Early in the morning of August 29, 2005 Hurricane Katrina made landfall between Grand Isle, Louisiana and the mouth of the Mississippi. The category 3 storm hit the coast with 127 mile per hour winds and an endless downpour of rain. Areas in southern Mississippi and Louisiana were swiftly underwater as the torrential rain and wind pushed ever more water inland. The levees encasing New Orleans, built to keep the rising flood waters from washing through the largely-below-sea level city, were no match for the storm surge that pummeled them. Soon 80% of the city was flooded.¹⁵ New Orleans, as it had stood only hours before, was gone.

Prior to, and following the storm, thousands evacuated the city, leaving their homes, belongings, and cherished memories behind. More than 10,000 people sought shelter in the crumbling Superdome where the roof caved in, medical care and basic sanitation were lacking, and food and water were scarce.¹⁶ More than 1,400 people in New Orleans perished from the storm and over 1 million people were displaced from the Gulf Coast region, with over 600,000 displaced for longer than a month.^17,18 The storm caused damage to over one million housing units, including 70% of all occupied homes in New Orleans.¹⁹ In total, Hurricane Katrina caused more than $135 billion in damage.²⁰

Local pastors remained in New Orleans, scouring housing complexes for survivors, running shelters out of their churches, helping residents rebuild. One group run by ministers in Louisiana used its network of more than fifty churches to distribute over 62 million pounds of resources through the storm-stricken region.

Prior to, and following the storm, thousands evacuated the city, leaving their homes, belongings, and cherished memories behind. More than 10,000 people sought shelter in the crumbling Superdome where the roof caved in, medical care and basic sanitation were lacking, and food and water were scarce. More than 1,400 people in New Orleans perished from the storm and over 1 million people were displaced from the Gulf Coast region, with over 600,000 displaced for longer than a month., The storm caused damage to over one million housing units, including 70% of all occupied homes in New Orleans. In total, Hurricane Katrina caused more than $135 billion in damage.

Religious congregations filled major gaps in the social safety net, providing human services—sheltering individuals, administering medical care, rebuilding—that the government – state, local, and federal – was unable to shoulder on its own. Local pastors remained in New Orleans, scouring housing complexes for survivors, running shelters out of their churches, helping residents rebuild.²¹ One group run by ministers in Louisiana used its network of more than fifty churches to distribute over 62 million pounds of resources through the storm-stricken region.²² A single Methodist faith-based community, on one day in September alone, reported more than 50 of its churches were being used as shelters for displaced persons in Louisiana and Mississippi.²³ According to the Louisiana Department of Social Services, on September 12, 2005, over one hundred churches were providing emergency shelter to displaced individuals.²⁴ Results of a survey of nonprofit relief efforts providing assistance to the Gulf Coast following Hurricanes Rita and Katrina found that 59% of nonprofit organizations providing relief services to the region were churches or faith-based organizations.²⁵

Later, on October 5, 2005, mere weeks following Hurricane Rita, the Red Cross operated 55 shelters in Louisiana, providing refuge to 13,617 people in need.²⁶ At the same time, churches and faith-based organizations were operating an additional 123 shelters, taking in over 5,700 individuals.²⁷ By 2006, a Catholic network of faith-based efforts provided aid to over 300,000 victims of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, allocating roughly $69 million to respond to those in need following the storm.²⁸ The damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, and subsequently Hurricane Rita, may have only occurred in a matter of days, but the services provided by religious institutions gave assistance for months, in some case years, helping to rebuild both lives and communities for future generations. Without the aid provided by these private, non-profit religious groups, the Gulf Coast would have faced a more desolate and less hopeful future.

America’s mental healthcare system is in disarray. The demand for resources far outpaces the availability of the limited help American practitioners can offer. Young people are suffering from depression at greater rates than ever, a majority of whom are not receiving treatment for their illness.²⁹ Securing access to mental health professionals is often difficult. In 2010, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that the United States only had 156,300 mental health counselors, leaving almost 90 million Americans in federally designated Mental Health Professional Shortage Areas.³⁰

With approximately 353,000 clergy serving their communities in the United States, they dedicate roughly 10-20% of their work week to counseling individuals suffering from emotional or marital problems. This amounts to roughly 138 million hours of mental health services per year; services provided at little to no cost to those who seek them.

With at least 1 in 5 Americans suffering from mental illness, America’s congregations are stepping in to fill yet another gap society has left open.³¹ Local congregations frequently provide counseling and other mental health and social services to both their members and their communities at large. With approximately 353,000 clergy serving their communities in the United States, they dedicate roughly 10-20% of their work week to counseling individuals suffering from emotional or marital problems.³² This amounts to roughly 138 million hours of mental health services per year; services provided at little to no cost to those who seek them.³³ This staggering amount of work is provided by chaplains, pastoral counselors, Catholic Sisters, Brothers, and clergy from Buddhist, Hindu, and Muslim traditions. These dedicated servants reach Americans from all walks of life, who are able to receive help that is too often difficult to find, but is offered when they look to their religious communities for guidance.³⁴

Both the House and Senate have dedicated resources to exploring and investigating the country’s mental health system and its current deficiencies. Lead by the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee in the Senate and the Energy and Commerce Committee in the House, members have explored increasing access to mental health care services in rural areas, addressing the current mental health care provider shortage and streamlining the current patchwork of services available. Competing bills in both chambers have been introduced with varying avenues for addressing reforms. Although differences are still being worked out, leaders on both committees have committed to reforming the federal mental health system to better address the growing and complex need to services in this country.

The 11.5 square mile region known as West Dallas, formerly known as the “Devil’s Front Door,” was once an industrial center plagued with crime, poverty, and racial tension.³⁵ In the 1950s, following the construction of 3,500 low income housing units, the area became the largest public housing development of its time.³⁶

Today, West Dallas is the site of an in-depth Baylor University case study examining the role the faith-based community plays in providing social services to the community.³⁷ West Dallas is considered to be one of the most economically disadvantaged communities in America.³⁸ Roughly 65% of students entering high school here drop out before their senior year. Only about 2% of the adult population has obtained a college education.³⁹ More alarming still, 86% of students in the area are economically disadvantaged, and roughly 50% live below the poverty line.⁴⁰ Compared to Dallas proper, where the per capita income rests just above $24,000 per year, West Dallas falls drastically behind, with a per capita income of only $9,813.⁴¹ In short, this 24,000-strong community faces economic hurdles every single day that are extraordinary in the wealthiest nation on Earth.

Beginning in 1980, residents began to fight for change within their community, demolishing the housing projects and replacing them with affordable housing and senior units.⁴² Today, there is reason for hope again in West Dallas as dropout rates are on the decline, and residents are working with their local religious leaders, churches, and non-profits to bring a brighter future and economic transformation to the area.

A collaboration of 13 ministry partners works as a support network for collective impact initiatives, partnering with local business leaders, nonprofits, community leaders, and their ministry partners to serve the people of their community.

Churches and ministries have stepped in to improve the economic outlook and futures of the residents of West Dallas. One faith-based organization in the area teams with ministry partners who share a goal of, seeing “a spiritual, economic, social, and physical transformation of West Dallas neighborhoods,” and to encourage religious leaders and community members to work together to create their own brighter future.⁴³ A collaboration of 13 ministry partners works as a support network for collective impact initiatives, partnering with local business leaders, nonprofits, community leaders, and their ministry partners to serve the people of their community.⁴⁴

At one West Dallas school, the ministry partners coordinated efforts to implement new programs and services to give students a better shot at success. This included providing volunteer mentors and tutors, class room assistance for teachers, and library support to improve academic performance and experience for all students.⁴⁵ The school was matched with a local suburban church with a large congregation, which provides volunteers to engage students to help improve their reading proficiency and confidence.⁴⁶ As a result, students’ reading scores began to skyrocket, with the proportion of fifth grade students reading at or beyond their grade level increasing from 17% to 40% over a two year period.⁴⁷

Other organizations focus on the health of community residents. Some Christian non-profits run faith-based community clinics, providing health care services to uninsured patients. One clinic alone sees on average 72 patients a week, providing flu shots, diabetic care, and healthful meals to those in need.⁴⁸ The clinic operates healthy living classes for diabetics, encouraging patients to successfully manage their blood sugar levels. In addition, it operates four specialty clinics, for adults, eye care, women’s health issues, and for dental care. Without these clinics, patients would be left to seek care in the already over-burdened Medicaid system. By providing immediate health care and helping residents live healthier lifestyles, these clinics save money for both the community and our nation’s health care system by preventing illness and managing disease early on.⁴⁹

Philadelphia has one of the densest concentrations of houses of worship in urban America, with an estimated 2,095 congregations. Roughly 88% of these congregations provide at least one social service to their community.⁵⁰ A 2001 study from the University of Pennsylvania found that on average, a Philadelphia congregation provides 2.41 programs to their community, resulting in service to 102 people per congregation, per month.⁵¹ Some of these religious groups collaborate with secular groups, in addition to government organizations, in an effort to widen their reach and assist as many people as possible.

In total, the study estimates the financial “value” of congregational social services provided to the people of Philadelphia at over $245 million per year.

Services provided by congregations vary—ranging from programs targeted at youth and children, to those geared at the elderly, the poor, disabled Americans, and those suffering from addiction.⁵² Clergy and members of the congregation are often joined by non-members from the community, embracing civic involvement as a broader ideal. The study goes on to estimate the true value of the services provided by congregations, examining factors like hours of service performed, in-kind support, and financial support. In total, the study estimates the financial “value” of congregational social services provided to the people of Philadelphia at over $245 million per year.⁵³ While this estimate is staggering, the true value of service is likely much greater, as the study took a conservative estimate of the number of services and volunteer hours performed.

These service hours and their value often vastly outpace the level of support provided by successful American corporations. When compared with an average American corporation that donates about 1% of their pretax net income to charitable purposes, congregations outperform giving by a much greater scale, often allotting up to 40% of their budgets towards helping their communities.⁵⁴

Across the globe, men, women, and children live in unimaginable poverty, without access to clean water, healthful foods, or warm clothing. Diseases ravage nations without access to adequate medical facilities or basic healthcare. Many lack the sanitation services needed to stop normally preventable, treatable illnesses from striking their communities. Natural disasters are worldwide phenomena. Almost 800 million people worldwide suffer from chronic hunger and roughly 1 billion people worldwide live in extreme poverty.⁵⁵ According to the World Bank, as of 2012, 12.7% of the world survives on $1.90 a day or less.⁵⁶ Many of these people are difficult to reach, living in remote areas or in precarious political climates.

Just as American faith-based groups provide essential services to those at home, many also extend their reach around the world. The services they provide offer both compassion for those in need and serve to advance the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States by alleviating deprivation, poverty, and providing hope in areas of extreme strife.

When local governments and agencies do not have the resources to help their citizens obtain food, clean water, shelter or education, a wide range of American congregations and faith-based organizations step in to do just that. The southern Baptist community mobilizes people and financial resources to alleviate suffering worldwide.⁵⁷ Congregations have worked with Christian groups in West Africa to train communities on Ebola response in rural areas, in an effort to halt the spread of the devastating disease.⁵⁸ They are also providing resources to Syrian refugees to help get children back in school. Congregations are providing students with backpacks, and teachers with classroom assistance and school supplies so students have the resources they need to learn, and can in turn make their communities better for generations to come.⁵⁹

When local governments and agencies do not have the resources to help their citizens obtain food, clean water, shelter or education, a wide range of American congregations and faith-based organizations step in to do just that.

In April of 2015, more than 30 leaders from different world religions and faith-based organizations issued a call to action, with the goal of ending extreme poverty across the planet by 2030.⁶⁰ Though these religious leaders hail from different faiths, with different belief systems, they all share a moral consensus that extreme poverty stifles human dignity and have pledged their commitment to its eradication. They hope to tackle preventable illnesses, chronic joblessness, and discrimination.⁶¹ They are fighting for a world where women and girls have an equal access to education and where human rights are paramount. Because more than 8 in 10 people across the globe identify with a religious group, religious leaders are using this global sense of faith to empower world citizens to fight poverty alongside each other.⁶²

Other organizations have delivered food, medicine, and other assistance to alleviate suffering around the world, for several decades.⁶³ Through one organization, doctors have provided life-saving operations to more than one thousand children from impoverished or war-torn nations, including Bosnia, Uganda, and Bolivia.⁶⁴ They work with hospitals and doctors around the world, arranging for children, a guardian, and a translator to travel to these hospitals to obtain care that is not available to them in their home countries.⁶⁵ They locate Christian churches and families to serve as hosts, who in turn help provide food, housing, transportation, and other amenities to the visiting group. This network of doctors, families, and hospitals provide life-changing treatment, giving children abroad a second chance at normal lives.

Other organizations operate children’s ministries to provide new beginnings to the most vulnerable across the globe, children without homes or families. In 2010, an earthquake devastated Haiti, leaving hundreds of thousands dead and many more homeless.⁶⁶ Orphanages were reduced to rubble, leaving children to fight for survival in their ruins. In 2012 a home and school, operated on the foundation of the Gospel, was constructed and has welcomed 60 children, many without families, and others in situations so dire it is unsafe to return home, to live, be children, and get an education taught in French, Creole, and English.⁶⁷ Between 2010 and 2012 following the earthquake, faith-based organizations have also distributed more than 15,000 shelters, drilled 18 permanent wells, built 193 permanent latrines, and distributed roughly 13,000 metric tons of food.⁶⁸ They continue to provide relief, health [care], and children’s services to struggling adults and children in Haiti, improving living conditions and providing educations to those most in need. This is of critical importance for a nation where over half of food aid is distributed through religious organizations with boots on the ground.⁶⁹

Other organizations share a mission of affirming God’s love for all.⁷⁰ One Lutheran organization partners with other Lutherans and organizations worldwide in a fight to end poverty and human suffering.⁷¹ In working with local partners on a variety of life changing causes, including developing long-term solutions to poverty, these ministries are able to address rural financing and food scarcity by supporting nearby small scale farmers.⁷² They provide access to small grants to farmers and cooperatives to be used like loan funds, establishing local savings systems for small-scale farmers.⁷³ Through coffee and cocoa initiatives, small producers are gaining the ability to capture a portion of the global markets.⁷⁴ In Honduras, Lutheran outreach groups are helping farmers improve their knowledge about cocoa production through farmer field schools and through training and technical assistance.⁷⁵ These services are aimed at increasing their volumes of cocoa production that are in line with market standards, and give farmers greater access to market information.⁷⁶ This increased access allows small-scale farmers to support their families and communities and helps them gain access to the tools they need to meet the high standards of a competitive industry.

Congregations and faith-based organizations coordinate valuable local services aimed at lifting Americans out of poverty—ensuring they have clothes on their backs, food in their stomachs, and warm places to sleep at night. One welfare-to-work study of Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, and Philadelphia found that 35% of the non-profit programs were faith-based in nature.⁷⁷ Perhaps the only thing that is overwhelmingly evident in analyzing the role of congregations and faith-based organizations in our communities is that if these groups are unable to provide these services going forward, the United States would be faced with an overwhelming crisis at the breakdown of its social services safety net.

Over 1.7 million residents of New York City live in poverty.⁷⁸ Though about 48% of adults between 15 and 65 were both food insecure and unemployed, employed New Yorkers, living in one of the most expensive cities in the world, also suffer from food scarcity.⁷⁹ Nearly 474,000 children in New York City, amounting to roughly 1 in 4 children, don’t get enough to eat. These people—our neighbors, teachers, shop keepers—are struggling right in our own backyards.⁸⁰

In New York, congregations of differing faiths often join together to feed those in need. Each year, Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic leaders combine forces in an interfaith effort to combat hunger in New York. For two months, the congregations collect and distribute food packages to shelters and food pantries throughout the New York City area, with a goal of supplying 1 million meals to feed those in need and reduce food insecurity throughout the city.⁸¹

Halfway across the country in the Detroit metro area, over 34,000 people suffer from homelessness, including over 5,000 children.⁸² Michigan has the greatest rate of homelessness in the Midwest, and is ranked 5th nationally for the number of homeless residents.⁸³ Faith-based organizations are stepping up in a big way to provide safe and warm shelter for men, women, and children in the often freezing nights. A group of just 11 faith-based shelters is able to provide beds to over one thousand people in need every night—one thousand people, who can get off of the street, get to safety, and have the comfort of a warm bed when they need it most.⁸⁴

In New York, congregations of differing faiths often join together to feed those in need. Each year, Jewish, Protestant, and Catholic leaders combine forces in an interfaith effort to combat hunger in New York. For two months, the congregations collect and distribute food packages to shelters and food pantries throughout the New York City area, with a goal of supplying 1 million meals to feed those in need and reduce food insecurity throughout the city.

In Chicago, efforts of Catholic non-profits provide services to local seniors, so they can continue to live independently or with the help of caregivers, with dignity and compassion.⁸⁵ By providing several services, including housekeeping, transportation, delivered meals, and subsidized housing, seniors are seeing an improved quality of life and are avoiding the need for institutionalized care.⁸⁶ Over three thousand seniors have benefited from homemaker assistance, with 96% being able to remain in their homes.⁸⁷ Thousands more have taken advantage of companionship provided by senior centers and receive protection through the organization’s elder abuse services.⁸⁸ The Catholic effort operates twenty subsidized senior living apartments throughout the Chicagoland area, helping needy seniors retain their autonomy and keep their own homes.⁸⁹

The evangelical community provides assistance to men, women and children in almost 100 countries.⁹⁰ Domestically, their efforts have included lifting Americans, especially children, out of poverty and hardship. In 2014, a single evangelical faith-based organization served roughly 1.7 million adults and children through their domestic programs.⁹¹ They have helped 175,487 teachers and students obtain school supplies in support of low-income communities.⁹² The effort helps to provide new school supplies, clothing, backpacks, and other supplies to students attending schools with 70% or greater poverty rates.⁹³ Teachers impacted by the education program have expressed that the supplies provided not only increased classroom participation but also improved kids’ attitudes about school.⁹⁴ Other teachers found that they saw improved attendance, improved homework completion, and an increased sense of pride.⁹⁵ The program continues to improve, reaching out to more and more kids to give them the things they need to stay in school.

In 2014, a faith-based mission organization conducted a survey of 114 gospel rescue missions in North America, to look at a snapshot of those in need of assistance.⁹⁶ Of those surveyed, roughly 35% of people suffering from homelessness on a single night, were homeless for the first time.⁹⁷ At a mission in Boise in 2014, 2,000 people sought shelter who had never experienced homelessness before.⁹⁸ Over the span of two years, the numbers of homeless women and children in need of shelter resources doubled.⁹⁹ In Charleston, West Virginia, one mission fed roughly 50,000 people per month, amounting to roughly 15,000 families.¹⁰⁰ This number represents those who have shelter, but are struggling day to day with feeding their families. Of the missions surveyed, roughly 27% can be classified as chronically homeless, and roughly 24% have been homeless for three or more times previously.¹⁰¹

Another glaring gap needing to be filled can be seen amongst the veteran population. Roughly 14% of those surveyed were veterans, 25% of whom had served in Vietnam.¹⁰² Members of these missions serve "between 40-50 million meals a year, provide roughly 15-20 million nights of lodging, [and] distribute more than 25 million pieces of clothing."¹⁰³ These missions provide support to abuse victims and are responsible for graduating roughly 20,000 individuals from addiction-recovery programs, helping them to become contributing members of society.¹⁰⁴

It is difficult to pinpoint the number of lives affected by human trafficking—these are often hidden crimes, frequently targeting the vulnerable—women, children, the poor, the addicted. Though estimations vary, the Global Slavery Index estimates that as of 2016, roughly 45.8 million men, women, and children are caught in a modern slavery situation.¹⁰⁵ This broad term encompasses human trafficking, forced labor, forced marriage, the exploitation of children and debt bondage. Topping the list of nations affected are a number of African nations -- Uzbekistan, Haiti, Qatar, and India.¹⁰⁶ In the United States, almost 60,000 individuals are enslaved.¹⁰⁷ Of those enslaved, the United Nations has estimated that globally more than 2.4 million people, predominantly women and girls, are victims of human trafficking.¹⁰⁸

The Baptist community is making strides in the fight to stop human trafficking here in the United States, providing assistance to women exploited by human trafficking. They train individuals to assist exploited women and work with their network of ministries in prevention, intervention, and aftercare. Other organizations provide assistance to human trafficking victims by helping them escape and begin new lives.

Faith-based organizations are acting to put an end to human trafficking abroad. Over one million children enter the sex trade each year—this amounts to a massive loss of innocence and childhood throughout the world.¹⁰⁹ In Cambodia, the tragedy of child sex trafficking is acutely felt, with hundreds of thousands of children affected. One California-based mission provides assistance, aftercare and rehabilitation to victims of sex trafficking through their recovery home.¹¹⁰ On the front end, to prevent trafficking, they also founded a community center based in Cambodia to provide healthcare, education, and a safe place for Cambodian children to go.¹¹¹ Instead of being bartered for the sex trade, Cambodian children have opportunities to learn, grow, and obtain careers to take care of themselves and their families.¹¹²

The Baptist community is making strides in the fight to stop human trafficking here in the United States, providing assistance to women exploited by human trafficking.¹¹³ They train individuals to assist exploited women and work with their network of ministries in prevention, intervention, and aftercare.¹¹⁴ Other organizations provide assistance to human trafficking victims by helping them escape and begin new lives.¹¹⁵ They help victims get physical care and reunite with their families, in addition to educating and promoting awareness of the horrors of human trafficking to their communities.¹¹⁶ Though the atrocity of human trafficking is largely kept hidden, with many Americans believing it does not touch the United States, local congregations are supporting victims in a huge way, helping to educate Americans and end the cycle.

According to the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, there are over 400,000 children living without permanent families in the American foster system.¹¹⁷ Across the globe, there are an estimated 132 million orphans that have lost one parent and almost 13 million orphans that have lost both parents and are either living on the street or in orphanages.¹¹⁸ Statistics for children in orphanages and foster care are concerning. On average, children raised in orphanages have an IQ of 20 points lower than their peers raised in the foster system.¹¹⁹ Almost 25% of foster youth aging out of the system are unable to obtain a high school diploma or GED.¹²⁰ At best, the situation is alarming.

Faith-based organizations across the nation are stepping in to get these children placed in homes, both in foster care and permanent adoption. In 2014, a single Catholic adoption agency was responsible for 2,707 completed adoptions and 1,954 foster care adoptions.¹²¹ Another Christian non-profit with the ultimate goal of “bring[ing] families together and keep[ing] families together,” provides Christian adoption, foster care, and pregnancy counseling to women and families at home and abroad, impacting over 101,000 children worldwide in 2015.¹²² Christian adoption services also provide family counseling and post-adoption support, as the adoption journey continues after a child is placed.¹²³