“My wife Rebecca and I started Grace Place with the help of a close group of volunteers. It initially came out of our church to support the prison ministry, then Rebecca noticed a lot of people were in need of basic life necessities—clothing, cooking ware, etc. We opened the resale shop in Fulton County so people could buy things inexpensively.
When we first started, we visited a charity that gave out 400 bags of groceries to anyone who drove through. It seemed good, but something was missing. Then we found the True Charity Network and discovered what that something was: If you continually give to people without expecting anything in return, they become dependent.
You’re not helping them out of poverty. You’re helping them stay in it.
We started workshopping that idea. If someone can’t afford to buy things, we invite them to be volunteers and work with us. They become part of helping other people instead of just being helped. It gets them to think about their life differently.
I knew an insurance agent who sold medical insurance. When the Affordable Care Act started, he helped people without insurance. He had a client who didn’t have any insurance so he set her up to get government assistance and the medication she needed. Once she had her medication, she felt better and got a part-time job. As she worked and proved herself to be responsible and dependable, they gave her more hours. This was good, until the government sent her a letter saying she no longer qualified for free insurance and needed to pay. She couldn’t afford the full rate, so she quit her job so she could qualify for free insurance. The government was a barrier to her independence.
I also know a young person who grew up in a family that was dependent on government assistance, and their goal is to get 100 percent disability. I know they’re always going to live in poverty because they can never make enough money on disability to get out. Their perspective is that 100 percent disability is better than 50 percent disability. To them, it’s a raise even if it is still poverty.They can’t see far enough to ask, ‘What if I had a job where I was making more than that and got out of poverty?’ It’s just how they were raised. That’s why we see second and third generations of people who are dependent on government assistance.
When we had an outdoor wood furnace people would say, ‘I can cut wood for you, but you need to pay me in cash so I don’t lose my disability.’ Or, ‘I can work, but not very much because I have limits.’ There needs to be a way to change the laws and move people, and government, away from the all-or-nothing mindset. We should transition people out of poverty and off of government dependence.
A lot of poverty has to do with how people think about themselves. One of the things we’ve tried to do is build relationships with people to tell them that there’s a better way to live. So that they can realize, ‘People don’t have to help me. I can help myself , and other people, too.’
I had a coworker here who told a story of growing up in Missouri. There was a family in her area whose father was an alcoholic and the mother passed away. There were four children who needed a home. They didn’t call DHS; the local churches met and a family from each church took in a child. The children still lived in the community with a connection to their father, but also with a stable family who took care of them. There was no government involvement. The community took care of itself. I think we’ve lost that–and that’s what we’re trying to put back into place in Fulton County – a community that takes care of itself.”
Gary Phillips
Arkansan and Board Member for Grace Place Community Outreach
