Community Mission Expands Location, Resources
With an eye toward future need, Neighborhood Cooperative Ministry is growing space, partnerships to serve the most vulnerable.
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Words by Arlinda Smith Broady Photography by Richard Phillips
round the time Neighborhood Co o p e ra t ive Ministry (NCM) came together, the term “homeless” was just becoming an everyday term in the United States. From the 1870s, there had been documentation on people who had no permanent residence, but they were considered to be on the fringes of society. They were mainly low-income, low-skilled and often people of color. Many former enslaved people made up this demographic. In the 1980s, the number of homeless people in the U.S. increased substantially, making the issue a part of the public consciousness. Sociologists cited many factors, but the main two were an economic recession that began in the 1970s and the widespread deinstitutionalization of the mentally ill. By the time several churches in the Southwest Gwinnett area formed Norcross Cooperative Ministry in 1988, the mission was primarily to provide services to low-income and homeless families in the community. The doors opened
L to r, Elizabeth Gross, NCM Board Chair, Wendy Willis, boardmember and Ryan Jones, Director of Community Development.
in May 1988 in a portion of a small basement adjacent to Norcross First Baptist Church, and the ministry provided food to a few families a week and perhaps even temporary financial assistance to get them back on their feet. Over time, as community needs changed, so has the mission and scope of services provided by NCM. Currently, food and shelter are among the
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most sought-after resources, but NCM also helps with the immediate needs of emergency financial assistance, clothing assistance, m e d i c a l /d e n t a l assistance, emergency housing assistance, food and groceries, utility assistance, prescription assistance and prayer requests. Programs and services include job training assistance, health fairs, vacation Bible school, a Christmas fund and personal empowerment through classes in money management, financial literacy, job readiness, resume assistance and healthy living.
