'Compassion Capital' may run dry

By Mary Kaye Ritz
Advertiser Religion & Ethics Writer

A Grace Bible Church food pantry used its money to buy vans and a tent. Another church bought video equipment so families here could connect with prisoners on the Mainland. On Kaua'i, a training program for at-risk teens purchased computers and software.

People line up for food distribution in Kalihi Valley as Jordan Hansen, left, a staff member of Grace Bible Church's Feeding the Hungry program, shares a moment of prayer with Virginia Jarra, who has accepted a box of food. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Churches and other community groups have embarked on grand plans to help the homeless, families of prisoners and people transitioning from welfare to work with the aid of the government money. But with future federal support in question after Bush's pilot "faith-based initiative" program runs out of money, some are wondering if the good deeds will be able to stay afloat.

For Central Union Church, the $19,000 in grants it has received to develop All Saints Bakery and Catering — giving jobs to people coming off welfare rolls or off the streets — has been a godsend.

Though the church project has been three years in the making, long before the federal dollars came in, the money will help develop the bakery's business plan and contract with a catering consultant as it attempts to roll out a complete line of baked goods next year when it opens for business.

"For us, the 'Compassion Capital' funds have been the difference between this program dying on the vine and moving forward with momentum," said George Harris, city missionary at the church. "We can't say enough about the opportunity that it has provided us."

At Aloha Church Assembly of God on Kaua'i, Noah Erickson has been working with at-risk youngsters to develop their computer skills. He ran the program informally for two years, but just this year received $19,910 for six computers and a new server, software and furniture.

Since 1999, Andi Whittaker, an administrator on the Grace Bible Church project, has seen her church's "Feeding the Hungry" program grow from serving a dozen families out of the back of a station wagon in Kalihi Valley into a project that feeds 250 to 300 families weekly.

To obtain federal money, two members of Whittaker's church attended several grant-writing and training workshops, filled out mounds of paperwork and survived several cuts, landing among the 21 chosen from more than 100 applicants.

The first year of the program is geared toward "capacity building" — buying equipment, paying for consultants, developing strategies, according to Ivette Rodriguez Stern, project coordinator at Center on the Family, the lead agency administering the federal grant. Some are hoping to use their second-phase money to train volunteers, their boards of directors and staff.

"Long-term, we're hoping to be a place where people can come to get food and some spiritual support," said Whittaker, adding that no federal money goes to proselytizing or religious worship — the two prohibitions for the "faith-based initiative" money and fighting words for "faith-based initiative" critics.

"With our prayer time, we ask, we never force," said Whittaker, an unpaid volunteer.

Caroline Johansson of Kalihi Valley Grace Bible Church loads food into a delivery van. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

"That's why we qualify for the federal money."

Susan Dorsey, interim legal director for the ACLU of Hawai'i, said that even if members of a particular faith group have all the best intentions, there's the potential for discrimination.

Someone taking advantage of a program "may not be their faith, but they're going to convert them to be their faith," Dorsey said. "Should someone have to endure that to have to get a meal? Is it the federal government's business to be disbursing federal funds through churches? It's very problematic."

Soon after taking office, Bush put forward the "faith-based initiative," which would allow religious groups to play a much larger role in running government social services. It was modeled after a program he started in Texas.

Earlier this week, Bush and Republican supporters promised minor changes to his plan to open government social-services programs to religious charities, hoping to nudge it through a tangle of critics in Congress.

Opponents to the plan say it violates the constitutional separation of church and state.

"(Bush is) trying to sidestep Congress," Dorsey said. "His faith-based initiative failed in Congress. Now he's trying to use a unilateral process to push ahead this unpopular plan, to divert federal dollars to religious groups and their activities."

Other critics of Bush's plan say there's a political agenda behind the faith-based initiative, with Bush sending money to Christian groups that helped him get elected.

In Hawai'i, all 13 faith-based groups receiving seed money for their "Compassion Capital" grants are Christian.

"We reached out to the Muslim community, Buddhist community, Jewish community," Stern said. "It was an open application process. Faith did not play a role in who accepted."

Stern said the application forms do not require that a religious organization list its denomination so it's impossible to know exactly who applied. But she estimated that most were from Christian groups.

Even with a hazy future for the program, those who have received money are grateful for what has come their way.

"Up until now, (the food pantry) has just been going on faith," said Whittaker of Grace Bible Church "When this program finishes, we know something else will open up."

Mary Kaye Ritz covers religion and ethics for The Honolulu Advertiser. Reach her at mritz@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8035.