This article was reported as part of the J253 Reporting and News Writing course at UNC’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication. This article is part of a series that explores the human dimensions of poverty, unemployment and economic distress across North Carolina. Continue to check reesestate for updates on the series.

CHARLOTTE
After her husband died in 2006, Mary Logan found herself alone in Lincolnton, N.C. Retired after years of working in the town’s mill, she decided to move closer to her family in Charlotte.

Though she grew up with very little, Logan never once considered herself poor. Despite her limited means, Logan knew there were some things no one should go without. That’s why she was thankful to find the Free Store, a program sponsored by Crisis Assistance Ministry that distributes clothing, shoes and other necessities to people in need.

“Nobody should go without clothes. Nobody,” she said. “I’ve found things that I thought I would never find. I mean, really, it’s a blessing.”

Logan isn’t someone you might expect to see at the Free Store. By her own admission, she has the means to shop at department stores, but she simply said, “I’d rather come here.”

Surprised? You shouldn’t be, said store manager John Wakefield. He said Crisis Assistance Ministry’s goal is to help everyone, including patrons like Logan.

“We don’t care where you live, how much money you make, if you have a job or not, or if you have a home or not,” he said. “We want you to take that money and go help pay your rent, your utilities, your food bill for your kids, whatever it may be, and just come here and help take that extra pressure off.”

Crisis Assistance Ministry began in 1975, during the mid-1970s economic downturn. A group of local clergy set out with the goal of “pooling resources to more effectively meet the needs of low-income families in financial crisis in Mecklenburg County.” The Free Store became a staple of Crisis Assistance Ministry’s offerings in 1978.

Ministry grows in response to need

Today, Crisis Assistance Ministry has grown to become one of the largest nonprofit agencies of its kind in North Carolina. The organization receives most of its funding from government grants and private contributions. In 2009, grants and contributions exceeded $17 million, with almost half coming from the city of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Rather than reacting in the wake of financial disaster, Wakefield said the organization takes measures to prevent financial distress for individuals before it occurs. Redirecting funds from expenses like clothing and toward more pressing financial obligations is one way to accomplish the goal.

“We have approximately 7,000 individuals in Charlotte right now without homes,” he said. “We want to keep that number from going up, and that’s truly what we’re here for.”

Last year, Crisis Assistance Ministry helped more than 50,000 Charlotte area families through financial assistance programs, furniture and appliance distribution, as well as the Free Store. Communications Director Akilah Luke said it’s not uncommon to see hundreds of people lined up outside their doors every day as early as 6 a.m., especially during the cold winter months. By intervening and helping these families before their situations worsen, Luke said Crisis Assistance Ministry plays a distinctive role.

“We’re that place — that safety net to catch families before they become homeless, and just allow people to just continue on with their lives and live with dignity,” she said.

But contrary to what one might expect, the majority of their patrons aren’t living in extreme circumstances. Just looking around the expansive waiting room inside Crisis Assistance Ministry’s main branch, there are faces that are not immediately associated with financial hardship. Instead you see folks like Mary Logan, the people you interact with every day.

“The families we serve are the working poor,” Luke said. “These are people that are your school bus drivers, the people who are checking you out at the grocery store, maybe it’s the barista at your coffee shop. These are the people that you’re helping, your neighbors.”

The number of people seeking financial assistance has increased significantly since the beginning of the financial crisis. Before the recession hit in 2006, Crisis Assistance Ministry served just over 40,000 families. Today, due in part to increases of more than 60 percent in hunger and homelessness since 2007, the organization is serving more than 10,000 additional families.

Charlotte city officials are also involved in fighting the growing number of homeless, and the almost 40,000 citizens living in extreme poverty. The city’s communications manager Jamie Banks said one way they are attacking this problem is by seeking to increase the amount of affordable housing throughout the city.

Researchers at UNC-Chapel Hill found that traditional measures of poverty did not adequately reflect the dispersion of poverty in North Carolina. As a result, scholars discovered that large – and largely affluent – metropolitan areas like Charlotte and Raleigh contain sections of concentrated poverty.

A city’s ‘new normal’

“This is the new normal, this is how it’s going to be,” Luke said. “We’re going to continue to see more people, but we have a great community. Charlotte is awesome with volunteering, giving back, and donating their time and their resources.”

Kimbra Young-Dobbins is one of those volunteers. On almost a weekly basis, she and her son donate their time to sort and fold clothes in the Free Store. She believes in the power of community, and knows how important community service is in teaching a larger lesson.

“People take it for granted that they have a home,” she said. “A lot of people don’t have that. If you don’t teach your children the things they need to do out here to make the world better, we’re not going to have this world anymore.”

Fighting a growing homeless population and almost 40,000 citizens living on less than half of the federal poverty standard, Charlotte officials are seeking to increase the supply of affordable housing throughout the city.

“The need for affordable housing is somewhere between 17,000 and 24,000,” Banks said. “Right now, we’re in the process of looking at our housing locational policy, which essentially is a policy that guides the location of affordable housing. The policy says that we will only build new, multi-family affordable housing in stable neighborhoods. We want to make sure affordable housing dispersed throughout the city.”

Designed to help families earning less than $40,000 a year, proposed revisions to the housing location policy would increase affordable housing throughout south and northeast Charlotte.

Crisis Assistance Ministry and city government officials say they’re doing what they can to prevent a further rise in poverty. But despite all the progress, Kimbra Young-Dobbins understands that the first step in solving such a serious problem is increasing awareness and inspiring others to do good.

“Coming together and making a difference, whether it be small or big,” she said. “That’s what I’m trying to teach my son.”