Faith in Our Own Backyard

Congregations and faith-based organizations coordinate valuable local services aimed at lifting Americans out of poverty—ensuring they have clothes on their backs, food in their stomachs, and warm places to sleep at night. One welfare-to-work study of Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, and Philadelphia found that 35% of the non-profit programs were faith-based in nature. Perhaps the only thing that is overwhelmingly evident in analyzing the role of congregations and faith-based organizations in our communities is that if these groups are unable to provide these services going forward, the United States would be faced with an overwhelming crisis at the breakdown of its social services safety net.

Over 1.7 million residents of New York City live in poverty. Though about 48% of adults between 15 and 65 were both food insecure and unemployed, employed New Yorkers, living in one of the most expensive cities in the world, also suffer from food scarcity. Nearly 474,000 children in New York City, amounting to roughly 1 in 4 children, don’t get enough to eat. These people—our neighbors, teachers, shop keepers—are struggling right in our own backyards.

In New York, congregations of differing faiths often join together to feed those in need. Each year, Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic leaders combine forces in an interfaith effort to combat hunger in New York. For two months, the congregations collect and distribute food packages to shelters and food pantries throughout the New York City area, with a goal of supplying 1 million meals to feed those in need and reduce food insecurity throughout the city.

Halfway across the country in the Detroit metro area, over 34,000 people suffer from homelessness, including over 5,000 children. Michigan has the greatest rate of homelessness in the Midwest, and is ranked 5th nationally for the number of homeless residents. Faith-based organizations are stepping up in a big way to provide safe and warm shelter for men, women, and children in the often freezing nights. A group of just 11 faith-based shelters is able to provide beds to over one thousand people in need every night—one thousand people, who can get off of the street, get to safety, and have the comfort of a warm bed when they need it most.

In New York, congregations of differing faiths often join together to feed those in need. Each year, Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic leaders combine forces in an interfaith effort to combat hunger in New York. For two months, the congregations collect and distribute food packages to shelters and food pantries throughout the New York City area, with a goal of supplying 1 million meals to feed those in need and reduce food insecurity throughout the city.

In Chicago, efforts of Catholic non-profits provide services to local seniors, so they can continue to live independently or with the help of caregivers, with dignity and compassion. By providing several services, including housekeeping, transportation, delivered meals, and subsidized housing, seniors are seeing an improved quality of life and are avoiding the need for institutionalized care. Over three thousand seniors have benefited from homemaker assistance, with 96% being able to remain in their homes. Thousands more have taken advantage of companionship provided by senior centers and receive protection through the organization’s elder abuse services. The Catholic effort operates twenty subsidized senior living apartments throughout the Chicagoland area, helping needy seniors retain their autonomy and keep their own homes.

The evangelical community provides assistance to men, women and children in almost 100 countries. Domestically, their efforts have included lifting Americans, especially children, out of poverty and hardship. In 2014, a single evangelical faith-based organization served roughly 1.7 million adults and children through their domestic programs. They have helped 175,487 teachers and students obtain school supplies in support of low-income communities. The effort helps to provide new school supplies, clothing, backpacks, and other supplies to students attending schools with 70% or greater poverty rates. Teachers impacted by the education program have expressed that the supplies provided not only increased classroom participation but also improved kids’ attitudes about school. Other teachers found that they saw improved attendance, improved homework completion, and an increased sense of pride. The program continues to improve, reaching out to more and more kids to give them the things they need to stay in school.

In 2014, a faith-based mission organization conducted a survey of 114 gospel rescue missions in North America, to look at a snapshot of those in need of assistance. Of those surveyed, roughly 35% of people suffering from homelessness on a single night, were homeless for the first time. At a mission in Boise in 2014, 2,000 people sought shelter who had never experienced homelessness before. Over the span of two years, the numbers of homeless women and children in need of shelter resources doubled. In Charleston, West Virginia, one mission fed roughly 50,000 people per month, amounting to roughly 15,000 families. This number represents those who have shelter, but are struggling day to day with feeding their families. Of the missions surveyed, roughly 27% can be classified as chronically homeless, and roughly 24% have been homeless for three or more times previously.

Another glaring gap needing to be filled can be seen amongst the veteran population. Roughly 14% of those surveyed were veterans, 25% of whom had served in Vietnam. Members of these missions serve "between 40-50 million meals a year, provide roughly 15-20 million nights of lodging, [and] distribute more than 25 million pieces of clothing." These missions provide support to abuse victims and are responsible for graduating roughly 20,000 individuals from addiction-recovery programs, helping them to become contributing members of society.