It soon became clear to the core group that pooling resources among congregations was the best way for meeting the needs of those who sought help at these core churches as well as for congregations throughout the greater Richmond community. The Advisory Board decided it was time to respond on a grander scale.
In the fall of 2005, the ACTS Advisory Board identified and visited a model prevention ministry in Charlotte, NC, known as Crisis Assistance Ministry (CAM). CAM had been founded in 1974 by a small group of churches also and has grown to be the largest homeless prevention agency in the Charlotte metro area. Crisis Assistance Ministry (CAM) has since developed into a collaborative effort that disperses millions of dollars in aid and services to prevent homelessness. The ACTS’ Board representatives returned to Richmond inspired with the vision of creating an organization with one central location for assisting families in crisis and supported by the greater Richmond faith community.
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ACTS began receiving clients in August of 2006. It has steadily grown and is now supported by several dozen interfaith partners as well as community and corporate foundations. Since opening its pilot program in August 2006, the ACTS center has served over hundreds of persons dispersing hundreds of thousands of dollars in financial assistance as well as case management support services. This service has kept most of these individuals and families (nearly half of them children) from falling into the destructive and devastating cycle of homelessness.
ACTS Future
It is the goal of ACTS to continue to grow and position itself to serve greater numbers of families and individuals who are facing temporary crises and need financial support. The ACTS ministry welcomes new partners into this vital and cost effective mission. Currently, ACTS is engaged in a campaign to recruit at total of 100 congregations into the partnership network.
