Published: October 26, 2006 04:52 pm      

House calls - yes

DUNCAN — By Jayne Boykin

Christians Concerned is an organization, not a place.

The United Way agency works with thousands of individuals and families in the area, but unlike many organizations, it makes house calls.

Christians Concerned was born in 1969 when a half-dozen women from different Duncan churches got together to talk about a similar organization one of the women had learned about in Tulsa.

The agency has grown a lot in the past nearly four decades and, last year alone, served 3,582 individuals — some of them more than once.

Barbara Murphey, staff coordinator, is the organization’s only paid employee. She has a dedicated board of directors and about 40 volunteers who help carry out the agency’s mission of helping those in need.

Longtime volunteers include Blu Miller, who is in charge of the food pantry; Jerry McLain, who has served as the group’s treasurer for the past 18 years; Bill Rice; Oletta Hicks, who assists when Murphey has to be out of the office; and others too numerous to name but who are greatly appreciated, she said.

“An individual can apply for assistance up to three times a year. If food is the only need, the person can apply up to five times in a year,” Murphey said.

Many of the agency’s clients are on Social Security disability, and food is all they ask for, she said.

Christians Concerned does help supply food, but it can also help fill other needs, such as utilities, medication, help pay doctor or dentist bills, help with rent payments or supply gasoline for transportation to doctor appointments. If, for example, a person is diagnosed with diabetes and needs a glucose meter and test strips but has no insurance or has not yet qualified for other low-income medical assistance, Christians Concerned can come to the rescue.

All contacts with clients are made first by telephone, then by home visits.

Dr. John P. McGarey, pastor of First Presbyterian Church, is completing his third year as president of the board of Christians Concerned.

“We’re a United Way agency and proud of it. It’s our major funding source, and allows us to help a lot more people than we could on our own.

“For instance, with United Way’s aid, we are able to buy food in bulk from a food bank to supplement donations and the commodity food for which we qualify. Now that we have our own building, with freezers and refrigerators to store food, we are better able to handle the supplies available to us and have more room to package them up for delivery,” McGarey said.

He describes Christians Concerned as a central clearinghouse for people in need. If it cannot supply a particular need, it has contact with other agencies that can often help, he said.

For example, Christians Concerned does not supply clothing for clients, because there are many other agencies in the community that do.

It has, on occasion, helped supply steel-toe work shoes for a client who needed them in order to accept a job, or purchased very large clothing for a needy person who could not be accommodated by other clothes closet ministries, for example.

A person wanting help needs only to pick up a telephone and dial 252-9120 to start the process. Depending on the time of day, he or she might encounter a person or an answering machine that will take contact information for later callback by a volunteer.

The person is interviewed to determine what the needs are, and must supply a Social Security number.

“That cuts down on duplication of services,” Murphey said. “And, sad to say, some people do abuse the agencies who are trying to help them. Most do not, and are happy to talk to our volunteers and supply the information we need to help them.”

If, for example, a person is needing food, the volunteer field worker assigned to the case will determine the need, see that the food is assembled into a package, deliver it to the applicant’s home, and get the recipient’s signature when the delivery is made.

The location of the building operated by Christians Concerned is not publicized, so people do not drop by to apply for assistance when no volunteers are available to help them.

The organization encourages donations of canned and packaged non-perishable foods.

“Preferable unopened!” McGarey said with a laugh.

“We’ll take whatever amount of food people can offer, be it a can or a case of food. There’s always someone who needs it.”

The group also accepts monetary donations to help purchase fresh food items and fulfill other needs.

Even donations of an hour or two of personal “handyman” work are welcomed, as the organization has just moved into its new building, and there is a variety of small projects to be done — paint a wall, hang a light fixture, etc.

Volunteer field workers are also needed to pack and deliver food. And, a computer-savvy person who knows Access software to help the organization maintain its data base would be welcomed with open arms.

Again, a call to 252-9120 sets the wheels in motion for giving or receiving.

“Christians Concerned is the best way of meeting the food and utility needs of the community,” McGarey said. “It’s coordinated, well-planned, safe, efficient and cost-effective. And I’ll say it again: We couldn’t do it without United Way.”