Do the poor actually need help?

​It is quite an interesting cultural moment to live in. Really, the entire world is living in some sort of perpetual and chaotic cycle of life right now. With the continuation of rising tensions across generally all facets of society, one overwhelming concern (that perhaps does not receive enough attention, if any at all) is for those in need. 

Where are the poor in all of this?

Who is advocating for them?

Are we doing our part to help the poor? 

Do we give voice to the marginalized, or do we try to speak for them on our own?

All of these questions and many more, peruse the minds of people raising their hands to ask questions, amidst the crowd of those who have put their head down in denial. Where do you stand in the crowd?

Let’s back up.

Poverty, the poor, and the marginalized have been around forever — or pretty close to forever, at least. Even dating back to the time of ancient Mesopotamia, we see a social order system where there was an upper class and a lower class (slaves). If poverty was alive and well then, it for sure has not been eradicated today. If you think different, just drive through almost any downtown area of a decent-size city near you. If you look, you’ll see some mark of poverty or marginalized people living there. We, those who live in Cabarrus County in North Carolina, see this often too. While our county does a fairly good job (depending on who you ask) of providing resources to those who need them, we still see an inexcusable amount of people who cannot get all the resources they need.

Before we go any further, we have to answer the question: Do people actually need help? The answer is yes. Always yes. Jesus brought good news to the poor, and commanded us to do the same. So the answer is always yes. The question then becomes, how do we best help the poor?
Responding to that question can go so many directions. But for us at the Cabarrus Dream Center, and for our community, one of the biggest problems we faced in providing resources was that all our resources were scattered across the county. Think about it: a single mom working 9-5 with four children, taking the bus to and from work everyday; and then we want her to travel to four different locations to get food, housing, financial, and healthcare assistance? It is practically an impossibility for someone who is actually in need to get to all those places to receive assistance.

So, community leaders here in Cabarrus County began to dream, and to make a long story short, they landed on what is now called the Cabarrus Dream Center. The Dream Center here is a bit different than other Dream Centers around the world. Most Dream Centers offer some sort of residential assistance for a certain period of time to help them begin the journey out of poverty/addiction/etc. The Cabarrus Dream Center, however, is an under-one-roof concept. What we mean by that is that we have gathered all the resources that were scattered in our community, and we brought them to be housed under one roof.

There is dental care right beside women, infant, and children’s assistance. Across the hall is housing and financial assistance, food assistance, and a ministry to help those who have been caught in human trafficking. Down the hall from there are three universal case workers from our local health and human services. Down the sidewalk are mental and behavioral health services (with psychologists, psychiatrists, and therapists of all kinds). You get the picture.

STOP. Resources are great, but we serve something (and someone) bigger. We mentioned earlier that we help the poor because Jesus did, and because he commands us to do the same. This is the overarching reason behind the Cabarrus Dream Center. We do this because we know people have needs to be filled, but we do this even more so because we know the world needs Jesus. We need relationship with the Creator who desires to walk with us. We need Jesus who provides all we could need and more. We need Him who is the source of true joy, love, and peace. Every time people come into the Dream Center, their needs are met, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is preached to them.

Without this, helping the poor is in vain.

We must meet their physical needs and show them Jesus. Jesus fed people and preached to them about the Kingdom of God. We must do the same.
Let’s rethink our situation with the single mom who works all day. Now, she is able to come to one place in which she can receive all the resources she needs, maybe even more than she knew she needed. She comes in not just to have needs met, but perhaps to meet her Savior too. That is why we help the poor and preach the Kingdom of God.

I’ll finish in the same place I started. Do the poor actually need help?

You have to answer that in your own heart and with your own actions.

But I would challenge you. I think we need to dig deeper. Unanimously, almost everyone could admit the poor need help. The better question to ask is this one: Why am I not helping the poor? What needs to change in my heart and life?

If Jesus set the example for us and commanded us to… we have no choice but to act.

The story of the Cabarrus Dream Center is an example of a response, but let me be clear: it is very far from perfect. It is simply the response from a bunch of broken people to try and reach our community for Jesus and help the poor. It is not perfect at all, but we are trying the best we can, and we are working to improve day by day.

But the question still stands.
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What can you do? What will you do?

It is not “if they need help”, but “what will I do about it?”