How We Work
Building hope. Changing lives.
FreshMinistries is an interfaith nonprofit organization working to improve people’s lives and bring hope to those living in distressed conditions.
We are working to ensure all children have access to the 6 Points, or, community components, necessary for children, families and communities to grow and thrive. FreshMinistries’ 6 Point Community Initiative includes multiple programs and partnerships that interlock and build upon one another to create solutions to address the “whole social crisis” affecting our communities.
Our focus
The 6 Points our initiatives focus on are: EDUCATION, AFFORDABLE HOUSING, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, FAMILY STRENGTHENING, SAFETY and SECURITY, and HEALTH.
In economic development, this means leveling the playing field so all people have a fair chance at making a living. We encourage family development by helping parents and their children learn strategies for healthy interactions. We work to bring affordable housing and homeownership to inner-city residents to help build safety and security within which our youth may grow and thrive. We support the education and enrichment of inner-city youth, and our overseas programs help countries cope with the burden of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Working with partners that share our goals of restoring hope and community, we bring people and organizations together to find commonly supported solutions.
Our partners range from small nonprofit agencies in the inner city to church dioceses and agencies of the federal government at home and abroad. With all potential partners, we look for shared values and seek out both innovative and tested approaches to helping people in need and those who have lost hope.
Self-Sufficiency as a Model
Being self-sufficient is a highly valued concept in modern society. And yet great disparity in education, housing, resources and family support persist. We work to change that disparity with every initiative we create and implement: the core-city business incubator brings positive minority role models and access to jobs into our inner-city neighborhood, the IDA matched savings program allows low income working parents to set a good example for their children as they practice disciplined savings toward a goal while our housing initiative provides safe, affordable homes for core-city families. Our Jacksonville Hospitality Institute offers free adult job skills training for employment in the growning hospitality industry to unemployed and underemployed individuals seeking to improve their lives.
Working as Partners
FreshMinistries works with local, state, national and international community partners as well as government agencies. Often, FreshMinistries is the lead agency in managing a partnership project, such as the Individual Development Program or the HIV/AIDS programs in Africa.
At other times, FreshMinistries is a partner with other lead agencies working toward compatible goals, such as the annual Jacksonville Prosperity Campaign. In these relationships, FreshMinistries offers technical support and advice, as well as assistance with planning, financial management and organizational development. For example, FreshMinistries helped the Clara White Center obtain a $600,000 federal grant to build a culinary training center for its homeless center in Jacksonville. Recognizing that other partners bring different skills, knowledge and relationships to the table, FreshMinistries has found that working together leads to breakthroughs that will be more effective than when groups “go it alone.”
Working as an Incubator
FreshMinistries incubates new initiatives and builds them into self-sustaining, independent partners. We offer like-minded organizations in the early stages of development technical, administrative, communications, accountability and financial help to grow.
FreshMinistries assists these programs in an incubating environment until they are stronger and have developed and trained their staffs and boards of directors, becoming less reliant on FreshMinistries. Initiatives that no longer require our “hands-on” guidance are “launched” into self-sustaining programs and join our web of partners that work with us toward our common goals.
Interwoven solutions
Motivated by principles of equality and fairness, FreshMinistries coordinates activities with groups representing varied backgrounds, with the fundamental belief that people can cross boundaries to work together and create a sustainable, humane and tolerant society. Programs are need-driven and are based on what communities and neighborhoods define as their priorities.
Working at a grassroots level, FreshMinistries sees to it that a cross section of the communities we serve are represented and involved in the programs’ designs, have a sense of ownership, and that programs can be replicated in other communities.