Helping Stories

May 4th, 2022

Crosstown has always had a Benevolent Fund, but truthfully it has been rarely needed. In 2020 we helped 8 people with gift cards for food and gas. Then the NENA food shelf moved into the building, and in 2021 we saw an increase in requests and helped 15 different people with gift cards. In 2022 Crosstown took more ownership of the food shelf, which has naturally connected the church to more people in need. In the first three months of this year Crosstown has helped 9 different people, mostly with gas cards, since their food insecurity is being addressed with the food shelf.

As we transition into helping people in a more tangible way we decided it was time to work on writing some Benevolent Fund guidelines, and oversight of this ministry was delegated to the Community Caring Commission. These guidelines are in process but we wanted to share some of the stories.

The Benevolent Fund has helped a woman who found herself in a financially strained situation after she needed to bury her son. Her son overdosed in her arms and as you can obviously understand, this is the hardest thing she has ever had to go through. She was grateful for the help, prayer, and conversation as she navigates more than she feels she is able to carry.

The Benevolent Fund helped pay for gas for a woman living in a cheap hotel with her family. She had an interview for a call center job in the suburbs the week gas prices jacked up. She came into church asking for help to get to her job interview. She expressed a feeling of helplessness as she tries to navigate life and struggles to find affordable housing.

The Benevolent Fund helped a woman relocate an ailing elderly family member from Wisconsin to the Bossen apartments so that she can be nearer to them. In this way she would be able to assist with caring for this person. She was grateful and humbled to receive funds to help cover a portion of the needed deposit.

Thank you for supporting this ministry and allowing us to share the love of Jesus in hugs, tears, conversation, and prayer with our neighbors in need. It can be challenging to fight the skeptic voice that whispers that this person may be scamming us. It’s true, they may be lying. But Christ called us to generosity and love, and sometimes we underestimate the pain in this world because our lives haven’t been that challenged. May Jesus help the first answer on our lips to be “how am I called to help?” I am grateful to serve as the first line of interaction for these friends in need. If you would like to support this ministry just indicate that desire in your memo option.
Kristi Johnson

Crosstown Giving

Posted in Stories
Posted in Neighbor

2 Comments

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Iris Benson Smyth - May 5th, 2022 at 4:12pm

Bless you Kristi for BEING THERE !!!

Sheryll Storry - May 5th, 2022 at 9:05pm

Thank you for sharing this, and for being the face of our church so often to those who walk through the door. God bless both you and those who come to us for help.