Impact

The Power of Financial Empowerment

On a warm Saturday morning in late October 2025, Eddie graduated from Crisis Assistance Ministry’s Financial Empowerment service. Following months of one-on-one counseling filled with honest — and sometimes challenging — conversations with his Financial Empowerment Specialist, Randee, Eddie marked his hard work with a graduation celebration. Life Before Financial Empowerment In early 2025, Eddie was married with four children. He had a thriving […]

A Tale of Two Customers

Crisis Assistance Ministry sits at the corner of Statesville Avenue and Graham Street, just outside of uptown Charlotte — and at the edge of a great many people’s lives. Consider Mandy and Shawn. They have never met. But not long ago, they both found themselves in the very same place: waiting anxiously in the lobby of Crisis Assistance […]

The Benefits Cliff: When Progress Costs Too Much

For most people, getting a raise at work is cause for celebration.

But for thousands of hardworking families, a raise can trigger something unexpected – and dangerous – called the benefits cliff.

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.

Warm Hearts, Warm Smiles For More Than 20 Years

More than two decades ago, then WSOC Meteorologist Steve Udelson saw a need and rallied the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community to solve it. That first year, viewers donated about 3,000 coats for people served by Crisis Assistance Ministry. By the time Steve retired, the annual collection was averaging more than 30,000 coats. All told, Steve’s Coats is […]

I Know How It Feels

On the day her family sought help at Crisis Assistance Ministry, Jennifer had to use her gas card at the convenience store to get bread and peanut butter to feed her three young children. It was the only way. They were completely out of cash and she did not have anything else to help them […]