Standing at a Crossroads: The Role of Civil Society in Charitable Care

BETHANY HERRON
Vice President of Education
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It’s no secret — something has to change in poverty alleviation.

Homelessness rose 12% from 2022 to 2024.
57,000 unhoused families in the U.S. have at least one child under 18.
One in three Americans depend on at least one government assistance program.

Not to mention:

Two-thirds of adults making under $50,000 a year are lonely.
16.7% of Americans over 12 struggle with addiction.

If you’re anything like me, this reality is incredibly discouraging — especially when the government spends over $1 trillion a year trying to solve these complex problems.

But no amount of funding alone can solve the brokenness ravaging our nation. That’s because poverty involves more than physical and financial issues. It’s about real people (made in the image of God) with real stories, designed for relationships and created with the capacity to use their hands to care for one another, their families, and the world.

In other words, we’ve missed the mark. As our nation’s leadership considers withdrawing funding from many welfare programs, civil society has a unique opportunity to course correct by harnessing the vast potential of voluntary associations that form schools, churches, and community organizations.

Voluntary associations alone, however – when not coupled with virtue – have the potential to do great harm. Examples include:

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692
The social punishment of divorced women in the 19th and 20th Century
McCarthy Era Blacklisting
The lynching of black Americans in the 1900s

These are just a few of the many times in history where voluntary associations led to tremendous injustice instead of good.

In addition to considering civil society’s failures, we must remember the change in economic climate that occurred over the centuries.

Prior to 1900 …

Poverty was rampant, especially in rural areas. As rural workers moved to cities in search of opportunity, urban poverty surged.

Meanwhile, social class distinctions led to exploitation of the poor during a period of immense industrialization.

Despite such failures, in some urban areas care for the poor was successfully handled by local government and private charities. In these areas, communal bonds were strong, and caring for one’s neighbor was deemed important.

According to Marvin Olasky, this era was marked by these seven principles of effective charity:

Affiliation: Whenever possible, support an individual’s natural relationships.
Bonding: Build healthy relationships with those we serve.
Categorization: Assess a person’s uniqueness and willingness to be part of their solution.
Discernment: Combine compassion with wisdom to determine the best form of help.
Employment (or Exchange): Whenever possible, partner with individuals so they earn what they need.
Freedom: Choose interventions that empower individuals to create their own solutions. Charity that enslaves is no help at all.
God: Understand the spiritual factors that drive poverty and encourage restoration through an active faith in Christ.

Even then, charity was not perfect; hunger was rampant due to lack of both social and economic resources. Still, pockets of success marked by these seven principles demonstrated charitable care can work well.

During the Progressive Era (1897–1920) …

The state took on more responsibility for the working poor, widows, single mothers, and children — even though middle-class incomes rose. Communal responsibility began to shift away from communities.

In the Great Depression (1929–1939) …

State-led charity collapsed. Roosevelt’s federal programs provided aid, further weakening local bonds. The West became more self-focused and continued to lose sight of local, relationship-driven charity.

Finally, when the War on Poverty was initiated in the 1960s …

President Lyndon B. Johnson expanded welfare programs like Medicaid, Medicare, food stamps, and urbanization initiatives. On the surface, poverty declined, but dependency on government welfare rose — indicating freedom from poverty was not truly present.

Meanwhile, community responsibility eroded and those in need became increasingly reliant on government aid — which has continued to expand over the last 50 years. Now, with threats of these programs being pulled back, many are in an uproar over the alleged abandonment of those in need. Even some Christians are concerned we’re violating the biblical command to care for the poor.

Where do we go from here?

Amidst charitable care’s changing landscape, we stand at a crossroads. Will we grab hold of historic principles of effective charity — or continue to cheer on distant, ineffective, and many times harmful welfare programs?

Tocqueville, the 19th-century French political philosopher, would give us this guidance: “Among democratic nations, all citizens are independent and weak; they can achieve almost nothing by themselves. … Therefore, they sink into a state of impotence if they do not learn to help each other voluntarily.”

That means we must turn our eyes off ourselves, restore virtue, and re-learn the art of voluntarily linking arms for the good of our friends, families, neighbors, and community.

It’s time for a resurgence of civil society — where churches, schools, and community groups work hand-in-hand to understand the poor’s complex situation and bring their experience, ideas, and interests together to meet the needs of the community.

Where do we start? Again, Tocqueville instructs us, “The only way opinions and ideas can be renewed, hearts enlarged, and human minds developed is through the reciprocal influence of men upon each other.” In other words, we start together.

Let’s embrace our responsibility as civil society to link arms once again in the fight against poverty!