As the battle against racial injustice rages nationwide, one church in Alma, Michigan, is facing it head-on. After organizing a peaceful prayer walk for justice, love, and unity, it became clear to this church that they can help lead the way toward reconciliation in their community.

As their pastor says, “We believe that the unity found in Jesus is the only solution worth promoting.”

Their passion is to move the church past complacency to a future in which “every nation, tribe, people, and language is embraced with love, empathy, and compassion.”

But they can’t do it alone.

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Almost half of the families in the community of Bloomfield live below the poverty line. At a brutal 30%, their unemployment rate is one of the highest in the nation. For those who can find work, 72% of them are under-employed.

The effects of the pandemic are stretching these already underserved families to the breaking point. Most struggle to put food on the table, much less pay for everyday household items – like bathroom tissue and dish soap – that we take for granted.

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the local church in the Bloomfield community already knows what to do.

They have already established relationships with local farmers who will provide fresh fruits & vegetables, milk, poultry, and beef to feed these families.

They have already collaborated with local retailers who will donate returned items that these families so direly need.

They already envision a network of drive-thru centers where church members will pray with families while food and household goods are placed in their cars safely.

All they need is a delivery truck.

The Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn has one of the highest rates of single-mother families, many of whom are running from domestic abuse situations.

Due to the economic challenges of the pandemic, some are barely making rent. Many aren’t. In fact, 40% of the student body at this neighborhood’s K-8 school live in a shelter or are homeless.

These mothers must work. But with the pandemic-mandated closure of hundreds of child care facilities, along with day-to-day economic struggles, they are in dire need of safe, affordable childcare services.

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The local church in Bedford-Stuyvesant has imagined a comprehensive program to meet this need.

They envision creating a space for congregation members to provide safe, around-the-clock childcare services and adequate housing space for these families.

They envision providing after-school programs, homework assistance, and nutritious meals to students and families, free of charge.

Families in the rural community of Barryton, Michigan, experience poverty at a rate almost three times the national average. Most of the student body are on free or reduced lunches.

It’s in this climate that today teachers and parents are tackling a harrowing question:

How do they educate their children safely in the middle of a raging pandemic?

To this already underserved and over-stressed community, the necessary school expenditures that COVID-19 will require are daunting, if not impossible.

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Fueled by poverty, the opioid crisis in Appalachia has devastated families and communities. The economic and emotional impacts of the pandemic have only made the problem more dire. In fact, today, young people in this region are 55% more likely to die from drug overdose than anywhere else in the U.S.

A congregation in eastern Kentucky has a heart for the teens most at-risk in their community. They want to keep them safe and give them hope…and they have an idea.

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