Helping the Poor
If you want to talk about faith-based initiatives, I am in the thick of it. My grandfather has teased me to no end ever since he found out that I am the benevolence agent for the church where I am employed. He's always telling me not to be so hard-hearted. Technically, I am under the governance of the Benevolence Committee in this capacity, but the major part of the decision process is left to me. Here are some of the guidelines they have laid out for me--
- Photo Identification is required.
- There will be no distribution of cash money to any person.
- Certain monthly bills and other expenses are not our responsibility and it is not our policy to distribute funds for light bills, phone bills, rent or house payment, medicines, clothing, or motel rooms.
- We can help with groceries (up to $30), gasoline (not to exceed $15) and bus tickets (up to $30).
In addition to this the ladies of the church operate a food pantry that is mostly stocked with items for people who are homeless or traveling. Through it we distribute vienna sausages, beans, fruit cups, juice boxes, etc.
Unless there are very unusual circumstances, we only help a person once. That's it--one time.
Not once a year or once every couple of years, one time-period.
Yearly, the church budgets around $2000 for benevolence. We usually run out of budgeted funds by August or September.
On top of all this, I can honestly tell you that about 85% of the time I feel like I am giving out help to people who don't deserve it and don't really honestly need it. The rest of the time, I wish that there were some way to do more.
And by more, I mean, I wish that I could give those that really need our help better than the one time fix that we offer. Have you been to the grocery store lately? I can't get out of there without spending $50 and we only give them $30. A bus ticket for $30 dollars will basically only get you to the next state. I'm pretty sure that anyone traveling on one of those tickets is only going to the next town and the next church to ask for help again. And what happens when the half-tank of gas we provide runs out?
We don't offer these people any way out of the mess they are in. We don't offer any kind of solution. We don't offer anything that will really change the direction their lives are headed.
It's depressing, because when I really want to help someone all I can offer is a temporary fix, or even worse, just a band-aid to slap over the problem. Until you can offer people a way to support themselves, you haven't really helped them.
Now, I've told you about the people that I feel really deserve help. Let me tell you about the ones who don't.
I understand that there are people in this world that have not had the opportunities I have had. I understand that there are people in the world that have not been raised with good manners, or job-seeking skills, or even blessed with common sense. However, anyone who comes looking for help and is not willing to answer a few questions, does not deserve help. Anyone who shambles into my office, plops down in a chair, grabs a handful of candy from the candy bowl, and proceeds with a mouthful of candy to say, "Is this where they give out the food vouchers?" does not deserve help. Anyone who brings their neighbor and their best friend, and their best friend's mama, who all say, "Me too," when you bring out the application for assistance, does not deserve help.
The very large woman who drives up in a large practically new car, and talks on a cell phone while answering my questions, does not need help. Her friend that she brings back a day later doesn't need it either.
The guy who comes in asking for a bus ticket that's more than we can afford to help with, but gets food from the pantry and three hours later shows up looking for more food, does not need help. His friend that shows up with him two days later with money in his hand asking for help with a bus ticket, doesn't need it.
The cross-dressed man who comes in and tries to hit on the preacher does not need help with a bus ticket--unless it is to a psychiatric ward. (That was a day to remember.)
What's really tough about this is that sometimes it gets really scary. I don't know when or if one of the people that I turn away (and believe me I try to be very kind when I have to do this) will become violent. We have taken steps to make sure that I am never truly alone with these strangers, but there's always a chance that one could be carrying a weapon, or waiting for me when I leave to go to home. I don't want to think that someone would do this, but they are essentially trying to steal from the church. I wouldn't put it past them.
I can honestly say that on occasion I have given out assistance just to get people to leave. I have had to call the police several times. I have told some people repeatedly that they needed i.d. just to have them show up without it over and over. I have told some that we only help once, only to have them return over and over wanting me to make an exception. This is not easy.
So the next time you hear about faith-based initiatives replacing government assistance programs, think about the church down the street. This isn't an answer to this problem. It just puts it in different hands.
Until an organization can offer someone in need a job--there is no solution.
posted by Daffy76 @ 5:24 AM
2 Comments:
"So the next time you hear about faith-based initiatives replacing government assistance programs, think about the church down the street. This isn't an answer to this problem. It just puts it in different hands."
Well, not exactly.
It puts it into the hands of people who can and will evaluate the situation in real time, and assess the probability of fraud.
It puts it into the hands of people who have to be accountable for the money and goods that they distribute.
It puts it into the hands of people who do not have an unlimited budget, and who have no incentive to use up all of the funds allocated to them so that they can increase their budget and demand for revenues next year.
It puts it into the hands of people WHO WILL SAY NO.
the next time someone comes to you for help with a Cell phone in their hand, offer them $20 for their cell phone.
Ask them if they have a television set. If they say yes, then offer them $30 for that.
$200 for the rims off their car.
If they have these things, then they still have resources. They are not yet desperate enough to resort to begging and pan-handling.
(Unless you count handling pans down at Denny's 6 or 8 hours a day.)
Get a stack of job applications from McDonald's, Wendy's, and Burger King. When the down-trodden and disadvantaged come in asking for help, make them fill one out, and offer to return it for them, and to call them back to schedule an appointment for an interview. Tell the managers of these establishments what you are doing. They will cooperate. These type of establishments are notoriuosly lax with their scheduling requirements. They will work around the individual's family obligations, as long as they show up when they promise to, or call in when plans change. If the poor, down-trodden individuals are not receptive to this method of assistance, then they obviously are not desperate yet. (Don't worry. You will never place an employee with one of these establishments.)
I know that I may sound a little hard-hearted and cold, but to me it seems to be more of a long term/big picture type solution for people who are in need than a one-time $30 food voucher.
Give them the voucher, by all means. But then help them to help themselves out of the situation that made them need the voucher in the first place.
And this will seperate those who actually need help from those whoare fishing for a handout.
My point with that statement was that handouts are not ever going to be a solution to this problem, no matter where they come from. It came out like I was against faith-based initiatives, but I'm not. (By the way, the hampster in my brain has to slow to a crawl to even spell the word "initiative." Is that a bad sign?) I want to see government assistance obliterated. But under the guidelines I have been given this church is not equipped to help anybody at all. To really help, the guidelines would have to change drastically and people a lot higher on the totem pole would have to be involved in these decisions. It's sad to say but a lot of the time I feel that I'm just here to keep "dirty people" from bothering the preacher. And I like your suggestions. But the problem with most of them is that they take time. Time is not a luxury that I have been given in dealing with this.
It is not being hard-hearted and cold to expect people to work to support themselves. I have to do it. Why shouldn't they?
And it is not and should not be the government's business to insure survival. That sounds harsh, but it is true. It's great of the government to want to help, but it's not their job, anymore than my job is to scrub the toilets, or prepare lunch for the daycare kids. Helping people is supposed to be one mission (if not the first mission)of Christians. So I do believe that faith-based initiatives are the right thing to do. But hand-outs are not going to cut it.
Our government is supposed to maintain order and allow people to live in freedom. That means freedom to fly or freedom to fall. By taking my tax dollars to fund government assistance programs they are both hindering my ability to fly and insuring that others will wallow in failure.
Post a Comment
<< Home