Since writing “More Than a Signature,” the story that prompted my concern has moved from allegation to federal charge. The U.S. Department of Justice has announced that Brenda Lee Brown Armstrong, a longtime ballot initiative signature collector, was charged with paying individuals, including homeless people living on Los Angeles’ Skid Row, to register to vote. […]
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Effective Charity
Author’s Note: This article is deeply influenced by the work of Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert, especially the books; When Helping Hurts, Becoming Whole, and A Field Guide to Becoming Whole. I am grateful for the theological framework these books provide, and what follows is my own reflection on how those themes apply in the
Attacking the Roots – Part 2: False gods and erroneous stories of change Read More »
Effective CharityElection season is upon us once again, and as usual, people are divided over issues that affect our lives, our community, and our future. Some of those issues are weighty and important, and others are less so. But whether national, state, or local, these issues can either pull neighbors apart or challenge us to think
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Effective CharityHave you ever stopped to wonder what causes poverty so deep that people end up homeless? When we look around, we can see many things that are clearly problems. We see addiction. We see mental illness. We see the lack of affordable housing. We see wages that do not stretch far enough. And all of
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Effective Charity
The Medford Gospel Mission began in 1959, when local churches came together to address a problem in the Rogue Valley that was being ignored. People in our community were facing poverty, addiction, homelessness, and spiritual darkness. From the beginning, the Mission existed to care for people both physically and spiritually. For many years, one of
The Emergency Shelter Story Read More »
Effective Charity, Uncategorized
The Outfit Outlet Story – Relief, Restoration, and the End of a Season Outfit Outlet was not born out of strategy. It was born out of overflow. In 2008, the economy shook everyone’s pocketbooks. Financial giving declined, as it did for many nonprofits. Yet even in a lean season, people still wanted to give. And
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Effective Charity
Every life is a story. Not a statistic. Not a case number. Not a summary paragraph. A story — given by God, unfolding over time, shaped by decisions, relationships, failures, mercies, and quiet moments that often seem small while we are living them. When we speak of storied outcomes at the Medford Gospel Mission, this
How Small Stories Become a Life Read More »
Effective Charity
Each year, communities across the country participate in the Point-in-Time (PIT) Count and the Housing Inventory Count (HIC). These processes are designed to measure homelessness and housing capacity, and the data collected is used by government agencies to guide funding, policy, and planning decisions. For many years, Medford Gospel Mission has participated in these counts
Why We Are Stepping Away from the PIT and HIC Process Read More »
Articles, Effective Charity, Government
True Charity has its share of amazing content on their website. This recent article puts words and data to what many of us already know—not because we read it in a report, but because we’ve lived it, seen it, and walked alongside people who are caught in it. Beyond the Welfare State is one of
Why Poverty Persists—and What Still Works Read More »
Effective Charity, Government
Most people want to help those in need. That’s a good thing. Compassion is woven into us because we are made in the image of a compassionate God. But as I’ve learned over many years of ministry, wanting to help and actually helping are not always the same thing. One of the great challenges of
Why Good Intentions Aren’t Enough: Rethinking How We Help Read More »
Effective Charity