Due to health and financial issues, Tangejula was already at risk when the coronavirus appeared. Thanks to help from people like you she has something to be grateful for right now.

Emily and Jacob understand that we need to work together to lift our community up in these uncertain times and they invite you to do the same. Join the challenge and your gift will be matched up to $250,000 through April 30.

Effective at close of business March 17, 2020, all Crisis Assistance Ministry facilities are closed until further notice due to the impact of COVID-19.

Like many nonprofits, Crisis Assistance Ministry is adapting to help contain the spread of COVID‐19 and minimize the risk to employees, customers, and volunteers.

You are invited to join the 2020 Challenge to make twice the difference in the lives of our neighbors in need. All gifts will be matched up to $250,000 through April 30.

Right now, many families are struggling to make choices between rent, groceries, and utility bills. Crisis Assistance Ministry can help. Special funding is currently available to prevent a disconnection of electricity or gas utilities for low income Mecklenburg County families.

Wells Fargo Foundation has announced a grant of $250,000 designated to support the collaborative work of Financial Security CLT. Coalition members work collaboratively through advocacy to help families get on, and stay on, a path to greater financial security.

A grandmother’s love is a fierce combination of worry and tenacity. Thanks to you and Steve’s Coats for Kids, Betty has two less worries after a devastating stroke put her family into financial crisis.

Elevation Church, a long-term partner, volunteers to bring breakfast or lunch to waiting families a few times a month. During those visits, they saw our Charlotte neighbors huddled next to outlets on the floor, waiting for their phones to charge. They saw children anxiously tugging on their parents’ arms asking to leave, restlessly tossing about in their seats, running around searching for any distraction. They saw this and decided to do something about it.

For aspiring nurses, an understanding of what life is like for people in underserved communities is a critical part of their education. At UNC Charlotte, students have a chance to experience what their patients may face on a day-to-day basis through Crisis Assistance Ministry’s Poverty Simulation.

Inside this issue of The Advocate newsletter, read about individuals and families who found hope because of your support, a key partnership helping neighbors understand their rights in the face of rising eviction rates, and more.

It’s a new year and a new decade. That means it’s time for the decennial census which, as mandated by the U.S. Constitution, has occurred every ten years since 1790. The census is an important part of our democracy, helping to determine the allocation of community resources.