Members of Richland County’s various social service agencies met in January for a roundtable discussion on the book “Toxic Charity” by Robert Lupton. Hosted by Catholic Charities, the general mission of the group was to learn how to do charity better.
“Our thought process is how we continue to care for the people in need, with the need that’s increasing but also stop some of this stuff,” said Rebecca Owens, site manager at Catholic Charities.
“There are always going to be people who cannot take care of themselves and have issues that come up that may put them in a temporary state of flux where they do need some immediate assistance. But for those that we see every month, that’s not a good thing. We need to help them help themselves and be able to be self sustaining, make decisions for themselves, etc,” she added.
Owens said one of Catholic Charities core values is to be transformative and try to transform the life of those they serve.
“How can we take them from point A to point B and help them with their journey in order to have a more self sustaining life,” she asked.
With funding from the government decreasing and the need increasing, Owens said they have had to be creative in finding ways to help fund and serve the poor.
“We are serving over 600 families a month from our food pantry,” she said. “And there was a time when it was only 120. So, things have changed, however the funding hasn’t come up to match the need. So, there’s got to be a different way of doing business.”
While Owens attended a conference last year, author Robert Lupton just happened to be a speaker. After the conference ended, Owens said she and a counterpart could not stop talking about Lupton and knew they had to read the book.
“What the book Toxic Charity talks about is being one way giving,” she said. “And when you give something to someone as the giver, it makes you feel good. And it satisfies your duty to help the less fortunate among you. However, what really happens is we are dampening the personal initiative of the person receiving the gift, or the money or whatever it is.”
Kathy Adams, a volunteer with Catholic Charities and a missionary to Haiti, told the group that the book was a change in philosophy and thinking in regards to those helping the poor.
“It’s a rethinking, coming from us as people who are the givers. We have to have to change our thinking not about us but about the population that we serve together. It’s not about us or them, it’s about we,” said Adams.
United Way executive director Bob Maxey said a point from the book he learned is that it’s easiest to give people free things, which is typical of charitable organizations.
“The hardest thing to do is to spend the time necessary to understand their issues, what they’re really up against and who these people are and how I best help them,” he said. “And then to walk with them for an extended period of time until they can get some meaningful help to get on their feet.
“But it’s easy to just give people free stuff and tell them to go away and just come back tomorrow…but, it’s not helping them,” said Maxey.
Deanna West-Torrence, the executive director of the North End Community Improvement Collaborative, was a speaker on her organizations asset based community development strategy, a strategy developed by John McKnight, who authored the book Careless Society.
“We went into the community with not looking for deficits,” West-Torrence said. “We went looking for assets.” She said instead of making a “needs assessment,” the organization conducted asset inventories and capacity inventories.
Sue Warren of Catholic Charities said the agency has started to empower, encourage and engage their clients by interacting with them more and making them more a part of the process of help.
By the meetings end, Owens encouraged the group to “Do Something in 2014.”
“And when you give something to someone as the giver, it makes you feel good. And it satisfies your duty to help the less fortunate among you. However, what really happens is we are dampening the personal initiative of the person receiving the gift, or the money or whatever it is,” said Rebecca Owens.
