Will work for food, Part 1

Scribbled on a cardboard sign. Those words are haunting. How do you decide who to help? How to help?

Is it the one who has to move to a different apartment in order to remove the breathing difficulties? Is it the person who had surgery and saved some money but didn't anticipate a slower recovery? There's the one with the sign, "Single mom soon to be evicted. Need help."

Churches have to decide. It's a tough decision...the toughest.

Treat people respectfully and with love in all cases. Be a good manager of the available resources; ask the difficult questions.

Regardless of the presenting need, there's more to the story. How did they get here? What is the next problem around the corner after this problem gets solved? Is there a plan for change?

Tell me where your church draws the line. Members only, attendees, or anyone who asks? Money, food bank, or other items given? Limited to a dollar amount or frequency of the request? Donations or from budgeted funds? Individual or team decision of who receives help?  I'll post how we do it in a couple days.

Comments

[Mark Burleson]

Good post. Our church has a we-care center where anyone can go for help. We usually never just give money though to non-members and then its still a bit on the strict side because unfortunately some people are looking for handouts.

We also have tried to help the will work for food people to get jobs, some are serious others weren't and just wanted money.

In Tulsa, we have had a group who are happy being "bums" if you will. They have a whole underworld culture where they were charging other homeless people rent to stay in their "villiage" they built under one of the highways.

[ryan]

Giving financial help is an outreach - it needs to be provided to the community. But as the community does not have the ethics we are accustom to there needs to be standards. Instead of giving cash it should be food if they are hungry, fuel cards if they need gas for the car, a check to the landlord if they need rent. But then if the church does not give the full rent they need to make sure that the whole is paid, what a shame to give a landlord 300 of a 600 rent and still the person gets kicked out. Also churches should talk with each other, some people will learn that all they need to do is make rounds, making a living off our giving.

While giving outside the church can be done by a small group from a special fund giving within the church should involve everyone. It should be more widely know who needs help and how. Hiding each others finances results in two people sitting next to each other, one so rich he has an extra car the next so poor his he is about to loose his job because of lack of dependable transportation.

Also small medium and large churches have to approach the financial giving in different ways. Sometimes I think the small churches have an easier time giving outside because they do not have so many needs inside.

[Now to jump to Mark's comment, why is it that everyone needs to live in a 10000 (or larger) square foot house with yard two cars and a dog? A majority of the world does not live like that, they live like the 'bums.' maybe they are making the right choice, or closer to it that 'we' are.]

[Bill Blackrick]

As a minister in Florida, we have a growing problem with rising insurance costs and living expenses. My church is a relatively smaller church and we don't have the funds to help everyone financially. We give food from our food bank to those who actually take it and aren't just out for money. Any financial assitance outside the church is referred to a religious service in town that screens the people to make sure they are legitimate. If a candidate is helped through them then there information is given to the church to further assist them as needed. The Manatee\Sarasota County area where I serve is also seeing a huge rise in homeless people. We have even had break-ins from some people trying to find food and money. I wish there was a way to help everyone but the church can't forget the needs of its memebers who have problems arise.