Pres. Bush's 'Faith Based Initiative' In Boston Is Exciting -- and Troubling

When President Bush's faith-based initiative came to Boston in December and gave a $2 million check to the United Way of Massachusetts Bay, there was great excitement at the ceremony at the Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church in Roxbury.

They wonder why the money is distributed through United Way of Massachusetts Bay, a liberal secular organization, with a much different life vision than faith-based organizations. They wonder how much money will stick to the fingers of United Way and others and not reach the people in the trenches.

They are informed that United Way is "earmarked" to receive less than five percent of the total grant for its administrative oversight of the grant, according to Brigid Boyd, Director of Communications for the group. "All of the balance of funds will be directed to faith-based organizations or non-profit organizations in partnership with faith-based organizations," she tells MassNews. Even if United Way keeps only 5%, that would amount to $100,000, and many remain skeptical whether that is "all" that is earmarked.
		Marian L. Heard (second frrom right), President and CEO of United Way of Massachusetts Bay, accepts a $2 million grant from Bobby Polito (center), Director of the Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Also pictured here are Rev. Dr. Wesley Roberts of the Black Ministerial Alliance, Reba Danastorg of The Boston TenPoint Coalition, Jeffrey Bass of the Emmanuel Gospel Center and Harold Sparrow of the Black Ministerial Alliance.

But those at the December celebration in Roxbury were elated. The pastor of the church, Rev. Gregory G. Groover, told the assemblage that the Christmas season was a particularly appropriate time for the occasion because, "Wise men from Washington have come bearing gifts to us!"

"We want to thank President Bush," Marian L. Heard, president and CEO of the local United Way told a cheering crowd. "Forget your political affiliation today. We're going to cash that check!" Some pointed out that that remark showed that Heard is a liberal.

The faith and community-based initiative was first announced by President Bush in January 2001. It was created to remove barriers that prevent community and religious organizations from competing for federal funding for the secular services they provide to many people.

Rev. Wesley A. Roberts, pastor of Peoples Baptist Church in Boston, sees this as a breakthrough. "This provides us with an opportunity to help the community to obtain resources from the private sector as well as government sources," Roberts tells MassNews. Without the grant, "most small faith-based groups don't have the capacity even to apply. We appreciate the President for making this possible."

Known as the Compassion Capital Fund, the grant is intended to strengthen local faith-based organizations by creating the Boston Capacity Tank. The Tank will offer workshop-based training and individual technical assistance to faith-based organizations, including the Black Ministerial Alliance, Emmanuel Gospel Center and the Boston TenPoint Coalition.

One Christian worker, who is on the streets every day working with children, wonders and worries about the money. He is Andre John of the Azusa Christian Community in Dorchester, which is headed by Rev. Gene Rivers. John wonders if the "people who do the work will ever see any of that money." He worries that "high-profile groups like the United Way" will not think that a small operation like his Ella J. Baker House, a reclaimed crack house that has been restored and now doubles as a drop-in center for kids and a church for the Azusa Community, is "credible" enough. "We are not in the mainstream. They think the money will be wasted if given to us, which is not the case."

		When John first heard about the grant, "I figured same old, same old," John tells MassNews. "It has to be re-focused and re-thought. Who gets the money? It shouldn't go to the high profiles. It's sad, because the people it hurts the most are the kids. I have to laugh sometimes. There are so many organizations that do the work, without the big rah-rah. My phone rings from 6 a.m. to 12 at night. We serve some of the toughest kids in Dorchester."
Andre John, a Christian worker, who is on the streets every day working with kids, wonders if the people who do the hands-on work will ever see any of the money that goes to the United Way.

John, who has been honored by the Boston Celtics and featured in the Boston Globe, is and described as "a magnet to kids." A former football player at Trinity College with a sixty-inch chest and a native of the Caribbean island of St. Lucia, John does everything from advocacy in criminal courts to counseling. "I run a camp every summer. I take 100 kids away, and provide them with a safe environment outside the city," he tells MassNews.

"We try to make sure that everyone understands what it takes to be successful, and to keep out of trouble. We try to give them an opportunity to grow up to be a positive influence on others.

"Some kids come back and work for me all summer. They enjoy working with other kids. You see a change in them, from thinking that life is over at 17 - that there's nothing for them to look forward to - to entering college at 20, and then asking, 'What can I do to help?'

"Most people want to be doing something positive, but they need someone to show them how to do it."

He takes a wait-and-see attitude. "This is the first round. People are being careful, but kids are still suffering because they don't get the services."

He points out that the $2 million will not replace what is being cut by the state because of the budget crunch. This is not a time for rejoicing and giving more money to the middleman, he says.

Even so, Ella J. Baker House has been recognized by the Bush administration as a place where good things happen. Rev. Mark Scott was executive director there when he was tapped to come to Washington to serve as assistant to John Di Iulio, whom President Bush appointed to get the faith-based initiative off the ground.

Rev. Scott, who is now working in Washington for the National Crime Prevention Council, was replaced at Ella J. Baker House by Ken Johnson. His former boss, John Di Iulio, has likewise moved on, to be succeeded by Jim Towey, whom Johnson tells MassNews is "Catholic, pro-life, and worked with Mother Teresa."

"The United Way is just getting started" in their organization of the Compassion Capital Grant, declares Johnson. "It's hard to have a lot of expectations. Andre is correct in saying that, so far, we have not felt the effect of the Compassion Capital Grant. United Way, to my knowledge, has not issued anything inviting churches to participate. Somewhere along the line, United Way and the three partner agencies [Black Ministerial Alliance, Boston TenPoint Coalition and Emmanuel Gospel Center] need to let people know if any funding will be going to other faith-based groups. My understanding is that these grants are for technical support, not to fund their operations."

Johnson tells MassNews that Ella J. Baker House recently "got a notice for some jobs" with United Way involving "Outcomes Measurement Training," which is part of United Way's "Faith in Action" initiative, which "occurred before any federal grant came forth."

"The Outcomes Measurement Model tries to help groups to set goals, then to set objectives to meet those goals," says Johnson. "Say the goal is to get kids to stay in school. How do you get there? Do you hire staff? Do you check to see if kids are in school? Then, you look at results. Did we get there?"

Some church leaders have little use for United Way, maintaining that the organization takes a liberal, secular approach concerning issues such as substance abuse and AIDS, but Johnson is fairly sanguine. "We've had a good relationship with United Way," he tells MassNews. "They've always dealt with people straight."

Jeff Bass, executive director of Emmanuel Gospel Center, is also cautiously optimistic. "This is a pretty complicated question, whether it's a good or bad thing," he tells MassNews.

"The availability of federal funds could start driving programs, and then the programs become fund-driven as opposed to mission-driven." He feels that a danger lurks if people get successful, and then cannot administer a program without the federal funds.

He tells MassNews that there's an "element of control" whenever government money is involved in a Christian organization, especially when it comes to anti-discrimination laws. Churches are largely exempt from these laws, because as a matter of course they will lean toward hiring people of their own faith.

"Barney Frank is trying to create a statute that would change that," Bass tells MassNews. "In Massachusetts there are issues about that kind of thing."

Money from the Compassion Capital Grant cannot just be put into a church's general fund," according to Bass. "It cannot be used for evangelism, prayer or worship. There are people arguing that no federal money should go to Christian groups. In order to maintain tax-exempt status, you cannot enter the political process."

The Emmanuel Gospel Center on Shawmut Avenue is not a church but an urban ministry based in Boston. Its Executive Director, Jeff Bass, says the faith-based initiative "is a pretty complicated question, whether it is a good thing or a bad thing."

Emmanuel Gospel Center is not a church but an urban ministry based in Boston. Bass says: "We are a para-church organization that works with churches. We find out what's happening, and try to nurture Christian growth and extend the Kingdom of God in the city. We work with a number of Haitian churches.

"Everything we do is designed to help churches be effective in their community. We have a pastor to youth pastors [for example]. We get grant money and re-grant it to them. This is our first foray into federal funding."

Like Andre John, Jeff Bass has some reservations about the United Way. "A lot of United Ways [chapters throughout the country] are very liberal and not supportive of what we try to do, supporting Planned Parenthood, for instance. But United Way of Massachusetts seems to have a lot of Christians in it, who have been supportive of faith-based organizations. The Compassion Capital money will help us to provide more technical assistance. [But the real question is,] how can the money leverage and facilitate what we are doing without being counterproductive? It could blow up in some way if you're not careful."

"This is something new and innovative," Jacquelyne Payne-Thompson, community director at the Charles Street church and a teacher in Boston public schools, tells MassNews. She is enthusiastic about the initiative because: "We're all empowered to do certain things. Sometimes we just don't know it, and then someone opens the door to show you where that is."

The executive director of Boston's TenPoint Coalition, Reba Danastorg, tells MassNews: "Historically, churches are a very effective way to reach kids and address issues within the community. However, most of our churches are limited in their ability to be effective in the community because of the lack of resources and training. This grant will allow us to provide churches with technical assistance that will strengthen and enhance their current level of functioning. As a result, churches are more empowered to develop their own mission and goals that are youth and community centered."

Marian Heard points out that in 1997, United Way launched its own "Faith in Action" initiative, to provide funding to faith-based organizations that work with "at risk" children from low-income families. Heard says the federal grant will greatly enhance and "complement" existing services.

"This is a new experience," Rev. Roberts tells MassNews. "Black clergy and laity have had a decade of experience working with inner-city youth, and we have seen a reduction [in crime]. The needs of youth cannot be properly addressed without addressing the needs of their families. We need a holistic approach. I am grateful to President Bush."

The man who brought the check from the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, Robert Polito, told those assembled at the ceremony in December that in his experience he has gained "a good understanding of how ministries could partner with government at the local level, but how do you get a huge organization to partner with a small, grassroots organization? This is going to launch us down the road."

Polito stressed that this is only a beginning. "This 'compassion fund' means that we have just successfully moved from A to B," he said. "We have to get to Z. That will be a homerun."

"This is worth coming out in the snow for," Marian Heard said as a gigantic cardboard check, symbolizing the grant, was presented to United Way.

Heard was careful to stress the importance of faith in "faith-based" services. She noted that studies have been conducted demonstrating that, "Adults fare better when they have a spiritual connection in their lives - they live longer, get well faster, and they have a certain countenance. The same thing is true about youngsters. Our programs will teach them not only to 'just say no,' but to say 'no' in the name of their spiritual leader.

"We know this money will be well-invested. This money will make sure our children take their place in the world. It will provide extraordinary support to extraordinary children to enable them to become outstanding leaders in their community. We might be producing the next President of the United States!"

The sense of gratitude was palpable among those present. Heard says that when she and her colleagues at United Way knew that Polito was coming, "We didn't know if he liked to be called Robert or Bob or Bobby. 'We will call you anything you want,'" she said with comically exaggerated deference. "And when Bob comes again, whenever that is, we will tell him that we need more money!"

There is another federal grant besides the one going to United Way. It is going to organizations which train youngsters in using computers.

The Association of Christian Community Computer Centers (AC4) is a classic example of an organization that came into being on a wing and a prayer. The brainchild of several idealistic young people, AC4 will receive a much-needed boost from the Bush administration's Compassion Capital Grant.

"We will be able to hire several staff members, instead of just one or two people," says MIT graduate Andrew Sears, AC4's founder and executive director.

"We received $115,000 this year," Sears tells MassNews. "Community Technology Centers' Network is operating as the fiscal agent on the grant with AC4 as co-recipient of the grant, so it is not distributed through United Way."

The group has ministries in several cities which address what they call "the digital divide" - the gap that separates those who are computer literate from those who are not - by providing free computer training to those who would
not otherwise have access
to this benefit.

More than 400 young people have learned about computers in the basement of Dorchester Temple Baptist Church as a result of the Association of Christian Community Computer Centers.

AC4 began with one local computer center in Dorchester in order to support efforts across the world to provide access and skills needed to survive in the computer age.

"Studies have shown that there is significantly disproportionate access to computers across race, gender, income, and other factors," says AC4's statement of purpose. "This digital divide has become a major social issue because many believe that computer literacy will become as important as basic reading literacy in gaining employment."

AC4 has "built a network of Christian non-profit social service agencies," Sears tells MassNews. "We are working with over 200 Christian agencies to build service centers, hold workshops and regional conferences. We are collaborating with the [Texas-based] Beaumont Foundation of America, which was set up to address the digital divide."

These agencies are primarily "Christian multi-service centers" which provide, among other services, "after-school programs that provide technology training and youth entrepreneurship programs" that help inner-city youth gain the knowledge to support themselves constructively. AC4's motto is: "Computer Skills to Make a Living, and a Spiritual Foundation to Make a Life."

When Andrew Sears was a graduate student at MIT and "very driven," he created an internet start-up company. "But I knew I wasn't going to feel fulfilled," he tells MassNews. "I wasn't actively following God when I was at MIT. My life was becoming a long list of accomplishments, but I didn't feel that it was meaningful." After he "turned back to God," he realized that what he really enjoys is helping people.

"I love technology, and I love serving people," Sears says. "I spoke to my pastor at Cambridge Vineyard Christian Fellowship. He got me thinking creatively about how to combine these two elements."

Sears teamed up with Angel Halstead of Bruce Wall Ministries, who "saw her brother-in-law's life transformed when he received computer training," says Sears. "We decided to partner together, realizing that there is this huge social issue, the digital divide." Bruce Wall Ministries is a mission to at-risk youth and families, which provides an after-school program with homework assistance and tutoring, a teen summer internship program, a summer camp, an ex-offenders support program and the PREP computer center.

The small computer center they started two years ago is still located at the Dorchester Temple Baptist Church, also home of Bruce Wall Ministries at 670 Washington Street, near Codman Square in Dorchester. It began as a joint venture between Cambridge Vineyard Christian Fellowship and Bruce Wall Ministries. This has grown into the AC4 association through partnership with many other leaders of Christian computer centers around the country, including Rudy Carrasco from Harambee in Pasadena and Marcus Thorne from Lawndale Christian in Chicago.

According to Sears, there are two Compassion Capital Grants that have been allocated to Massachusetts organizations, one to United Way, and one to CTCNet, AC4, and the Alliance for Technology Access, which makes computers and the internet accessible to people with disabilities. "We provide technical assistance to community organizations, help develop those organizations and help them grow," says Sears. "We provide them with resources to address better the digital divide."

Sears attributes the growth of AC4 to the power of God. "We live by prayer and by dependence on God," he says. When they began, "People did this on a volunteer basis. One person got his workplace to donate ten computers that were not being used."

Soon they realized that their mission would have to consist of "more than taking these ten computers out of the closet" when students came. "We prayed for space, then we realized that about a third of our church basement was not being used, was cold and dark and needed to be developed," Sears says.

Again, they prayed for guidance. "A guy showed up whose life had been transformed by computer training. This fellow not only funded the construction on the basement, but did most of the work himself."

The local computer center PREP has received previous grants, first from the Filene Foundation and later from the Hyams Foundation. In two years, the number of people served by PREP has doubled, from 200 to 400 students.

"Historically, churches and faith-based organizations have been some of the strongest institutions in the inner city and have played a key role in educational movements," says AC4's statement of purpose. "Two hundred years ago, as books became available to the masses, there was a major drive for literacy, and churches and faith-based organizations were the primary force behind that drive. Even the term 'Sunday School' originally referred to literacy classes taught in churches.

"Now computers are being made available to the masses, and there is a new major social issue in promoting computer literacy. The key goal of AC4 is to assist churches and Christian organizations to become a major driving force behind computer literacy just as they were with basic literacy.

"Although all of the centers on our list are faith-based and have a Christian character, AC4 is a non-denominational, non-profit social service organization. A key emphasis of AC4 is outreach, which includes serving everyone regardless of their religious beliefs."