Two years ago, Dwayne Chandler was standing at the bus station on the corner of 14th and R street, strung out on drugs and struggling to stand straight. He had been living on the streets for five years, hustling and doing whatever he could to “get what I needed to get,” he said. Suddenly, he just couldn’t take another day with his head swimming and stomach churning. “I just had enough.”
He looked up and across the street he saw the plain, block building of Central Union Mission. Above the door read a sign: Come unto me.
Dwayne admits that Central Union Mission—a non-profit, faith-based provider of shelter, services and food—is not for everyone. People who use the Mission’s overnight shelter must attend an evening worship service. Men trying to get off the streets, who participate in the Spiritual Transformation Program, must commit to a 12- to 18-month program that includes daily chapel service and daily devotions. A requirement to graduate from the program is that they have a personal connection with a church. Strict rules apply and they are enforced.
“We push people in two directions,” said Dwayne, who now works at the Mission as permanent staff. “You can stay in the mission or walk out the door.”
But he also explains that the rules have a purpose. “Most of the men who come to the Mission have drugs and alcohol addictions or other serious problems,” he said. They need structure to keep their minds focused on the right things.”
In addition to housing and spiritual guidance, the Mission’s Spiritual Transformation Program provides a host of other services, ranging from counseling, legal assistance, GED classes, and help with housing and job placement.
“When it comes to homelessness, everyone can tell you all of the problems, lack of affordable housing, high unemployment, addictions, family problems, criminal records, mental illness or other disability, among others,” Dwayne said. “But no one talks about the solutions. He we offer the solution: Jesus Christ.”
Religious institutions like Central Union Mission have been running homeless shelters and providing services to people who are homeless and hungry for centuries. Just this year, Central Union mission celebrates 120 years of service in the District. More recently, however, the role of these institutions as social service providers have come under increased scrutiny.
President Bush’s Faith-based and Community Initiative and similar efforts have policy makers and politicians debating the effectiveness and funding of private versus public programs. As record-high federal budget deficits leave many members of Congress considering whether to cut some social spending, many people are debating whether charities—many of them faith-based—have the capacity to absorb such a loss.
Growing Need
According to the 2003 U.S. Conference of Mayors Report on Hunger and Homelessness, requests for emergency shelter in 2002 jumped to 12 percent in Washington, D.C., despite an increase in both shelter beds and transitional housing. Requests among families rose even higher: 19 percent.
Most charities rely on private donations for funding and supplies. And while Americans as a whole are generous people, donations tend to dwindle when the economy weakens.
“Federal and state governments have a much broader reach financially, and are better positioned to weather economic changes than churches and other private efforts,” said Dr. Yvonne Vissing, who oversees the work of the Salem State College Center for Child Studies.
“What happens when privately-run shelters max out?” Vissing asked. “If the economy is bad, the congregation is not going to have the wherewithal to support it.”
Government programs may also be better positioned to address some of the more structural causes of homelessness, including the lack of affordable housing, low-paying jobs and unemployment.
Personal Attention
On the other hand, many experts contend that private, community efforts—including many faith-based charities—often better provide the personal attention that many homeless people need. Whether the Central Union Mission, Gospel Rescue Ministries, Fulton House of Hope or one of the many other religious homeless service providers in the District, most offer people individualized, staff-intensive services that other programs do not provide. And like the Mission’s yearlong Spiritual Transformation Program, many such programs also help people over a significant amount of time.
“Rather than scatter our efforts, we are trying to serve the people we touch well,” said Kristin Lane, direct of communications and outreach at the Central Union Mission. “People find themselves homeless for many reasons, some of them quire serious,” she added. “Our programs focus on healing them completely.”
Because many of these programs require or at least strong encourage people to attend religious services, some homeless people who need help prefer to go elsewhere or, if no other services are available, choose to forgo help altogether. While most programs are respectful of religious diversity, a quick look at a directory of providers show that nearly all have a strong Christian focus. This bias is a concern for some people who believe that more services need to be provided in a secular setting. It becomes an even greater concern when programs accept federal money.
“The idea of fairness, justice, democracy, and egalitarianism is an essential mandate of federally funded programs,” Vissing said. “If you take that away and put it in people’s hands who are making decisions based on moral convictions, there’s a real problem.”
Contrary to popular opinion, the U.S. Census Bureau’s national survey of homeless assistance providers found that faith-based providers actually served a more diverse clientele and offered less specialized services than their secular counterparts. This same survey notes that faith-based providers run about a third of all programs, including one-quarter of all shelters and drop-in centers.
Living By Rules
John Brown is just weeks away from graduating from Central Union Mission’s Spiritual Transformation Program, and while he admits that the program has been hard, he also says it is the best thing he’s ever done for himself.
“I was using drugs—addicted—and I had nowhere to go,” he said. “I couldn’t go home to my parents, and my friends didn’t want anything to do with me in the state that I was in.”
He said that he had been in other drug rehabilitation programs, but this one was different because it forced him to look in the mirror and acknowledge what he had allowed his life to become.
“God’s love is powerful,” he said. “He makes no excuses, and this program won’t allow you to make excuses either.”
Those were the rules, according to John. And while John sees men leave the Mission every day because they choose not to live by the same rules, he attributes his health and healing to the fact that he learned to live by them.
