You can give the hungry some food, the cold a warm blanket, the homeless a place to stay, or the poor some money.
Or, you can give them these things and give them work.
Or provide them with help in making their own path out of poverty.
Or supply them with a home at low cost that they helped buy and build.
Or give them the means to raise their own food and income.
Or meet a child’s physical and developmental needs in order to change their life.
Here are just 6 examples of groups doing more than just a hand out.
“There’s a Better Way”
There’s a new program in Albuquerque, NM. Instead of giving panhandlers a citation, or the homeless just food and blankets, they give them work also. It’s called “There’s A Better Way” (you may have seen this video on Facebook). Twice a week they find and ask people if they want to work. The offer is to work for 5.5 hours in a day for $9 hour. The job is cleaning up weeds and trash. They get paid cash at the end of the day AND can get food and services if they need them. It gives them some dignity, pride, connections, and something productive to do. And a better way . .
This program feeds and clothes people and connects them to emergency shelter. But through their upLIFT program they also help low-income people overcome their circumstances to achieve more independence and a better life.
This may be the most well-known of these groups. They were founded in 1976 (but started working a few years before that). They build, renovate and repair houses both here and overseas. Volunteers supply the work, donations pay for the materials. This is also not a giveaway program, the partner families help pay for and work on their homes.
This is an international organization that is, again, not just a hand out. They bring sustainable agriculture and commerce to areas with poverty using education, and by giving them an animal. A heifer, goat sheep, rabbit, pig, chicken, duck, etc. This gives them food and income. And the neat part is – the family shares the training and gives the first female offspring to another family – to pass on the gift.
Bethesda Mission reaches out to men, women and children to Rescue, Redeem and Restore. They give them food and shelter, introduce them to the power and love of Jesus, and help them build a new life – finding a job, managing money, finding shelter and a church.
This is one of my personal favorites. The children in their programs get food, clothing, health care – and education. To change the child’s life and get them out of poverty. This is a one-on-one sponsorship program since 1952 where you can truly change a child’s future. I could say a lot more, maybe for another post. . .
There are lots of other programs and examples of not just giving a hand out, but also a hand up. Don’t get me wrong. Food banks, soup kitchens, homeless shelters – these are needed. There are real immediate needs to be met. But that’s not enough. It’s like that saying I mentioned before in two earlier blog posts – “teach a man to fish. . .”
Comments, suggestions? Groups and programs that you know of or support? Please reply below
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