A big THANK YOU to the Crisis Assistance Ministry team that came out for the discussion last night: CEO Carol Hardison, Director of Financial and Housing Stability Services Men Tchaas Ari, Chief Advancement Officer Michelle Hamilton, and the wonderful Laura Thompson, Development Specialist. They were great. The more I get to know the C.A. team, the more strongly I feel that partnering with them is the best way for us to start serving those in need in Charlotte. They’re smart, dedicated, and passionate about people.
For those who missed the discussion, here’s a brief recap of my top takeaways (in no particular order):
– C.A. began as a collaboration between Charlotte churches who loved the poor.
– They have experienced a 100% increase in traffic in the last three years, 30 thousand of which were first timers.
– Some Charlotte kids missed their first day(s) of school because their parent’s couldn’t afford school clothes.
– One major need in Charlotte is mattresses. It’s illegal to sell used mattresses; but not to give them away.
– Another major need is men’s clothing, especially work clothes such as boots.
– Everything C.A. does is designed to “clothe people in dignity”.
– Goodwill has a program for training/placing people into jobs. It has an 80% success rate.
– There are volunteer opportunities for anyone from five-years-old and up. Many volunteer as a family.
– When helping those in need, if it’s fast it’s probably not helpful and if it’s helpful it’s probably not fast. People need people, not programs – and each person’s situation is highly unique. Poverty alleviation is messy, long term work and I’m impressed with how the C.A. folks are wrestling with the deeper issues of poverty.
Though they were reluctant to say so, their primary need is funding. Secondarily there are many volunteer opportunities such as working in the Free Store production area, bringing food for the folks waiting in line, and donating clothing/furniture.
Dulins Grove currently gives 10% of the deacon’s fund to C.A, which honestly doesn’t amount to much. Since we refer an average of one person per week to them, each person with an average need of around $500, I think we need to find ways to give more. Along with greater financial giving, what do you think we should do to help?
And for those who attended, please share your number one takeaway in the comments section below.