Faith and Charity: How Faith-Based Organizations and Nonprofits Are Working Together to Solve Social Issues
With various holidays in December fast approaching, we wanted to take a moment to celebrate the roles faith-based organizations in the U.S. play in serving our communities. Some of the country’s largest and oldest nonprofit organizations have their roots in faith traditions, and the role faith-based organizations continue to play centuries later is remarkable. Answering the call of their faith, congregations from all faith traditions across the country engage daily in and with the nonprofit sector to solve issues like poverty and education. In this blog, we cover the ways most operate – as resource providers, service providers or advocates – and how this is evolving in many communities, including my home state of Texas.
Model #1: Resource Provider
One of the most common roles faith-based organizations play is that of resource provider to the social sector. Nonprofits have benefitted greatly from faith-based organizations that share financial, in-kind and volunteer contributions in support of causes affecting the community. For example, some churches have invited nonprofit organizations to share space on their property to run food pantries or clothing closets. Other faith-based organizations have donated funds and encouraged congregants to volunteer as mentors or office assistants in schools and community-based organizations.
Model #2: Service Provider
Seeing first-hand the distress some of their neighbors and congregants face, faith-based organizations sometimes assume the role of direct service provider. Occasionally, what starts as a small program of the faith-based organization grows so much that it is spun off into an independent nonprofit organization. In Dallas, a good example of this is Project Transformation, started by the United Methodist Church, which has been scaled across the country. Alternatively, a faith community can identify a need in the community and serve as a catalyst for a nonprofit to get started. In Dallas, we have a number of organizations, such as Jubilee Park, Incarnation Place and The Wilkinson Center, which were born out of a faith community coming together to address a need by helping start a nonprofit. We also have been pleased to share in a recent post how the Jewish community has come together to spur innovative thinking as well as entrepreneurship to address community needs.
Recommended by LinkedIn
Model #3: Influencer/Advocate
American faith-based organizations have increasingly assumed the role of organizer, influencer or advocate to affect political and social change. They work alone or with a coalition of organizations to address the underlying causes of issues like poverty, education, homelessness and childhood trauma. In some communities, faith-based organizations have organized to influence policy changes on children’s issues, homelessness and hunger.
In fact, we have also worked closely with new nonprofits in Texas started by leaders in the faith community who have become warriors for our toughest issues. We have been pleased to work with organizations, such as UNITE, which connects Christian leaders to one another to address urgent issues facing Dallas. They have recently built a permanent hands-on exhibit called the Cost of Poverty Experience, which is available to the entire community. We applaud them for making this investment – this simulated real-world experience allows all of us (no matter our faith) to empathize with our neighbor and understand that we are all one crisis away from poverty. Another organization that fills my soul with gratitude is Pastors for Texas Children. Through the leadership of Pastors Charles Johnson and Charles Luke, it has taken on public education as the “third pillar (alongside the church and home) for building responsible citizens” and pushed public school finance as a “moral duty.” I have no doubt this “new breed” of nonprofit will help us thread the needle on the important issues of poverty and public education.
We are grateful for the contributions organizations of all faith traditions make to our communities. We hope you will share innovative models for service that you have seen in your neighborhoods or comment on the benefits and challenges you have encountered while working with congregations, so we can all get better together.
Senior Vice President & Senior Banker, Community Development Lending & Investing at KeyBank
3yRevisiting our notions, approach and connection between sanctuary and sacredness in our communities. At turn of 20th century, collective houses of faith were imbedded in shaping housing (the homeless), health (hospital care) and well-being (meals/food).