Arkansas Adopts Faith-Based 10:33 Project To Help Poorest Residents
Mike’s addiction spiraled deeper as he grieved the death of his father and the terminal cancer diagnosis of his wife. In the midst of that darkness, Mike connected with Jamie Matlock, a family advocate with the 100 Families Initiative in Arkansas.
Mike and Matlock worked to develop a plan, and Mike steadily took steps to escape addiction. Sadly, his wife passed away, but Mike is three years sober, and he and his two children are now thriving.
“I didn’t know how to be a father in my addiction,” Mike said. “But now I do.”
The 100 Families Initiative is a program similar to the 10:33 project recently announced by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Sanders. The 10:33 Initiative is a faith-based initiative to help lift Arkansans out of poverty by connecting the poor with local faith and community partners who can assist them in moving from crisis to career.
It has already assisted over 7,500 families by helping clients create a personalized plan with achievable steps across 13 different areas, such as housing, employment, transportation, and education.
“The 10:33 Initiative isn’t another government welfare program; it’s a groundbreaking project carefully curated to give Arkansans a hand up, not a handout,” Sanders said in a press release. The project will pilot in three counties: Pope, Polaski, and Union.
The initiative, a reference to the biblical parable of the Good Samaritan, utilizes the Hope Hub software program provided by Restore Hope, an Arkansas non-profit that has been working in this arena since 2018.
Hope Hub has been used in 19 Arkansas counties and allows a person in crisis to enroll in its case management system. It assesses the client’s needs and connects him with service provider agencies who give full wrap-around support.
Paul Chapman, director of Restore Hope, said the Hope Hub software was developed in response to a fast-growing prison and foster care population in Arkansas in the mid-2010s.
Chapman, who sat on the Restore Hope Summit task force formed by former Gov. Asa Hutchinson in 2015, wrote a strategy paper about forming a stronger collective impact with better long-term outcomes for clients facing long-term issues.
Hope Hub grew out of that need. The technology allows for constant communication among service partners so they can move clients from crisis to career without duplicating efforts. It also provides real measures of outcomes over the longer term, Chapman said.
The goal is to move clients from a single, emergency need, such as a pantry box of food, to being employed and providing for their own needs, i.e. buying their own groceries.
“By leveraging the power of technology and connecting Arkansans in need with faith-based and community partners willing to help, this initiative will strengthen families and transform lives,” Sanders said about the software.
Chapman notes the software is important, but the personal connection with clients and the alliance among service providers is key to the initiative’s success. Each community will have a “backbone” organization to communicate and accelerate the message and needs.
According to Restore Hope, there are already many local organizations signed up in the pilot counties to be service providers. A partial list sent to MinistryWatch consisted of 37 service providers, including churches, school districts, colleges, employment groups, counseling centers, housing providers, and substance abuse recovery centers.
According to Chapman, the 10:33 Initiative is not funded by the state. He said the pilot program is privately funded, and they will do some additional fundraising as it grows.
He said coordination with the governor’s office is critical, assisting in exchange of information and efforts to access vital documents for clients, without paying fees and facing other barriers.
While Restore Hope is not specifically faith-based, Chapman — a former pastor — wants every client to be a member of a church and have local support.
He said church involvement will be important to the success of the 10:33 Initiative. Hope Hub includes a Care Portal for churches to partner and meet needs for local clients.
Chapman recognizes that some churches already understand the problems in their community. They may already be serving, but desire to coordinate with others to fully meet the needs of those they are helping.
For other churches, the Care Portal is a way for churches to fill individual volunteer or funding needs, such as furnishing an apartment.
Restore Hope’s model is based on getting “buy in” from the clients, Chapman explained. They have to demonstrate that they are ready for change and are involved in building their plan.
“It is never my plan for you,” Chapman said, “but addressing their core issues without judgment while cheering for them.”
Chapman emphasized that Restore Hope is committed to full transparency, sending monthly financials to the state with receipts and providing updated outcomes daily on its dashboard.
For example, Restore Hope has served 10,683 participants so far this year. It has seen a 25% increase in household income from $1,145 to $1,436 per month.
“The 10:33 Initiative represents the best of Arkansas — government, faith, and community partners working side by side to help families move from crisis to stability,” Chapman said in a press release. “Through HopeHub and the Restore Hope Model, we are honored to support this pilot by connecting families with caring advocates and resources that address both urgent needs and long-term opportunities. This initiative has the power not only to transform lives here in Arkansas but also to serve as a model for the nation.”
True Charity, a group that sets a standard for what it considers to be effective, dignity-preserving solutions to poverty, emphasizes three principles for ministries: voluntarily funded, challenge oriented, and outcome driven.
While Restore Hope appears to meet two of the criteria — it includes goal setting and accountability while measuring and reporting its outcomes — it is partially government funded.
According to the Restore Hope website, it is “[f]unded in part by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant, as administered by the State of Arkansas.”
This article was originally published by The Roys Report.
Kim Roberts is a freelance writer who holds a Juris Doctorate with honors from Baylor University and an undergraduate degree in government from Angelo State University. She has three young adult children who were home schooled and is happily married to her husband of 28 years.