Mecklenburg County and Charlotte Love Inc. basic services.
Dozens of churches in Mecklenburg County and Charlotte provide assistance to the needy and low income as part of Love Inc. The charity provides items such as food, clothing, school supplies, and holiday items. Love also operates a clearing house in Mecklenburg County, and families will be referred to a church (or ministry) that can meet their needs.
The calls received by Love, from the number below, are passed on to volunteers in the church network. Performance of any service depends on the availability of both donations from the community and volunteers willing to donate material goods, their time and skills. Some of the assistance programs and services that may be available are listed below.
Adopt an Elder is organized by a team that provides assistance to seniors in the Charlotte region who are unable to complete certain tasks on their own, and lack family members to help. The volunteers from Love Inc. can make a tremendous difference in the lives of their adopted elders. They can do some things such as taking them to the grocery store, doctor or the pharmacy, or going for them if they are unable to leave home.
Volunteers from a church can even help be completing minor yard work, doing the grocery shopping, or house cleaning, or cooking a meal. All of this makes a dramatic difference in quality of life for an elderly, frail, or disabled client.
Love INC works with one of the churches in the Mecklenburg County network to operate a Baby Layette Ministry, which gathers gently used and new baby clothing, disposable diapers, formula, blankets, crib sheets, baby bottles, diapers, and other necessary baby layette items.
The goods are then passed out to new mothers, including single parents, who have few resources available to them. Many of these mothers are low income, maybe have no family, and have absolutely nothing for their babies. This ministry also includes parenting classes for the mothers.
The Mecklenburg County Ramp It Up Ministry’s volunteer construction supervisors provide ramps for disabled clients who do not have them at their homes or apartments. They also need to be low income and lack the financial resources to add one to their home on their own. Once the volunteers assess the home and the client’s needs, they design a ramp that will fit the home, order materials for the item, and supervise the construction as well, to ensure it is done correctly. Among other things, it can help the disabled person be independent.
Car repairs are also available in Charlotte from Love Inc. Sometimes just having an auto in good repair to drive to work, in order to get their income, is all it takes for people to become independent of public assistance.
Churches and faith based groups that are part of Love INC partner with local repair shops that provide volunteers with direction in making cars drive-worthy. The goal is to use them for work related reasons. Many mechanics contribute to this service.
Transportation is for some who just need a ride. Maybe they need to go to a medical appointment, a senior to the pharmacy, or to a job interview. Love volunteers will try to meet this need.
The Charlotte Computer Ministry and its staff refurbish any old, unused computer equipment. Among other things, the charity will clean up old data and files and installed up-to-date software. The completed unit is then offered to people for work reasons or maybe a student in a local Mecklenburg County school.
The Essentials Toiletry Pantry Ministry provides home essentials for very low income people or the working poor who are on Food Stamps. The assistance is for families who cannot afford to purchase toiletry and personal hygiene items. Some of what the Love churches may pass out includes free toothbrushes, toothpaste, men’s and women’s deodorant, laundry detergent, shaving cream, shampoo, toilet paper, dish detergent, feminine pads, and bar soap.
Other Love INC support services available by referrals from the Clearinghouse may be plumbing or home repairs, Help completing legal and medical forms, home delivered meals, Appliance repair, Cleaning gutters, applications to government benefits, painting of homes for the elderly and much more.
For more information, call the Clearinghouse for a referrals. Phone number is 211 or 704-536-5588. Or the main Love center is at 2633 Eastway Dr., Charlotte, North Carolina 28205.
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