Online aid-request portal hits Canada

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This article was published 14/11/2019 (2297 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A west Winnipeg church recently spent thousands of dollars buying furniture and trucking it to people it didn’t know, connected only through an online service that brings together those in need with those willing to help.

Church of the Rock (West Campus) was one of three Winnipeg religious organizations in a pilot project for CarePortal, a platform that uses location-based software and the co-operation of social services agencies to identify and meet the needs of people in poverty.

“I think it’s a big benefit because there are many, many needs we’re not aware of because they’re behind closed doors,” said Rev. Danny McVeigh, minister at the Westwood church of about 150 people.

“We really love CarePortal because it essentially highlights the needs.”

Launching in Canada this week, the portal pairs up people needing a hand with furnishing their homes, equipping themselves for a new baby or paying utility bills with churches that have signed up for the service, said Wendi Park, CarePortal’s Canadian liaison.

The online service has been running in the United States since 2015.

Park said social services agencies enter the request on the online database and nearby participating churches get an email outlining the need. The churches work with the caseworker to provide what is needed, with names and addresses of clients kept confidential.

“There’s a lot more of a relational aspect,” she said about how the portal differs from other charities. “It’s not just filling in a request. It’s not just Kijiji.”

Park said religious organizations can tap into the portal’s educational arm, CareWell Academy, for courses in responding to trauma, understanding poverty and cultural sensitivity.

The services do not replace other agencies that collect warm clothing or food, but provide another method of ensuring those who need help can get it, she said.

To date, 11 Winnipeg churches have signed on and two social services are submitting requests.

(The portal is not limited to religious agencies — other agencies or individuals can access it through foreverfamilies.ca, the non-profit agency that administers the program in Canada. Monthly fees start at $50 to cover the cost of development and updates.)

The idea has merit because people living in poverty often have specific needs not met by food banks or clothing drives, said Lynda Trono of West Broadway Community Ministry.

The agency — a drop-in program that provides lunch, laundry services and access to computers and telephones — often receives donations of clothing and furniture, and has to scramble to find the right person to receive it because there’s no room to store the items on-site, Trono said.

“Sometimes, stuff matches and sometimes, it doesn’t,” she said, citing a recent donation of size-nine men’s shoes. “It would be really cool to have a matching service.”

McVeigh was surprised to hear there would be a fee after the pilot project, but said his congregation would pay because it sees the service’s benefit. Since the congregation worships in rented facilities, members found free storage space donated by a local company for excess furniture and other supplies they plan to distribute through CarePortal.

“Obviously, when we meet the families, they’re very appreciative and overwhelmed that a stranger would help them,” McVeigh said about how their donations have been received so far.

Trono said she doubts most churches would pay $50 a month to identify needs in the community, but she can make a case for spending the money if it means provincial government policy would change toward people on the margins.

“One thing I would like to order on their service is a government with compassion,” she said. “If they could get me one of those, I would pay $50.”

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