[UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS# 265-House of the Carpenter gives hope to poor

[NewsDesk]

House of the Carpenter gives hope to poor 

Jun. 25, 2008     

NOTE: Photographs and a UMTV report are available at
http://umns.umc.org. 

A UMNS Report 
By Chuck Long* 

"I worry about the kids first," says Cora Lynn as she browses through
rows of clothing racks. "Right now, it's not so good." 

Lynn is on a mission. She is trying to find donated clothing and food
for her children, and the House of the Carpenter has come to her rescue.
"They always help," she says.

Based in Wheeling, W.Va., the House of the Carpenter was created in 1964
to help poor and disadvantaged people as a ministry related to the West
Virginia Annual (regional) Conference of The United Methodist Church.
The impact was immediate. Families with small children, the newly
homeless and the elderly flocked to the two-room storefront on Wheeling
Island.

On the second floor of its current and much larger location, the Rev.
Jack Lipphardt, associate minister of the House of the Carpenter, looks
away from his computer screen to gaze at the street below. "I see a city
and a region of people that are in distress," he says.

West Virginia has a higher-than-average rate of poverty, leaving
families like that of Barbara Riggle struggling. 

"I get $52 in food stamps, so this helps a lot," says Riggle, a mother
of three, as she scans the boys' clothing section at House of Carpenter.
She also brings her family to the center for complimentary dinners twice
a month. "This is about the only way I can get the kids what they need.
I don't know what I'd do (otherwise), to be honest."

The ministry's list of needs continues to grow. On an average month in
the mid-1970s, the center helped feed 50 families. Today, it helps feed
more than 850 families. The organization also provides assistance to
those having trouble paying for such essentials as rent, utilities,
medical bills and transportation costs.

A goal for many organizations that assist the underprivileged is to
provide food and shelter, but staff at the House of the Carpenter tries
to look beyond those needs.

"We know the Band-Aid approach of providing food for someone provides an
immediate response for a need," Lipphardt says, "but it doesn't solve
the problem of why there's hunger, why there's no food in the house, why
the children aren't doing well in school, why there are health issues.
So we get involved in more long-range kinds of things, such as the
creation of a health clinic."

More than 10,000 patients 

The health clinic had a modest beginning but evolved quickly. "A free
walk-in clinic was started in a Sunday school room and provided care to
the working poor one day a week," he says. "It is now operating as a
complete primary care center operating from three different sites. They
have an active patient load of over 10,000 individuals."

The House of the Carpenter develops additional long-term programs
exploring the root causes of hunger and poverty, and working to
understand the health, education and human rights needs in communities.
To pay for those, Lipphardt browses the Internet in search of grants.

"The need is up in this region. There's been a lot of industrial loss, a
lot of job loss.  People are getting older and can't make the
contributions they once made."

Despite depressed economic times, Lipphardt remains positive, pointing
to other success stories. 

"One of the best ways to describe success is CAPE (Children And Parents
in Education) that we combined with the school system," Lipphardt points
out. "Project CAPE helps young parents finish their education while
their children attend Head Start (the national program that promotes
school readiness). The program was designed to help break the cycle of
poverty."

Lipphardt is on a roll. "We have a large number of folks who are able to
support themselves with new jobs as a result of the ministry of the
church. They find their self-esteem and put their lives and families
back together. They're not living in the mansion on the hill, but
they're caring for themselves and taking care of the kids and, in some
cases, even finding ways to cover college expenses for the kids. We're
real proud of that."

Poverty is widespread 

Discussing his passion for the House of the Carpenter, Lipphardt notes
that poverty knocks on the door all too often. He feels compelled to
counsel not just the oppressed but the fortunate as well.

"We as Christians can be pretty judgmental at times. There is not a face
of what poverty looks like. It might be somebody sitting in the pew next
to you in a pool of tears."

Downstairs from Lipphardt, another wave of less-fortunate people arrives
to peruse fresh produce and search for clothes to take to their
families.

Helping shoppers find what they need, House of the Carpenter organizer
Ann Senkbeil observes, "It makes you aware of why we're here. It's not
new clothes, but it's new to them. There are so many people that are
very appreciative of what they get from here."

*Long is a freelance producer based in Nashville, Tenn. 

News media contact: Fran Coode Walsh, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470
or newsdesk at umcom.org. 

******************** 

United Methodist News Service 
Photos and stories also available at: 
http://umns.umc.org 




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