Ten churches in the Oxford/Orion area have joined forces to meet needs and change lives as the North Oakland affiliate of Love In the Name of Christ (Love INC for short).
‘What it is is being the hands and feet of Christ,? said Sarah Clark, vice president of the new affiliate’s board of directors and representative for Christ the King Church.
Love INC was founded in 1977 in Holland, Michigan as a way to encourage churches to become more engaged with the poor and to inpsire a greater number of Christians to put their faith into action.
Headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Love INC enables churches in a community to pool their resources and services so those in need are not turned away.
More than 130 Love INC affiliates in 30 states help more than 1 million people in need each year through over 8,000 churches, 5,000 community agencies and 186,000 volunteers.
‘Think of it like a wheel on a bicycle, the hub is Love INC and each of the are spokes is one of the community churches,? Clark explained.
The foundation of all Love INC affiliates is the clearinghouse model, which provides a centralized point to receive all requests for help via telephone from churches, pastors, agencies, individuals and families.
This clearinghouse is a benefit to churches as well as those in need.
It’s difficult and time-consuming for churches to help everyone on their own, according to Clark, who works in the office at Christ the King.
‘There’s a lot of legwork involved,? she said. ‘If it’s for rent or assistance, you verify the need. You can’t just give the money. You have to call the landlord, make the check out to the landlord. It takes a lot of time.?
‘It also helps the clients because it keeps them from having to go banging on church doors and going literally from one church to another,? said Bobbi Patton, president of the North Oakland affiliate’s board of directors and representative for St. Mary’s in the Hills Episcopal Church. ‘If we centralize all of that in our clearinghouse and determine all of their needs, then we can send them to the various places or those places can come to the client.?
Office space for a clearinghouse has been donated in Lake Orion’s Georgetown Building by local dentist Dr. John Mastromatteo. But the office isn’t taking calls just yet as there is no phone.
When churches or individuals are able to call the clearinghouse, specially trained Love INC volunteers or staff screen the request to learn the extent of the need and its legitimacy, and discover any deeper issues fueling the crisis.
‘Clients are interviewed by Love INC to determine exactly what their need is because they might be out of food today, but maybe it’s because they’ve made bad life choices or they don’t know how to balance a checkbook or they don’t know how to create a budget,? Patton said.
‘We try to determine as well as we can what their particular needs are and then determine what sort of aid is going to help them out,? Patton explained. ‘Just giving them food for today on an emergency basis may not be the answer to their problems.?
From learning life skills to becoming a better parent to training for a higher-paying job, Love INC will teach people how to fish rather than just giving them one.
‘There’s more depth to it then (just meeting material needs), it’s changing people’s lives,? Clark said. ‘Maybe they’ve made some bad choices or maybe the circumstances could be out of their control, they’re in a hot spot. Love INC is helping them change their lives so they can get off that treadmill.?
‘When a person’s hand is on the burner all they can think about is their hand hurting. If they’re hungry, all they can think about is being hungry.?
Love INC also determinies what help the client has already received from agencies or churches, and ensures the need is manageable and specific.
Clark said this aspect helps prevent churches from being taken advantage of.
‘Some people, it’s sad to say, will go from place to place to place and get a little bit from each,? she said. ‘The clearinghouse is going to eliminate someone misusing the system.?
Once a request has been evaluated, it’s then referred to the most appropriate Love INC partner church, agency or faith-based organization to meet the need.
Love INC then does follow-up work by reviewing the outcome to see if the immediate need was met and if there’s a core issue that requires long-term attention.
The clearinghouse keeps a history of those it helps ‘so, if you see a pattern develops, you can deal with it,? according to Clark.
The follow-up also provides an opportunity for the recipient to become connected to a local church if he or she wants to.
‘It is a Christian agency and Christ is first,? Clark said. ‘As they’re being fed or as they get some of the physical comforts taken care of,? Love INC volunteers are there ‘mentoring them, loving them, showing them God’s love and teaching them and giving them Christ.?
But before Love INC can do any of this it needs a few things like staff and funding.
‘This is the Lord’s project so He’s going to meet our needs,? Clark said. ‘We really believe that.?
Patton said the board of directors? ‘big responsibility? right now is hiring an executive director so ‘we can actually start functioning as a clearinghouse.?
‘Right now, we’re not set up to do much of anything,? she said.
The executive director would manage the office and volunteers along with initially answering, assessing and making calls regarding requests.
‘Ideally, we’d love to have that director in place before the end of the year. That’s what we’re striving for,? Clark said. ‘As (the Love INC affiliate) develops and it gets bigger, there will be more people added, hopefully, to the staff.?
But in order to hire an executive director Love INC needs money. ‘We think initially (the executive director’s job is) going to have to be part-time because basically we don’t have any money,? Patton said. ‘We are working to raise funds. We have a couple of churches that have said they could make a fairly significant financial commitment, but we still have a ways to go to get enough money to appeal to anybody even on a part-time basis.?
To help raise funds, Love INC is hosting a progressive dinner and silent auction from 5 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 16.
The dinner will start with appetizers at the Oxford Free Methodist Church. Silent auction items will be on display there. Everyone will then head over to St. Joseph Catholic Church in Lake Orion for the main course.
As the final stop, Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church in Orion will host dessert and the silent auction.
Tickets are $20 each. Each church in the affiliate was given 20 tickets to sell.
Those interested in purchasing tickets can call either Patton at (248) 628-4428 or Clark at Christ the King’s number (248) 628-0038.
Love INC’s Oxford/Orion affiliate meets on the second Monday of the month at 7 p.m. in the Georgetown Building in Lake Orion.
‘The board meetings are open so anybody who wants to come and learn more about the organization can,? said Clark. ‘We are way, way open to any other churches in the area that want to join.?
Clark described the affiliate’s boundaries as ‘north to county line, then over to Ortonville and Clarkston, up I-75 to Orion.? It also stretches to the Dequindre line in Rochester.
‘It’s quite an area,? she said. ‘We’re getting more churches and more interest all the time.?
For more information visit www.loveinc.org.
and then determine what sort of aid is going to help them out,? Patton explained. ‘Just giving them food for today on an emergency basis may not be the answer to their problems.?
From learning life skills to becoming a better parent to training for a better job, Love INC will teach people how to fish rather than just giving them one.
‘There’s more depth to it then (just meeting material needs), it’s changing people’s lives,? Clark said. ‘Maybe they’ve made some bad choices or maybe the circumstances could be out of their control, they’re in a hot spot. Love INC is helping them change their lives so they can get off that treadmill.?
‘When a person’s hand is on the burner all they can think about is their hand hurting. If they’re hungry all they can think about is being hungry.?
Love INC also determinies what help the client has already received from agencies or churches, and ensures the need is manageable and specific.
Clark said this aspect helps prevent churches from being taken advantage of.
‘Some people, it’s sad to say, will go from place to place to place and get a little bit from each,? she said. ‘The clearinghouse is going to eliminate someone misusing the system.?
One a request has been evaluated, it’s then referred to the most appropriate Love INC partner church, agency or faith-based organization to meet the need.
Love INC then does follow-up work by reviewing the outcome to see if the immediate need was met and if there’s a core issue that requires long-term attention.
The clearinghouse keeps a history of those it helps ‘so, if you see a pattern develops, you can deal with it,? according to Clark.
The follow-up also provides an opportunity for the recipient to become connected to a local church if he or she wants to.
‘It is a Christian agency and Christ is first,? Clark said. ‘As they’re being fed or as they get some of the physical comforts taken care of,? Love INC volunteers are there ‘mentoring them, loving them, showing them God’s love and teaching them and giving them Christ.?
But before Love INC can do any of this it needs a few things like staff and funding.
‘This is the Lord’s project so He’s going to meet our needs,? Clark said. ‘We really believe that.?
Patton said the board of directors? ‘big responsibility? right now is hiring an executive director so ‘we can actually start functioning as a clearinghouse.?
‘Right now, we’re not set up to do much of anything,? she said.
The executive director would manage the office and volunteers along initially answering, assessing and making calls regarding requests.
‘Ideally, we’d love to have that director in place before the end of the year. That’s what we’re striving for,? Clark said. ‘As (the Love INC affiliate) develops and it gets bigger, there will be more people added, hopefully, to the staff.?
But in order to hire an executive director Love INC needs money.
‘We think initially (the executive director’s job is) going to have to be part-time because basically we don’t have any money,? Patton said. ‘We are working to raise funds. We have a couple of churches that have said they could make a fairly significant financial commitment, but we still have a ways to go to get enough money to appeal to anybody even on a part-time basis.?
To help raise funds, Love INC is hosting a progressive dinner and silent auction from 5 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 16.
The dinner will start with appetizers at the Oxford Free Methodist Church. Silent auction items will be on display there.
Everyone will then head over to St. Joseph Catholic Church in Lake Orion for the main course.
Dessert will be served and the silent auction will take place at Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church in Orion.
Tickets are $20 each. Each church in the affiliate was given 20 tickets to sell.
Those interested in purchasing tickets can call either Patton at (248) 628-4428 or Clark at Christ the King’s number (248) 628-0038.
Love INC’s Oxford/Orion affiliate meets on the second Monday of the month at 7 p.m. in the Georgetown Building in Lake Orion.
‘The board meetings are open so anybody who wants to come and learn more about the organization can,? said Clark. ‘We are way, way open to any other churches in the area that want to join.?
Clark described the affiliate’s boundaries as ‘north to county line, then over to Ortonville and Clarkston, up I-75 to Orion.? It also stretches to the Dequindre line in Rochester.
‘It’s quite an area,? she said. ‘We’re getting more churches and more interest all the time.?