In town hall meetings and other gatherings, Keffer said the main problems he hears from people trying to move off welfare concern child care and transportation, and he believes those are areas where faith-based organizations can do more. The government's role in the process is to find ways to assist faith-based organizations in making their job easier, Keffer said. The Department of Human Resources is working on ways that smaller groups of people, or even an individual, can help, said Evans, the regional administrator. A program initiated by Comptroller John Sharp called Family Pathfinders pairs welfare recipients with teams from charitable organizations that provide various types of assistance including mentoring. Even if a church is too small for a team, one individual may want to help, and the Department of Human Services wants to be of assistance.
Smaller churches can help in other ways, too.
And in many instances, especially in rural communities, providing transportation is only a matter of being willing to help out. There is a strong religious influence to help your neighbor. That influence can be seen in almost any church in Abilene, regardless of size, and also in other organizations that are faith-based such as Medical Care Mission, Baptist Social Ministries, Christian Service Center, and Community Services of St. Vincent de Paul Society to name a few. That religious influence also spills over to the secular world. Ask anyone working in a food pantry or clothes closet, and you will get much the same answer.