Support Circles

Representatives of the Body of Christ met April 27th with Victoria Tackett of Lutheran Family Services and Roberta MacCauley of Catholic Social Ministries to discuss how they have used Circles of Support in the faith community to help Katrina victims.

They recommend that a group of five to eight people minister jointly to one displaced person or family and that one of the group members act as a coordinator to keep everyone informed of needs and activities as they arise.

Lutheran Family Services publishes some brochures and other information about Support Circles. They also work with Catholic Social Ministries to provide training to teach faith community teams how to work together in Support Circles. Roberta said she would be able to provide training to groups as needed.

Here are some of the guidelines they suggest for forming a Support Circle:

• Publicize the need for Support Circles and who you will be serving.
• Personally invited people to participate.
• Look for people willing to commit to approximately six months -- the time Lutheran Family Services estimates the average displaced family needs to become self-sufficient.
• Define the gifts, talents and resources each team member is willing to share and keep track of them.
• Determine how communication will be handled to make sure everyone is "in the loop." This may include a phone tree, email and regular meetings.

The basic structure of Support Circles is pretty straightforward. Different people agree to provide different services: housing, transportation, counseling, employment assistance, food, clothing etc. Members are encouraged to develop relationships with each other as well as with the displaced individual or family.

Victoria also emphasized that it is a good idea to develop a covenant that defines the overall aim of the Support Circles. Here is an example of such a covenant:

In this Covenant, we promise to share both the joys and challenges we face in working together. We promise to encourage an dforgive one another and to hold one another in our thoughts as we enter into this Partnership of Hope.

Roberta said she would like to attend the next meeting of the Body of Christ. In addition, those who have been supporting Katrina victims will be holding a retreat this Sunday to discuss lessons learned and to prepare to transition to helping others including the homeless.

Roberta said they hope to develop an Advisory Council to help address issues facing the homeless and might include representatives of the homeless community on the council.

We were also provided with updated lists of Wake County providers of many goods and services, including transportation, health care, shelters, thrift shops and others who are open to helping the homeless.