COMPASSION AT WORK
Pooling their resources into what is now Shively Area Ministries,
the group was able to offer the 40216 district a more comprehensive food pantry than ever before and offer services that wouldn’t
be possible by working separately. The ministry started simply,
housing all the food in a church basement under a stairwell. It
grew quickly, finding brief homes at locations such as the old
Shively Fire Station and then in a farm house on Fern Lea Road.
“One of the churches gave that house for a dollar a year donation.
I joined soon after, when the ministry was about seven years old.
We stayed in the house for 12 years, and it continued to grow,”
said Trivitt, who has now been part of SAM for 20 years.
When she joined, SAM was notably more limited in the assistance
it could provide to local residents. There was the ever expanding
food pantry, a growing meals on wheels service and very limited
emergency financial assistance. Once those evolved to a comfortable space, SAM added counseling and community education
services for residents to benefit from as well.
“We found it much easier to relieve family budgets with food
versus finding more financial resources, so that’s the service
we really use. Once we help them, we get the residents into an
educational series of classes,” said Trivitt, explaining that the
first step when families are faced with hard decisions is to ease
their immediate anxieties.
“When they come in, all they see is the crisis they’re in. They
aren’t worried about tomorrow or the next day or the next. So to
talk to them about financial budgeting, they can’t hear it. They
don’t engage,” she said
Instead, Shively’s educational courses begin with the basics:
how to grow and cook healthy food, how to shop frugally, etc.
Once students have taken those courses, taught by church and
non-profit volunteers, they end with a financial literacy course
taught by volunteers from local banks. Today, this rehabilitation
program is part of a very structured relief effort.
Each ministry within Jefferson County is different. While Shively
has branched out into counseling and educational classes, some
ministries have gone in other directions based on the needs of
that region. Some areas focus on after school programs for children. Others, such as Rev. Loughry’s, focus on areas including
day programs for seniors.
“Our adult day center is state licensed and has a nurse on staff.
We’re one of only three community ministries to have a center
but we felt it was very important to our ministry. Each ministry
must be in touch with the individual community so we can understand the needs,” Loughry said. “We’re all similar in our goal
of uniting the community to serve the community.”
was that the stock market crashed the year we moved to a four
lane highway. So we couldn’t disseminate whether the numbers
were coming from the economy change or increased visibility,”
Trivitt said.
The building’s first food pantry was 700 square feet but wasn’t
nearly enough for the increased demand. “We couldn’t house the
amount of food we needed per month, so that’s when we saw
the need to build on the food pantry. That spurred us to begin a
campaign and have a vision of what could be done on a bigger
scale,” Trivitt explained.
It was around that time that Shively had the idea of restructuring their working model to better accommodate the increased
demand. “We grew from a founding board which did everything
to a working board which still had volunteers, and then to a governing fundraising board which is needed to fuel the mission,”
said Trivitt. “I run it professionally like a business, and that’s
helped push our ministry forward and lead the way for the other
14 Jefferson County districts.”
All the Louisville Ministries are facing the same issues: declining
church membership, poor community health and increased poverty. But one way they’ve been able to find assistance is through
the help of community partners.
“One of the reasons we formed the association of ministries was
for the larger picture, the macro level of what we do. Through that,
we’ve been successful in getting Louisville Metro Government to
recognize that we’re worthy of receiving funds. Same with LG&E
and the Louisville Water Company. We also have the Kentucky
Harvest program which builds relationships with restaurants
such as KFC. Volunteers go to KFC where employees know how
to properly package leftover food, and they can pick up chicken
for our residents who need something to eat,” said Loughry.
Louisville ministry food pantries typically operate Monday
through Friday. Visiting clients may receive two to three days’
worth of groceries four times per year. The food is provided
through private donations and the Dare to Care program which
serves 13 counties across Kentucky and Indiana. The important
thing is that those suffering can have their problems temporarily
eased as they get back on track.
“We seek to provide a little stability for families through our
services. If we can get them to where the landlord or utilities
organization says they’re fine for another 30 days, we’re doing
our part,” said Loughry. “For the most part, that 30-day window
is enough to get them stabilized. In some ways, we’re a Band-Aid.
We’re not solving the world’s problems, but that’s not our scope.
A Band-Aid is essential when you’re bleeding.”
Visibility is becoming less of an issue for Louisville Ministries,
especially as word gets out about the great work being done.
When SAM moved to its current home on Dixie Highway in 2008,
they saw more visitors than ever before. “The unfortunate thing
VITAL SIGNS Volume 10 • Issue 1
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