued photo I.D. will be required. Sessions 5 – 7 will be in HUD's Departmental Conference Room on the 10th floor.
10:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. Welcome – Opening Remarks & Prayer • Paula White – Special Advisor, White House Faith and Opportunity Initiatives HUD's Departmental Conference Room on the 10th floor
10:15 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. SESSION #5: Remarks on the Current Efforts of HUD • Ben Carson – Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development HUD's Departmental Conference Room on the 10th floor
10:30 a.m. – 11:20 a.m. SESSION #6: A Real Place at the Table • Paul Compton – HUD General Counsel • Anna Maria Farías – HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity • David Woll – HUD Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Planning & Development HUD's Departmental Conference Room on the 10th floor More and more experts are saying that to truly affect the problems of hunger, homelessness, abuse, addiction, and mental illness, the faith community will need to play a major role. But the faith community, for the most part and for the longest time, has not been invited to the table, nor has it felt welcomed there. Thankfully, that has recently started to change; we now have a place setting and we have influence. How we respond is up to us. Leading this session via a panel are the very individuals who are responsible for grants—those who can address protection from faith-based discrimination and rule enforcement.
11:20 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. Stretch Break During this break you can walk down the hall and stretch your legs and also engage with panelists and others in attendance.
11:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. SESSION # 7: Hot Spots Update • Andy Bales – CEO, Union Rescue Mission, (Los Angeles) • Roger Huang – CEO, City Impact Ministries/San Francisco Rescue Mission • John Ashmen – President, Citygate Network HUD's Departmental Conference Room on the 10th floor Nowhere has the issue of unsheltered homelessness been more horrific than in California, Oregon, and Washington. Numbers have grown beyond expectations, and top politicians are finally facing backlash for holding firm on policies that do not appear to be working. What are service providers on the streets seeing and what solutions are they suggesting? What is the federal government’s plan?
12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m. Lunch on Your Own L'Enfant Plaza (immediately west of the HUD building)
1:15 p.m. – 1:40 p.m. Walk to Museum of the Bible Follow your same path back to this popular destination and to the Scholar's Initiative Room on the fifth floor. We will start PROMPTLY at 2:00 p.m.
2:00 p.m. – 2:40 p.m. SESSION #8: Producing and Measuring Improvements in Mental Illness • Shannon Royce – Director, Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives, U.S. Dept. Of Health and Human Services • Ben O’Dell – Program Specialist, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Museum of the Bible Scholar's Initiative Room Citygate Network members report that the number of people in their care that have some form of mental illness is between 30 and 70 percent (depending on location, services offered, and more), but it is one thing we historically haven't talked much about—and we need to start. This session will open the door to much needed conversation within our circles. The government is placing renewed emphasis here…and so should we. Find out what's changing and how to be on the leading edge of what's now going on.
2:40 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. SESSION #9: Making Our Counts Really Count • John Pughe – Director, Center for Faith and Opportunity Initiatives, U.S. Department of Commerce • Kevin Quinley – Director of Strategic Initiatives, U.S. Census Bureau Museum of the Bible Scholar's Initiative Room The 2020 Census gets kicked off in two days. Citygate Network is leading a coalition that’s bringing together all of the faith-based service providers to make sure homeless people are correctly counted so the government has accurate data, which will lead to a better understanding of how many people are really in need. Learn about the collaboration and what you can do locally to be part of this once-every-decade critical data drive.
3:15 p.m. – 3:40 p.m. Snack and Phone Call Break
3:40 p.m. – 4:20 p.m. SESSION #10: How to Meet (and Make an Impression on) Your Lawmakers • John Ashmen, President, Citygate Network Museum of the Bible Scholar's Initiative Room In this valuable session, we will go over handouts that outline the key talking points you should use with Senators and Representatives (and/or their staff) on Wednesday. You'll get the "dos" and "don'ts" for navigating—it's a huge complex—greeting, engaging, and departing. We'll end with prayer and a blessing from another one of our leaders.
4:20 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. Session #11: Justice Must be Served • Katherine Sullivan – Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs Museum of the Bible Scholar's Initiative Room What's happening with immigrations along our border with Mexico...and what's happening all across the country with human trafficking—young women and even young men being taken against their will and sent across the country—is showing up at rescue missions and similar ministries more and more these days. Not only do we need to know how to serve these precious people, we also need to know our obligations under the law. This is where you will learn what's happening and how to intelligently and sympathetically engage.
5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. SESSION #12: Making the Case for Tax Breaks for All Donors • Sandra Swirski – Executive Director, Alliance for Charitable Reform Museum of the Bible Scholar's Initiative Room Many connect the downturn in the nation's support for nonprofits to the Tax Cut and Jobs Act that removed the charitable contribution incentive as it existed for 100 years. Efforts are still underway to restore things through the Universal Charitable Giving Act, and now a new bill from Congressman Danny Davis (D-IL)—and there is headway with both initiatives. This session will track the most recent movement and help you understand what has to happen to get things back to where they were, or to an even better place.
6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Dinner on "Main Street" We're picking up the tab for dinner down on SE 8th Street in the historic Barracks Row neighborhood. It's the oldest commercial district in D.C., named after the Marine barracks that were built there in 1801. The area has seen massive changes over the years but is now benefitting from a renaissance that began about 20 years ago. This quaint commercial corridor has more than 30 restaurants. We've selected four of them in order to offer the best in culinary variety and small-group fellowship.