Introduction
Access to even the most essential services can be difficult in rural areas. The downsizing of healthcare services and shortages of providers in rural communities in recent years has left many communities with inadequate or nonexistent healthcare services. The lack of social services infrastructure such as childcare and employment and training programs deepen the effects of poverty in rural areas. In these rural communities, alternative means of providing and strengthening healthcare and human service delivery need to be explored. One such alternative is for the expanded use of faith-based and community groups to facilitate the provision of healthcare services and human services programs within their communities. For many years, faith-based and community groups have been assisting people in need. Through the use of volunteer labor and member donations, faith-based and community groups can often provide essential services that would not be economically feasible for for-profit entities to provide.
Many federal grant opportunities exist that rural faith-based and community groups can tap to support economic development activities, prevention programs, and other valuable projects for their communities.
The White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives oversees several Agency Centers for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives - Agency for International Development, Corporation for National and Community Service, Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Education, Department of Health & Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Small Business Administration, and the Department of Veterans Affairs to remove the barriers to federal funding opportunities that once existed for faith-based groups.
Efforts are focused on populations such as at-risk youth, ex-offenders, welfare-to-work families, food and nutrition, substance abusers, health, and the homeless.
Frequently Asked Questions
Regulations, Forms & Other Useful Documents
Building the Organizations that Build Communities: Strengthening the Capacity of Faith and Community-Based Development Organizations
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development
Divided into four key sections: 1) historical overview; 2) current research and lessons learned; 3) training and capacity; and 4) the role of performance measures.
Date: 2004
Congregational Health Ministry Survey
Sponsoring organization: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Documents the amount of congregational activity addressing health issues; portrays the range and distribution of health and health care-related activities in congregations across the country; and describes the characteristics of congregations that are most involved in the provision of health services.
Date: 09 / 2007
Core Competencies for Clergy and Other Pastoral Ministers in Addressing Alcohol and Drug Dependence and the Impact on Family Members
Sponsoring organization: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Consists of a set of basic knowledge and skills clergy need to help addicted individuals and their families.
Date: 02 / 2003
Delivery of Health Care in Faith-Based Organization: Parish Nurses as Promoters of Health
Author(s): Carolyn M. Anderson
Examines the role of faith-based organizations in the delivery of healthcare.
Journal citation: Health Communication Volume 6 Issue 1 Pages: 11
Date: 01 / 2004
Demystifying the Rehabilitation Act: What Faith-Based and Community Organizations Need to Know About Using Federal Financial Assistance to Serve People with Disabilities
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Labor
Provides information for faith-based and community organizations that received financial assistance to serve people with disabilities from the United State Department of Labor. Includes a list of national resources that can help organizations deliver services to people with disabilities.
Date: 2008
Establishment of White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
Author(s): George Bush
Sponsoring organization: Faith Based and Community Initiatives
The Executive Order establishing faith-based and community initiatives
Date: 01 / 2001
Fact Sheet: The Quiet Revolution: A Seven-Year Progress Report
Sponsoring organization: White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
Progress report on the Faith-Based and Community Initiative.
Date: 02 / 2008
Faith in Action Health Coalition
Author(s): Jo Heather, C. Layton
Sponsoring organization: Faith in Action
Discusses the Faith in Action Coalition program in North Dakota, a volunteer caregiver program which provides transportation, light housekeeping, yard work, and holistic health care services.
Journal citation: North Dakota - Rural Health Updates Volume 21 Issue 1 Pages: 3
Date: 08 / 2004
Guidance to Faith-Based and Community Organizations on Partnering with the Federal Government
Sponsoring organization: White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
Contains an overview of the Faith-Based Initiative along with questions and answers.
Date: 11 / 2003
Guide to Charitable Choice
Sponsoring organization: Center for Public Justice Charitable Choice
The Rules of Section 104 of the 1996 Federal Welfare Law Governing State Cooperation with Faith-Based Social-Service Providers
Date: 1997
Knowledge of Charitable Choice Among Food Pantry Directors in the Deep South
Author(s): Suzie Cashwell, John Bartkowski, Patricia Duffy, Joseph Molnar, Vanessa Casanova, Marina Irimia-Vladu
Sponsoring organization: Southern Rural Development Center
Report on a survey of Alabama and Mississippi food pantry directors regarding their knowledge of charitable choice and its relationship to faith-based providers. Includes an overview of the charitable choice policy and the degree to which it has been implemented.
Date: 10 / 2003
Maximizing Program Services Through Private Sector Partnerships and Relationships: A Guide for Faith and Community-Based Service Providers
Sponsoring organization: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Provides faith and community-based organizations specific, practical guidance about the aspects of engaging corporate givers and foundation grantmakers.
Date: 02 / 2006
National Service: A Resource for Faith-Based and Community Groups
Sponsoring organization: Corporation for National and Community Service: For Faith-Based and Other Community Organizations
Discusses how the corporation works with faith-based and secular community organizations.
Date: 07 / 2005
Philanthropy and Faith: An Introduction
Sponsoring organization: National Crime Prevention Council
Examines the role of faith-based communities in partnership with private funders. Includes interviews and conversations with faith-based organizations and foundation executives.
Date: 09 / 2003
President’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative in 50 States: A Report to the Nation’s Governors
Sponsoring organization: White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
Details the progress of each state's action, the number of awards won by non profits, the funding they received, and some of the programs each state is helping to advance.
Date: 02 / 2008
Protecting the Civil Rights and Religious Liberty of Faith-Based Organizations: Why Religious Hiring Rights Must be Preserved
Sponsoring organization: White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
Describes the Administration's belief that faith-based groups have a Constitutionally-protected right to maintain their religious identity through hiring, even when Federal funds are involved.
Date: 2003
Quiet Revolution: The President's Faith-Based and Community Initiative: A Seven-Year Progress Report
Sponsoring organization: White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
Chronicles the progress achieved during the past seven years since the establishment of White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
Date: 02 / 2008
Sowing the Seeds of Hope
Sponsoring organization: Rural Assistance Center
Recognizes the importance of mental health in reducing accidents and increasing the well-being of farmers.
Journal citation: Rural Monitor Volume 9 Issue 4
Date: 04 / 2003
Successful Strategies for Recruiting, Training, and Utilizing Volunteers: A Guide for Faith and Community-Based Service Providers
Sponsoring organization: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
A guidance handbook designed for community groups and faith-based organizations seeking to maximize the skills of volunteers, expand their services the community, and enhance their effectiveness.
Date: 2005
USDA Faith-Based and Community Initiatives - Helping America Thrive: Alleviating Hunger, Revitalizing Communities and Helping the Environment
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Contains information on the USDA's Faith-Based Programs, including programs on food and nutrition, daycare, homeless shelters, and housing. The brochure also includes contact information.
Date: 09 / 2005
Weed and Seed Implementation Manual
Sponsoring organization: U.S. Department of Justice
Intended to be an easy-to-read guide for communities attempting to implement a weed and seed strategy, which is a community-based, multi-agency approach to addressing violent crime, gang activity, drug use, and drug trafficking.
Date: 08 / 2005
What Congregations Should Know about Federal Funding for Child Care
Sponsoring organization: Administration for Children and Families
Explains the child care voucher system for low-income families, and how to participate in the voucher program as a child care provider by providing services to eligible families. Focused on faith-based providers but the information would be useful to any interested child care provider.
White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives and the Agency Centers
Sponsoring organization: White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
Describes each Department and its Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives.
Date: 08 / 2004
Organizations
Administration for Children and Families: Faith-Based and Community Initiative Division (ACF)
Federal government
Provides information on faith-based funding opportunities including family assistance, child care, child welfare, and information on numerous faith-based grants.
Corporation for National and Community Service: For Faith-Based and Other Community Organizations (CNCS)
Federal government
Engages Americans of all ages and backgrounds in service to help strengthen communities. Helps connect faith-based and other community groups, ensuring that these groups have the capacity, tools, and volunteer power they need to help America's communities flourish.
Faith in Action (FIA)
National organization
An interfaith volunteer caregiving program of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Faith in Action makes grants to local groups representing many faiths who volunteer to work together to care for their neighbors who have long-term health needs.
Health Ministries Association (HMA)
Nonprofit/Foundation
Provides a support network for people of faith who promote whole-person health through faith groups in the communities they serve including providing information, guidelines and resources.
Housing Assistance Council (HAC)
Nonprofit/Foundation
Helps local organizations build affordable homes in rural America.
National Catholic Rural Life Conference
National organization
Supports rural people, family farms and local
businesses that promote sustainable community
development.
Roundtable on Religion and Social Policy
National organization
Conducts in-depth, impartial news and analysis, and nationwide research on faith-based social service programs.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration Faith-Based and Community Initiatives (SAMHSA)
Federal government
Supports faith-based and community organizations that benefit people with or at risk for mental and substance abuse disorders.
White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
Federal government
Strives to support organizations that serve people in need, particularly those that serve the following populations: at-risk youth, ex-offenders, homeless and hungry, substance abusers, those with HIV/AIDS, and welfare-to-work families.
Terms & Acronyms
Center for Faith-Based & Community Initiatives (CFBCI) Centers that help their neighbors enter, succeed, and thrive in the workforce.
Community Groups Local organizations which focus on supporting projects within their communities, for example churches, junior leagues, and civic associations.
Community-Based Organization (CBO) Small, grassroots neighborhood types of organizations that emerge to address community needs.
Compassion Capital Fund (CCF) A $30 million fund that is targeted to assist small, grassroots faith-based and community organizations.
Faith-based community economic development Process whereby a community engages in social, economic, housing and other asset development - activities that build and lead to community and personal health (spiritual, financial and physical) and empowerment - through strategies that encourage cooperation and interdependency as expressions of religious or spiritual ministry, calling or beliefs.
Faith-Based Community Initiatives (FBCI) The official term for this federal policy initiative.
Faith-Based Organization (FBO) An organization, group, program or project that provides human services, and has a faith element integrated into their organization. They might be sponsored by a religious congregation or agency.
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