Faith-based groups are the backbone of the nation’s charitable response to the homeless, according to a recent study by Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
Sixty percent of all emergency shelter beds, which are considered to be the “safety net of all safety nets,” were found to belong to faith-based ministries in the 11 cities surveyed, according to The Christian Post.
Three Southern cities included were Atlanta, Houston and Jacksonville, Florida. The rest were outside the “Bible Belt” — Baltimore, Denver, Indianapolis, Omaha, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego and Seattle.
Byron Johnson, director of Baylor’s Institute for Studies of Religion, rolled out the study in early February, along with co-author William H. Wubbenhorst. The study, “Assessing the Faith-based Response to Homelessness in America: Findings from Eleven Cities,” shows the socio-economic impact that Christian organizations belonging to other faiths have on the United States’ homeless, according to the Post.
It also shows that faith-based groups lead the way in innovative methods of reaching the homeless, meeting their needs and changing their lives, according to Baptist News Global (BNG).
Those group’s programs, the Baylor report found, “are at the forefront of program innovation … for improving positive outcomes for the homeless individuals … served.”
Some of those programs include addiction recovery, education, health care and job training, all of which are considered vital for the homeless to achieve long-term independence, according to BNG.
One person impacted by these types of services was Tonier Cain, who spoke as part of a panel at the report’s unveiling. She said she believes “it’s almost impossible to even think that somebody can get healed and do better in their life without faith,” according to the Post.
Cain, who lives in Annapolis, Maryland, lived on the streets for nearly two decades and survived sexual abuse, 83 arrests and 66 convictions for crimes committed.
She now leads two nonprofit groups, something she credits to help from a faith-based organization that intervened and helped her heal.
“I’ve been in over 30 programs — traditional, secular programs,” she said. “They didn’t help. It wasn’t until I was really able to embrace faith, my relationship with Jesus, that everything changed in my life.”
If she had been given money without Jesus, she said, she would have spent the money on the wrong things and not gotten any better.
That’s why other panelists involved in the discussion said that their organizations are unwilling to compromise the out-loud proclamation of their faith — and why there is often tension between them and government agencies that could provide financial aid to them but ask for a downplaying of faith in return.
But Johnson said he doesn’t believe that means faith-based groups don’t “play well” with others. “I think our preliminary study shows that’s a myth,” he said, according to the Post. “(Faith-based organizations) are ready, but they are not going to give up their faith.”
The report also found that for every $1 spent by the government, taxpayers saved $9.42 — a total of $119 million in the 11 cities surveyed — as a result of the work done by faith-based groups in ministering to the homeless, the Post reported. (TAB)
Email Kristy Kennedy at the State Board of Missions for resources on community ministries — kkennedy@alsbom.org.
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