Financial Assistance Programs - Cooperative Christian Ministries - Concord, NC

The number of people living in poverty in Cabarrus County has increased 14% over the past ten years. The group with the highest rate of increase, from 10% in 1995 to 12.3% in 2005, is children (age 5 17) living in poverty in our community.

Many of our schools across the region average around two-thirds of their students qualifying for the subsidized breakfast and lunch programs, indicating their familys economic situation.

Our job market has shifted from a manufacturing base to a service economy. Four of the top six fastest growing job categories in our region, projected for the next six years, are low-wage, low-benefit service sector jobs. Many of our local families are experiencing underemployment for both wage earners in the family. While families make adjustments to meet their daily needs, some are not able to adequately prepare for the "unexpected" expenses that we all face. While CCM cannot unlock the grip of poverty single-handedly, we can provide immediate assistance to working families who find themselves overwhelmed by the unexpected.

Cooperative Christian Ministrys Financial Assistance program combines an immediate response to crisis with an expectation of personal responsibility to prepare for the avoidance of future crisis. A crisis is an economic problem resulting from an unexpected event or circumstance beyond the control of the individual, which threatens their ability to maintain the basic necessities of food, shelter, or prescription medications.

Immediate assistance may be provided after the crisis is validated and the clients ability to solve the problem on their own has been evaluated. Assistance may be provided to avoid utility cut-off, to avoid eviction or foreclosure, to avoid loss of heating or cooling during critical seasons, or to avoid absence of life sustaining medications.

In each case, clients must demonstrate the ability to maintain or a plan for sustainability as part of their responsibility for the assistance provided. As part of their plan for personal responsibility, an increasing number of our clients are assigned a referral agreement to engage them in specific counseling or training resources in our community, that will equip them to avoid recurring crisis. Future assistance from CCM is contingent on completion of these training opportunities.

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