Social Responsibility

The Lifeline List

The need: How did this project come about? Who do you help and why?

Over the years, church members and friends learn on occasion of urgent hardship situations in the broader community, where individuals or single-parent families need immediate financial assistance and no agency is ready or able to give it. These painful occasions led us to organize "the Lifeline List." Since it began in October of 2004, up to March of 2009, we have been able to assist 111 families.

The Lifeline List does not provide cash. We may help with the rent by writing a cheque to the landlord; we may buy food vouchers when the cupboard is bare; we may pay a phone bill to keep a vital service available to a family with young children; we may purchase vital medicine which is not covered by any insurance plan. That sort of assistance, on a one-time-only basis, has lifted many families over a bump in the road which seemed insurmountable to them at the time.

The format: How do you go about assuring claimed needs are genuine?

Five experienced church members (all seasoned women, most former social workers or nurses) act as "assessors," visiting face to face with anyone asking for help. The assessors determine what help, if any, will be provided. A fifth volunteer keeps the confidential records, administers the project.

The terms: What does becoming a sponsor on our Lifeline List mean?

• Sponsors who volunteer their names for our church’s Lifeline List will only be called upon in a specific, urgent situation, which has been confirmed as genuine by an assessment.
• They will be given what details can be shared while maintaining confidentiality.
• They will never be asked for more than $200 and they will get a tax receipt.
• They will not be called upon more than once a year.
• They can have their name taken off the Lifeline List at any time, with a phone call to the list administrator.
• The minister deals in confidence with situations of urgent need involving a church member.

Advantages: How has it worked?

Before this project was launched, it was reviewed and approved by our church’s Social Responsibility Council and by the church Board. It has proved to be remarkably practical and successful. The Lifeline List has allowed our faith community to respond to urgent local needs swiftly and collectively. We currently have 68 sponsors supporting this project. If being one of the sponsors of our Lifeline List appeals to you, or if you have questions or comments, please phone the church office (250-744-2665), leave your name and phone number and the project administrator will call you.