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Many of those in need served by church volunteers through
Church Care are people without families who are now old
and helpless or have severe health problems. They can’t
work anymore and often their only income is what they
receive from social security, SSI ADC, TANF, food stamps
- minimal incomes. They can make it if they are not hit
with any extra unexpected expenses. They can no longer
keep their houses and yards in repair as they once did.
They haven’t the money to hire it done. Medical problems
take increasing amounts of their meager funds - transportation
needs take more.
Everyday the problems grow worse, the costs increase,
and as their resources vanish day by day, so does their
hope. It is important to realize that these are stories
about the poor, the lonely, the disabled who have nowhere
to turn. Their needs are beyond what agency resources
can provide. If they don’t get care from the churches,
they will not get care - their needs won’t wait for Thanksgiving
and Christmas. The Church Care Clearing
House exists only to help the local Church bridge
the gap between willing Christian hands and hopeless people
that need their care. Can the church help them?
Christian charity - the money kind - will always attract
those looking for easy money - and they find it. The cheating
that goes on is rampant. However, there are many truthful
and legitimate situations that deserve Christian consideration.
How does the church know without a thorough screening
of the stories that are told? Here are a few examples
of genuine requests that we heard, checked out, and to
which churches responded. (full names have been withheld
to respect confidentiality)
Requests for Hands-On Help
A family friend had heard about our services through the
Help Line. He referred John to Help Line, and Help Line
referred him the clearing house for screening. John, a
widower, is in his 80's and has been diagnosed to be suffering
with Frontal Lobe Dementia. John's daughter Jane is his
caregiver, and she cannot leave him alone. Her husband
has suffered a heart attack and is not able to help with
him. Jane has had to find a job to make ends meet. She
takes her father to adult day care for a half day several
days a week. That's all they can afford. The rest of the
time she has a neighbor friend who goes in often just
to check up on him. John's behavior at this point is bizarre
and deteriorating and so are the attendant problems regarding
his care. Their yard has gone to seed and brush. While
the neighbors have not yet reported them to the Health
Department, it is only a matter of time that it will happen
and they will be issued a citation. Jane cannot do this
herself nor can she afford to hire it done - there is
no money. Although the house could stand some fixing up,
just the concerns of the health department will be our
concern for now - mow the grass, cut the brush, clean
up the yard and haul off the brush and trash. We referred
this situation to Grace Community Church in Carmel. Their
volunteers came downtown to take care of a serious problem
that will not go away and can only grow worse by the day.
Volunteers from St. Monica Catholic Church took care of
hauling the brush and trash to the dump. There are a few
things remaining to be done, but they can wait till spring
and their volunteers have graciously invited us to contact
them again at that time.
A young man from Africa had 3 years earlier been abandoned
by his wife who returned to Africa, leaving him with 4
children to raise by himself. More recently, he had lost
his job which, as often happens, led to the loss of his
apartment and a month or so stay in one of our city's
local emergency shelters. At the time we were called in
to help, the staff at the shelter had helped this man
find a new job and had placed him and the children in
an apartment. That was great, but all their belongings
were in storage - placed there when they entered the shelter.
There was nothing in the apartment - they were all sleeping
on the floor. Could we please find volunteers to handle
this situation? We referred this family to the Southport
Presbyterian Church. They supplied the truck and the manpower
and moved all the belongings in. They learned then that
the family's van had just quit running. When they went
to a nearby service station to have a look, the neighbors
told them some kids had tried to drive it off and couldn't,
so they left it in the street and the police had towed
it away. The church and/or volunteers paid the police
tow charge and another to have it towed back to a nearby
station, and the church then paid the repair bill to get
it up and running. With barely enough income to pay the
rent and other necessities, how long would it have been
before this family might function in any normal fashion?
This family was truly touched by the love and kindness
of Jesus and their hope restored by the actions of these
men reaching out to be Christ to a stranger.
Marge is 68, retired and lives alone in the house she
has lived in since 1962. She is a severe diabetic which
requires frequent treatment. She lives on a limited income
- a small pension and Social Security total $988 per month.
Her regular monthly expenses were nearly $700 - okay,
but praying all the time that nothing out of the ordinary
would arise. They always did - every month. Marge was
referred for screening and referral by the Health Department.
They had issued her a citation with a time limit to comply
after which they would have to hire the job done and bill
her for it. Marge was in no way able to comply, nor would
she be able to pay the bill if the work was done. The
Health Department knew this, but they have no choice in
matters such as this. A huge thicket of brush had grown
up along the back and one side of her property which was
a perfect place for trash to be dumped. Trash attracts
rats and other vermin, which in turn attract the attention
of neighbors, and eventually the Health Department. The
neighbors had repeatedly complained of the health problems
present in this situation. We referred this to Grace Fellowship
Church in Greenwood. Two adults and 20 high school kids
came to the inner city in the morning and worked five
hours to clear out the brush and the garbage that had
been dumped there. They stacked up a pile of brush 12
feet high, 10 feet wide and 30 feet long and pulled out
30 or 40 bags of trash. Three volunteers, 2 from St. Monica
Catholic Church and 1 from Post Road Christian Church
came in with a truck and a trailer at 5:00 p.m. that evening
to haul it away. The kids came back to help and worked
another 2 hours, cutting and loading the truck and trailer.
While they were there, they also fixed a couple of down
spouts, did a little painting and put some new numbers
on Marge's house. Here is a beautiful example of the Church
serving "the least of these" - serving Christ
Himself. The neighbors observed, and Christ was made visible
to them right there on their street.
This situation was referred to us by the Marion County
Division of Family and Children. Ruth is a 55 year old
woman with heart problems and who is also diabetic. Her
income totals $613/mo. (SSI and Food Stamps). Her regular
monthly expenses are $550. It is an old trailer that she
owns and pays $155 lot rent. The floor in Ruth's kitchen
has holes through it into the crawl space. Volunteers
are going to have to replace the floor in order to remove
the possibility of serious injury. Volunteers in the office
checked out the details and found all to be true. Ruth
does have some family here, but they are poorer than she
is and don't have the skills to do this job. There were
no agency resources to refer. If we did not locate volunteers
able and willing to do this, it would not be done. We
referred this situation to Post Road Christian Church.
A week or so later they called to report the work was
finished. The church, in this case, had supplied the labor
and the cost of materials as well. Some Christian men
called her one day and told her, "We want to come
and put a new floor in your kitchen". Ruth has a
brand new kitchen floor - something she never dreamed
would happen. Some strangers came to her house one day
and touched her with the love of Christ and were themselves
touched by His love.
Doris was referred by the Health Net Center. Doris is
67, widowed, retired and trying to raise two children
- one an adopted grandson and the other a foster child.
She has a small pension and the rest of her income is
Social Security. Her expenses equal her income. Doris
has cancer, in remission at this time, but the treatment
has damaged tissue and muscle, and she is not able to
walk without support. She needs a railing on her front
porch steps to enable her to come and go without the help
of neighbors. Can you please help her? We say only that
we can try. We can't promise anything, because everything
depends upon volunteers. We referred this need to Christ's
Church Lawrence. They happened to have a parishioner who
was an expert in wrought iron work. He, with the help
of a couple others from the church, fashioned a beautiful
wrought iron railing that meets her utility needs and
satisfies her aesthetics senses as well. She's more than
pleased with what has been done for her - very thankful
and generous with her praise. For the want of a railing,
Doris was prisoner in her house for a long time. What
might be the value of the freedom these Christians have
given her? This is a simple thing on the surface - just
a railing - but, below the surface, freedom, a life giving
matter.
Johnnie May is single, age 66, lives alone and is disabled.
She suffers with arthritis, such that she can't walk without
a walker. She suffers respiratory disease as well. Johnnie
May moved from an apartment on the westside because she
was always afraid - several attempts had been made to
break her door locks to get into her place. She told us
that the help she was able to get to move her to her present
address just moved everything in and left - that's all
they agreed to do. She is unable to unpack boxes and get
her place in order. We inquired about her home church,
but she said her pastor is ailing and the church is not
even in service anymore. Johnnie May is in need of a crew
- women it would seem - to come into her house and set
it in order, just empty all the boxes and put stuff in
their right place. The situation was screened for truth
- no family, no money, no agency to help. A full written
request/report was e-mailed to a network church and accepted...
but before the call for help went out to church volunteers,
Johnnie May called again. She had won the opportunity
to move into a Section 8 apartment for $154 per month
including gas and electric. She couldn't afford not to
take it, even though she's only been in her current apartment
for 2 months. It's a complicated situation, because she
lives on only $680 per month, and she doesn't have all
she needs to get all this done. We asked the church to
strike the first request and sent them a new request/report.
They provided a volunteer to spend a good part of a day
help to Johnnie May take care of some things that had
to be done before they could move her. The volunteer drove
Johnnie first to a store to get money orders, then to
her landlady of the present place to pay her rent there
and to deliver a letter of intent to move out of her apartment.
Then she was driven to her new landlady to deliver the
deposit needed to hold that apartment. We called both
companies, explained the situation, and they agreed to
give Johnnie May extra time to pay those bills. The church,
Post Road Christian, moved a very grateful Johnnie May
into a permanent address where she can make it on her
$680 SSI check.
Requests for Money
Jennie is 35 and on total disability. Her education stopped
in the 8th grade. She suffers acute diabetes and has cancer
of the uterus - surgery is waiting until she gets resettled.
She and her two sons were living with her boyfriend in
an abusive relationship. When she finally told him she
and her kids were moving into an apartment of their own,
he beat her badly. The police were called, and they advised
her that there was no way they could guarantee he would
stay away. They talked her into going into a shelter and
delivered her and the boys to that shelter. From there
she worked diligently to find a place to live and finally
found a place that would take her without a credit reference.
She began calling churches from the yellow pages asking
help for the first month's rent, $445 plus $200 deposit.
A Carmel church in the network took her call and referred
her to us for screening. The folks at Holy Family Shelter
told us she had already made contact with another church
in Indianapolis. She had told her story and they had pledged
$100 towards the rent if she could verify she had the
rest. Holy Family Shelter pledged $200 to cover the deposit.
Jennie had $120 saved from her last entitlement checks.
The remainder needed to move into this apartment was then
$220. Gas and electric is included in her rent. The Carmel
church pledged the $220. We asked the landlord to let
Jennie move in without prepaying the rent and deposit.
He agreed and Jennie and her boys moved into the apartment
the day before Thanksgiving. We arranged with another
church in the network to deliver Jennie and her boys their
Thanksgiving Day dinner. These are the kinds of responses
that make Christ visible. Just days before Jennie called
in desperation - a few days later, 3 churches show her
a mercy she had no reason to expect. Sometimes it will
be miracles (it is to her) like this that open the heart
just a crack that the light of Jesus might finally shine
in. Let's pray that this is her time. All this is a bonus
for us, because the way this worked out, the Indianapolis
church that had pledged the $100 was not then in the network.
Today they are. God is Good!
Jack is age 63, divorced for 15 years, and very ill. He
was referred by Mid-Town Health after his doctors ordered
a move from the building he is in for health reasons.
Jack has skin cancer. He has heart problems and lung problems
- he's on oxygen. He is on the 4th floor where he is,
and he cannot get his wheelchair through the inside doors.
He is moving to an apartment that better accommodates
his health problems. Jack's rent is paid up to the 20th
where he is now, and he has paid the rent at the new address
beginning on the 21st. That does not give us the time
we need to find volunteer moving help through the churches.
He did make numerous calls to moving companies for cost
quotes to move him. The lowest quote he received was $300.
Jack is on disability and his total monthly income is
$621. He doesn't have $300. Notice is too short (20th)
to assure our success in a request effort to obtain the
$300 from the churches. We called the moving company,
explained the situation, and he agreed to work with us.
He will move Jack before the 20th, and he will expect
payment of his $300 charge by the end of the month. We
do not have the $300. Everything Jack told us was checked
out and found true. We e-mailed this situation to three
churches - all contact information, a full narrative,
maps, where he is now and where he is to move. We asked
each of the churches for $100 and provided the moving
company's address and other contact information. All three
churches responded.
Johna is divorced, has two sons, and only a junior high
education - but she works for her living. She is asking
the church for $450 rent. She had been doing very well
until just recently. She works at her current job for
over two years. She was taken to the hospital with acute
appendicitis one day before her insurance eligibility.
The hospital bill is $9700. Shortly thereafter she was
stopped for DWI - swears she's not a drinker. She just
got overwhelmed with the huge debt thing hanging over
her head, had too much to drink, and was jailed. That
added to her woes - $300 to get out of jail, $100 to get
her car back, and $250 for a lawyer. It took all she had.
She was broke and had no one to turn to - no family to
help - no church. We told her $450 was too much to ask
from one church and told her to call churches and ask
for small amounts. We questioned her a few days later
regarding her progress. We had advised her to work out
a payment arrangement with the hospital - one that she
thought she could handle and call us back. She did that
and she worked hard to raise money towards her rent. She
was still short $150. Her landlord verified a good tenant/landlord
relationship since she moved in there. We let her know
we would try to find the $150 for her because she is doing
all she could to help herself. She is not on welfare except
food stamps, and she did what she was supposed to do to
make sure her husband pays child support. We e-mailed
a full report to the referring church indicating Johna
had been truthful and that this one time help would keep
her off the welfare roles and out of the shelter. The
amount she originally asked of the church was $450 - she
worked it down to just $150. Johna reported her situation
truthfully and her willingness to take instruction and
follow through with hard work on her own part was key
- the referring church responded. This one gift of $150
from the church put her back on track.
Greg is a carpenter and out of work. He moved with his
wife and three kids to Indianapolis from Northern Indiana
hoping to find to work. He had been several weeks in the
home of a friend here, but has to move now. To pay his
way he had hocked $2,000 worth of tools, and he is days
away from losing them. He needed $392 to redeem them.
We advised him to seek help from the trustee in his area.
He already had and was refused - no job, no job prospects,
no address. For these same reasons, plus no time to check
the out of town information, we could not refer them into
the church network. We advised him to move his family
into a shelter and provided the contact information. He
would have 30 days subsistence, professional help, no
expenses, time and a base to work hard and steady at finding
work. A few days later he called from the shelter. He
had found a job with a local contractor. True - we checked
it out - but his start date was 2 weeks away. The deadline
for redeeming his tools was tomorrow. "Can you find
someone to help us? I've got a job and no tools."
No, too late to arrange with churches, but what we might
be able to do is buy him a 30 day time extension on his
two pawn tickets. We explained the situation to the two
pawn shops-they agreed to wait a couple of days. The clearing
house has no funds, but we paid for the extensions and
asked a couple of network churches to reimburse us for
the outlay. Greg, now with a job and no expenses for three
weeks, was able to borrow from his friend the money to
redeem his tools. Now he had to find a place to live.
He has a job, he had his tools and an address (shelter
addresses count). We sent him back to the Trustees office.
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