Change for the Poor Series #1: Relationships

March 12, 2025

Change for the Poor by Mark McKnelly provides a philosophical and practical foundation for Christians invested in life restoration for individuals in extreme poverty, specifically those participating in long-term residential recovery. The book is divided into sections based on three vital principles that bring change for the poor: Relationships, Structure, and Accountability.

Credit goes to Amanda Fisher for providing insight into this book and the material for this blog series.

McKnelly encourages restoration ministry workers to take time to uncover their motivation. A person’s reason to help individuals experiencing material and relational poverty must be driven by compassion and empowered by prayer. If their motivation is “more about serving a need you have in your heart, then the person you serve is more of a project to be completed than a person to be cared for.” Because compassion was the fuel that motivated Jesus in his ministry, McKnelly gently encourages the reader to find something else to do if their motivations are anything other.

McKnelly differentiates three types of approaches to helping people: To, For, and With. The “To” approach is transactional/paternal, like writing a check for a person or project. The “For” approach is maternal, such as moving furniture for a disabled person. Although the “To” and “For” approaches are appropriate at times, he encourages Christian servants that the “With” approach is where true life change happens. It is “highly relational and personal, marked by prayer, heart-level truth-in-love conversations, and wholistic support.” This necessary reciprocal relationship, although challenging, is vital for restoration.

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Touching the Trauma of Homelessness #1: Homelessness and Adversity

March 12, 2025

Thank you to Michael D. McGee, MD, President, WellMind, Inc; MedCentral Editor-at-Large for Clinical Excellence & Physician Wellbeing who published the article Perspective: Touching the Trauma of Homelessness , from which this series is shared. [There is a] seemingly intractable problem of the homeless. If we can land a rover on Mars, why can’t we help those within our reach who have no place to live and who are struggling with mental illness and addiction? If there were an easy answer, I’m sure homelessness would have been eliminated by now. Yet, on any given night, over half a million people are homeless . Nearly 34% of them, just under 200,000, live on the streets without adequate shelter. Approximately 7% are unaccompanied children and young adults. The main cause of homelessness is lack of affordable housing. But this is not the only factor. People living in poverty and those with mental disorders are at much higher risk of homelessness due to a lack of economic, social, and functional reserves needed to cope with adversity. Homelessness disproportionately affects people of color. Some sources suggest that up to 40% of homeless people are Black, even though they make up less than 13% of the US population.

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