Cooperative Christian Ministry

"Whatever you do for even the least of these, my brothers, you do for me"    Matthew 25:40

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CCM Programs/Services Videos

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Hunger Fighting Programs

Many of our schools across the region report high numbers of students coming to school hungry. At CCM, we have identified pockets of need in our community that have lead us to pursue a more efficient and effective model for fighting hunger in our neighborhoods and schools. Satellite food pantries will engage new partners for facilities and new volunteers in 2008. Multiple satellite locations will reach into neighborhoods throughout our service area.

CCM Food Pantries

CCM Food Pantries collect and distribute over $1.2 million worth of groceries each year. Among those foods are healthy produce and other perishable items that are moved from grocery stores to kitchen tables within twenty-four hours of receipt from the stores. Grocery stores and volunteer Pick-up Drivers make this ministry possible. The grocery stores have proven very supportive of this program, it is only limited by the number of pick-up drivers available to collect the food and deliver it to one of CCM’s pantries. To volunteer for a once-a-week grocery pick-up you may call our Food Program Director at 704-786-4709 ext. 22.

School Food Drives

School Food Drives are one of our greatest sources of food donations. Our community support for non-perishable food is tremendous. The Concord/Kannapolis “Bell Game” canned food competition is a great example of community spirit that translates into a positive impact on thousands of people. We challenge all of our local schools to use local rivalries to show the community that our future leaders are not too young to make a difference today.

Mobile Food Pantries

Mobile Food Pantries are conducted on a monthly basis in neighborhoods of high need. These highly effective food distribution programs overcome the absence of transportation for many struggling families, and provide supplemental groceries at a very efficient cost to CCM. Check CCM’s website for information on dates and locations to volunteer.

Samaritan’s Table

The Samaritan’s Table evening meal program expands to reach more people each season. This four night per week program provides much needed relief to grocery budgets, and ensures good nutrition for many who would otherwise suffer without. Local churches host the program during the three months of winter and three months of summer to match the seasons of highest cost for families with children and for low fixed-income seniors. Local groups sign up to provide meals and serve on a daily basis. Host churches are already signed up for the 2008 summer session. Groups wishing to serve an evening meal can call our Coordinator at 704-786-4709 ext. 24.

BackPack Program

The BackPack Program will be provided through our partnership with America’s Second Harvest, the Boys & Girls Club of Cabarrus County, and Kannapolis City Schools. On Fridays CCM will be partnering with local after school programs for at-risk students to provide healthy after school snacks and assistance with groceries for their families.

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Homelessness Programs

Foreclosures are at an all time high in Cabarrus County and projected to increase for another year or two. There is a dearth of safe and affordable housing for families who are starting out or starting over. We experience an average of 3 to 4 families each week at our homeless shelter that we are unable to house because our family facilities are full.

Samaritan House Night Shelter

The Samaritan House Night Shelter is the only homeless shelter in Cabarrus County. Our 40-bed program is located in the Salvation Army building in Concord. Over 300 men, women, and children receive shelter at this facility each year. Shelter staff are on site 365 days a year to ensure that each guest finds a safe place and a warm bed, a hot meal and breakfast, shower and laundry facilities, case management services and an environment where God’s love is manifest.

Samaritan House Soup Kitchen

The Samaritan House Soup Kitchen provides a warm meal Monday through Friday each week throughout the year. Individuals and families in need of a nutritious meal and/or a period of time free of the elements may come in and fellowship over the lunchtime meal. Volunteers assist daily to serve our guests. In order to inquire about volunteering, call our coordinator at 704-782-7710.

Transitional Housing

Transitional Housing is the vital step in the Housing Continuum that has been missing in Cabarrus County. The gap between Emergency Shelter and Permanent Supportive Housing has been too great for many families who are trying to emerge from homelessness. CCM initiated Project Independence in 2007; a Teaching Housing program that is establishing a model to fill this need.

Teaching Housing program

Our Teaching Housing program allows a working family the opportunity to establish the financial stability and personal disciplines needed to maintain independent housing. This six to twenty-four month program provides Case Management for personal improvement and financial planning. Participants share in the cost of housing while working to eliminate financial barriers that prevent them from being successful. During this time, positive behaviors are reinforced to eliminate negative factors that lead to financial crisis. Graduates of the program will move into permanent supportive housing relationships or home ownership programs with key CCM partners.

Daytime Resource Center

Our Daytime Resource Center provides access and relief for homeless and/or jobless individuals in Cabarrus County to resources that will allow them to improve their employability and to conduct an effective job search. Cooperative Christian Ministry has established a partnership with Midway United Methodist Church in Kannapolis and has created Philip's Station as the anchor program for The Opportunity House. Philip the Evangelist of the book of Acts took his ministry to Samaria and ministered to those whom nobody else wanted to minister. Stop by or call 704-786-4020 to inquire about volunteering at The Opportunity House.

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Financial Assistance Program

The number of people living in poverty in Cabarrus County has increased 14% over the past ten years. The group with the highest rate of increase, from 10% in 1995 to 12.3% in 2005, is children (age 5 – 17) living in poverty in our community.

Many of our schools across the region average around two-thirds of their students qualifying for the subsidized breakfast and lunch programs, indicating their family’s economic situation.

Our job market has shifted from a manufacturing base to a service economy. Four of the top six fastest growing job categories in our region, projected for the next six years, are low-wage, low-benefit service sector jobs. Many of our local families are experiencing underemployment for both wage earners in the family. While families make adjustments to meet their daily needs, some are not able to adequately prepare for the "unexpected" expenses that we all face. While CCM cannot unlock the grip of poverty single-handedly, we can provide immediate assistance to working families who find themselves overwhelmed by the unexpected.

Cooperative Christian Ministry’s Financial Assistance program combines an immediate response to crisis with an expectation of personal responsibility to prepare for the avoidance of future crisis. A crisis is an economic problem resulting from an unexpected event or circumstance beyond the control of the individual, which threatens their ability to maintain the basic necessities of food, shelter, or prescription medications.

Immediate assistance may be provided after the crisis is validated and the client’s ability to solve the problem on their own has been evaluated. Assistance may be provided to avoid utility cut-off, to avoid eviction or foreclosure, to avoid loss of heating or cooling during critical seasons, or to avoid absence of life sustaining medications.

In each case, clients must demonstrate the ability to maintain or a plan for sustainability as part of their responsibility for the assistance provided. As part of their plan for personal responsibility, an increasing number of our clients are assigned a referral agreement to engage them in specific counseling or training resources in our community, that will equip them to avoid recurring crisis. Future assistance from CCM is contingent on completion of these training opportunities.

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      (704)786-4709