New Partner Approach Supports ABWK Families

The Community Support Center (CSC) is a network of partners representing every facet of our community, including - faith communities, schools, social services, county, city, business and funding agencies - all working together to support those struggling with housing instability and hardship in our neighborhoods.

Our goal is to prevent homelessness by connecting at-risk neighbors to existing resources and providing longer-term support through compassionate volunteers thereby building their capacity to deal with future challenges with greater independent success.

The CSC is a new concept where churches play a vital support role to families. Churches through the CSC, also provide schools, agencies and county systems overwhelmed by families in need are not set up for giving long-term nurturing support necessary for long-term stability.

The CSC is about a different way of helping (How We Do Our Work)… The CSC partners are committed to helping our at-risk neighbors in the Mounds View School District stop the cycle of living emergency-to-emergency.

Because our goal is different, our methods are different, too! When working with our at-risk neighbors, CSC staff and volunteers strive to:
1. Listen - taking necessary time to register everything our neighbor wants to share about their situation.
2. Refer - to existing resource partners for critical immediate needs, where appropriate. Some of our reference partners include: churches, The Salvation Army, Legal Aid, and Ramsey County Human Services.
3. Identify - practical, achievable, short-term opportunities for neighbors to improve their situations.
4. Partner - with willing CSC participants to identify long-term, sustainable improvement benchmarks paired with the provision of continued material support until greater self-sustainability (and, an end to the cycle of emergencies) is achieved. Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity

Collaborating with groups like the CSC helps to serve our ABWK families in a broader, deeper manner tha creates more effective long-term housing stability.

For more information about the Community Support Center or to start a center in your community contact Pat Lund at plund@abwk.net