Mission & Vision
The mission of Crisis Assistance Ministry is to provide assistance and advocacy for people in financial crisis, helping them move toward self-sufficiency.
Our vision is to inspire our community to justice and generosity as we provide help, hope, and understanding to people struggling with limited financial resources.
Our Programs
Basic Needs
Mecklenburg County families receive help with life’s basic needs: emergency rent and utility assistance, clothing, household goods, furniture, beds, and appliances.
Economic Mobility
The Economic Mobility Program helps families move towards financial security and introduces pathways to economic opportunity. Enrolled families are given the opportunity to work one-on-one with a caseworker for an hour per week for up to 90 days.
Civic Engagement
In a vibrant city like Charlotte, it’s easy to overlook the fact that many are suffering amid affluence. Our Civic Engagement Program increases awareness of the complex issues facing more than 100,000 neighbors in Mecklenburg County living in poverty.
By the Numbers
Children Benefiting from Our Services
Children under 18 made up 42% of those benefiting from Crisis Assistance Ministry services.
Four Ways to Help Families This Spring
As seasons change, many families discover the need to refresh their wardrobes: children have grown, last summer’s shoes are worn out, and there’s not a matching set of socks to be found. For low-wage earners, these needs can wreck a carefully balanced budget. Here are four ways you can help these neighbors meet their basic needs this season.
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Will Medicaid Expansion Help Mecklenburg?
This long-awaited move by North Carolina will provide welcome relief to many low-wage earners who often are not offered health insurance through their employers. Considering the struggles of working families here in Mecklenburg County, there are certainly thousands who will benefit from Medicaid expansion in our own community. Based on evidence from other states, it’s likely all of us will reap the benefits of improved community health, lower eviction rates, and a stronger safety net for our neighbors.
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International Women’s Day 2023: Embrace Equity
Observed worldwide on March 8 as a celebration of “the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women,” International Women’s Day is also a global call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
The theme for this year’s observance is “Embrace Equity.”
Welcome New Board Members for 2023
Like many nonprofits, Crisis Assistance Ministry is fortunate to have the leadership of passionate and committed community members who serve on our Board of Directors. Meet the new members of this team of volunteers who bring a diversity of knowledge, skills, and experience to their oversight of our agency.
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A Cozy Coat Can Help Your Neighbors Stay Warm
Steve’s Coats for Kids welcomes new or gently used coats of all sizes, from children’s sizes up to adult sizes, and the coats that are collected in Charlotte-Mecklenburg will be added to the Crisis Assistance Ministry Free Store or distributed to our countywide Partner Agencies to provide to their clients.
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Covenant Impacts Charlotte
An intergenerational group of volunteers spent a Saturday morning getting things ready for Free Store shoppers who will shop free-of-charge in the coming weeks. Although a surprising chill – even for November – settled over Charlotte Saturday, the cheerful folks from Covenant Presbyterian Church …
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Sharing Hope, Warmth, & Light
Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for seeing me past my circumstances because I’ve come out on the other side.
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This Experience Will Make You Rethink Poverty
Participation in a poverty simulation: fast moving, immersive, stressful, real. Everything that can go wrong WILL go wrong. But you will be left thinking.
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My Summer with Dignity, Integrity, Respect, Empathy, Compassion, and Trust
Crisis Assistance Ministry prides itself on its core values of Dignity, Integrity, Respect, Empathy, Compassion, and Trust (D.I.R.E.C.T,). I experienced all these aspects firsthand throughout my internship, both with employees and those the organization helps.
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There is No “Them” or “Us”
When I wake up in the morning, I am not worried about whether I am going to struggle to pay my rent this month. I am not worried about whether my lights are going to get turned off or if I won’t have water in the next couple of days. When I wake up in the morning, my first worry is if I am late for work or class, and that is a privilege I didn’t even know I had until I began working at Crisis Assistance Ministry this summer.
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Volunteers Follow Their Hearts
Volunteering is more than slipping a shirt onto a hanger and sliding it onto a rack. Volunteering is giving back to your community, even though you may never see the results first-hand. But volunteers at Crisis Assistance Ministry go where their hearts lead them.
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The Fastest Way to Help Hardworking Families This Summer
Our neighbors who come to Crisis Assistance Ministry for help are hard workers. They know how to stretch a dollar beyond the breaking point. But the odds are often stacked against them. Any small thing can send the budget spiraling out of control. That’s when you come in. Just a few minutes and a few dollars from you now can change their lives in that moment of crisis.
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