History: How it all started
THE WHEELS STARTED TURNING...
In the fall of 2006. Members of the Brookings Ministerial Association wanted to address major gaps in assistance that is left for private resources to assist people with. Many times the public assistance programs only begin to address part of the needs of the poor, working poor or simply, people in need of help (crisis help, short-term help or otherwise).
What they noticed was that people would come to the church desperately needing help because they had no other place to go and many times it would be hard for church staff to assess when needs are legitimate and when they are not, or just where to send people to go so they can access needed resources.
The goal of the Ministerial was not to further "band-aid" the problem that presented itself in individuals or families, but to EMPOWER PEOPLE by deeply evaluating the issues in order to create a self-reliant member of the community by helping to improve their quality of life and at the same time promoting Christianity through works and by example .
The goals were:
¨ To be better stewards of their funds.
¨ Avoid only band-aiding the surface problem that presents itself, but also to
evaluate deeper, root problems that can be assisted with to prevent this same
issue from re-surfacing.
¨ Create a self-reliant member of the Brookings community and help to improve
their quality of life.
My Neighbor then became a working project with joint efforts from members of the Brookings Ministerial Association, Law Enforcement, Community Assistance Organizations and Social Services.
In order to fulfill these goals the MY NEIGHBOR program was created and opened its doors in the
Fall of 2007.
501 (c)(3) established March 11, 2016
United Way Member since 2009