 Homeless man rides his bike on the People Trail.  Reading Toxic Charity: How Churches and Charities Hurt Those They Help, And How to Reverse It by Robert Lupton transformed how we think about our giving. He's written a follow-up book, Charity Detox: What Charity Would Look Like If We Cared About Results, which begins with the bold statement: Charity often hurts the people it was designed to help. The Lupton Center, founded by Robert Lupton, explains Toxic Charity: At its core, Toxic Charity is trying to address chronic ongoing issues through one-way giving. It often looks like this: people with resources give to those who lack resources. This kind of giving approaches inequity as though the core issue is that people don’t have the same amount of “stuff.” ... Toxic Charity shares stuff, but not power or agency. It usually doesn’t engage with systems or multiple drivers of inequity. As a result, it tends not to have a long-term impact on the issue it purports to address. True Charity Founder & CEO, James Whitford, models his ministry on the premise of the book. He states: The ministry is now the largest privately funded poverty-fighting organization in our four-state area. Today, we serve both the poor and the homeless, offering 105 beds in three facilities serving those in long term recovery, adult men and women in need of emergency shelter, homeless moms with children and we have a respite unit for those discharging from the hospital who have nowhere to go to finish their recovery. Whitford testified before the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Food & Nutrition in April 2023 regarding federal food assistance funding in the farm bill reauthorization. If elected, Jay will make addressing our homeless problem a priority.
Comments are closed.
|
AuthorI was born and raised in Columbus, and I've spent the last 24 years living and working here. I love our city, and together we can keep it great! |