The White House is holding conferences to help faith-based and community groups understand the ins and outs of partnering with the government.
The first event is in Minneapolis next week. Gatherings in Washington, D.C., Indianapolis and Los Angeles are coming up.
The conferences will be an introduction on accessing government money to help with ministries, such as food pantries or shelters for unwed mothers.
Jedd Medefind, deputy director of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, told Family News in Focus the conferences will equip groups that are addressing pressing needs of their communities.
“Everything from the dos and don’ts of partnering with government, to helping groups understand whether or not they would even be interested in a government grant, to many nonfinancial opportunities to partner with government,” he said. “The big part of this effort is not just partnerships at the federal level, but really encouraging state and local governments with their faith-based and community initiatives to more effectively partner with faith- and community-based groups.”
Peter Brandt, senior director of government and public policy at Focus on the Family Action, said groups of any size that provide services of compassion should attend.
“It’s groups that want to access federal funds that felt that they have been locked out of the federal funding chain,” he said. “These are groups that by their very nature understand compassion and charity. The government’s not prepared to provide charity and compassion.”
