COVER STORY
Care House Partnerships A powerful blessing in the neighborhood
By Gaye Bunderson Being a good neighbor is a big deal to Nampa First Church of the Nazarene. The neighborhood surrounding the church building at 601 16th Ave. S. has benefited greatly from an outreach program of First Church called Care House Partnerships. According to Care House history, in 1981 then-pastor Charles Higgins established a committee to study the needs of lower-income residents in the area surrounding the church, with an eye toward serving their needs. In December of that year, a Care Room opened at the church, offering free clothing, food, and other items to those in the vicinity. Over the intervening 39 years, the original offerings broadened out to include a Celebrate Recovery group, medical services, mental health counseling, after-school tutoring for kids, and a foster/adoption support program. The partnership part of Care House came through the development of alliances with other organizations in the valley, including Love INC, St. Alphonsus Hospital, Terry Reilly Health Clinics, and others. “We are striving to create wrap-around services in the same area so people don’t have to travel all over for what they need,” Tony Johnson, pastor/director of Care House Partnerships, said. The average annual wage in the area is $22,000 a year, according to Johnson, and one of the most utilized outreaches of CHP is its food bank, located at 1524 S. 6th St. “The people who come to the food bank are generally struggling between paying rent and utilities and buying food, and rent wins out over food,” Johnson said. “Prior to the pandemic, we saw a growing number of seniors on Social Security; the food bank was the place they’d come to get food when their benefits didn’t keep pace with the cost of living. We also saw a growing number of grandparents raising grandkids.” But the Covid-19 pandemic and its subsequent shakeup of the economy started driving younger families to the Care House Food Bank. “The breadwinners lost work,” Johnson said. The food bank is open Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. During one late April/early May opening, Johnson said the bank’s fridge and freezer were “packed to the gills”, but by closing, they were completely empty and volunteers were struggling to refill them. The food bank gets a good portion of its provisions from the Idaho Food Bank and from a program called Food Rescue, where Care House Partnerships’ volunteers go to area stores to pick up food that would otherwise be discarded, even though it is still good. People in the community also bring in donations of goods. “There is a lady who lives near the church and she has plum trees; she picks what she can reach and brings them in, and then says, ‘Anybody who can climb the ladder can get the rest,’” Johnson said. Also, a pastor once gave a sermon on the topic, “What’s the Holy Spirit nudging you to do?” A farmer who heard the lesson felt he was being nudged to give a portion of the corn from his cornfield to the food bank. Continued on page 18
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Top: Nampa First Church of the Nazarene is the driving force behind Care House Partnerships. One of its many outreaches is its food bank, located at 1524 S. 6th St. Bottom: Volunteers unload food for the food bank. (Courtesy photos)
Christian Living | July / August 2020 17
