Family-to-Family

Share Your Bounty

Just 20 minutes north of Birmingham, the town of Brookside (population 1,363) is a small pocket of nature and beauty next to the big city. The town sits on six square miles along the bank of Five Mile Creek, hence the name Brookside. A former mining town, it grew up around the Brookside Coal Mine, which opened in 1886. Original settlers were eastern European immigrants who flocked there in order to work in the mines. When the mines closed in the 1920s, Brookside saw economic troubles that have persisted ever since.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, from 2021-2022:

  • 28% of Brookside children lived below the federal poverty line
  • 20.4% of people were uninsured

Family-to-Family’s contact in Brookside is Kara Miller of the Boys and Girls Club of Brookside.  The club provides extensive after-school programs, including homework help and tutoring.  When the school year is over, the club runs summer programs to keep area kids busy, healthy, fit, and happy.

A large number of the children served by the Brookside Boys and Girls Club live in poverty, with an estimated 80% qualifying for free lunch at school.  Many are being raised by single mothers or grandparents, and live in public housing.

In Brookside, we work with the local Publix Super Market to provide monthly groceries for our sponsored families.

Community Liaison:
Kara Miller
Brookside Boys & Girls Club
4199 Municipal Drive
Brookside, AL 35036

Data Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey

Yes, I’d like to sponsor a family!

First a center for colonists fighting the British in the Revolutionary War, and later a thriving manufacturing hub, the city of Worcester has been an important and symbolic site of America’s heritage for over 200 years. Like many New England cities, Worcester’s economy collapsed after the decline of U.S. manufacturing between 1950 and 1980, and although healthcare and biotechnology companies were brought in to expand the job base, poverty is still widespread.

Data: 2022 U.S. Census Bureau’s American

  • 37.6% of residents are unemployed
  • 31% of households have an income of under $35,000

Family-to-Family’s partner in Worcester is the Green Island Neighborhood Center.  Green Island houses a food pantry and after-school program as well as helps area residents with issues relating to food stamps, housing, employment and health services. Green Islands’ Program Director, Elizabeth Lopez and her staff identify and recommend families in need to our sponsorship program.

Sponsored families are provided with a monthly grocery store gift card to a local store, which is distributed to them at the Green Island Center.

Community Partner:
Elizabeth Lopez
Green Island Neighborhood Center
50 Canton St
Worcester, MA 01610

Data: U.S. Census Bureau Community Survey

Read more about Worcester’s hunger problem below.

1. “Hunger pains: Winter adds challenges to feeding those in need in Central Mass”

2. What Happened to Worcester?

3. Worcester on the Rise – Along with Poverty


Yes, I’d like to sponsor a family!

Although Orlando brings to mind Disney stories, smiling children and summer vacations, the 2008 recession hit the city hard. The collapse of a hyper-inflated real estate market and a sharp downturn in tourism took their toll, with many residents of central Florida losing tourism related jobs. As the country and the state of Florida have rebounded since 2010, Orlando’s unemployment rate has dropped, but at least 350,000 Central Floridians remain mired in poverty, in large part because available jobs pay very low wages.  

According to 2022 data, in Orlando:

  • 32.3% of people are unemployed
  • 14.2% of people live below the federal poverty line

The working poor number is even bigger. A United Way study showed that 43% of households in Orlando’s Orange County report being unable to afford bare necessities, despite being employed. The median hourly wage in Florida is one of the country’s lowest.

Family-to-Family’s liaison in Orlando is the Jesus Loves You Outreach Ministry, led by its president and founder Pauline Jackson. Pauline opened her doors in 2002. A wife, grandmother and mother of four, she says of her service to others, “I had a rough life. But God came into my life. He saved me. This is my way to give back.” Pauline’s devotion helps hundreds of families in the greater Orlando area. The ministry opens its doors on Wednesdays to offer food, household items, baby supplies and clothing, currently serving anywhere from 70 to 110 families a week. She also runs school backpack and supply drives for low income children every summer as well as personal care item drives for the homeless. And with help from Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, the Ministry also offers a children’s summer food program. On Thursday afternoons kids receive backpacks full of non-perishable foods to take home so they’ll have something to eat over the weekend.

Pauline identifies families in need for Family-to-Family’s sponsorship program and The Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida provide groceries for our sponsored families.

Community Partner:
Pauline Jackson
Jesus Loves You Outreach Ministries
6111 Lost Tree Ct.
Orlando, Florida 32808

To learn more:

Data Sources: 2022 American Community Survey, U.S. Census Bureau

Yes, I’d like to sponsor a family!

In northwestern New Mexico near the Arizona border is the city of Gallup, which abuts lands belonging to the Navajo Nation. A substantial part of Gallup’s population is Native American, including some Hopi, Zuni and a large number of Navajos. Gallup is also the location of The Community Pantry, which provides food to impoverished Navajo families and serves as our coordinating agency and link to the Navajo families we serve.

While some official statistics put Gallup’s unemployment rate at 20% in 2016, many of the “jobs” counted include self-employed individuals who create and sell handmade goods and provide services for very little money. According to the Navajo Nation, excluding these low-earning individuals would bring the true unemployment rate to just over 57%. Other issues add to the economic blight. Businesses stay away from the region because roads are unpaved, and electricity, water and telecommunications services are minimal to non-existent, although access has improved since 2000. Police and fire services are similarly limited.

According to 2010 census data (the latest available):

  • Just over 46% of Navajo Nation homes had no telephones.
  • Over 21% of homes had incomplete plumbing.
  • 87% of the 9,286 miles of reservation roads were unpaved.
  • 44% of people under the age of 18 in the Navajo Nation lived below the poverty level.
  • Almost 32% of all households in the Navajo Nation had annual incomes below $15,000.

Outreach workers helping the Navajo families who use the Community Pantry say living conditions are extreme. “We have families with 4-7 children that live in one room — 20’x 20’ un-insulated, plywood shacks — with no utilities (maybe an extension cord strung from the one electrical meter located in the camp) and a wood stove. One ‘camp’ outhouse is for all families. Other families live in traditional Hogans (8-sided one room log/mud homes) with chunks of mud missing in the walls and cardboard or blankets stuffed in windows. Wind and dirt blow under the door. Soot from the wood stove accumulates, making air quality dangerous.”

Many families have no available transportation; cars are old and often broken-down, and public transportation is minimal or nonexistent. Distances are vast; without phones or transportation, communication is difficult and families are isolated.

Hilda Kendall, the chief operating officer at the Gallup Community Pantry, is our community contact in Gallup. The Pantry’s Emergency Food Assistance Program provides food to about 1,500 families every month.

Community Contact:
Hilda Kendall
The Community Pantry
PO Box 520
Gallup, New Mexico 87305

To learn more about the Navajo Nation in New Mexico:

Data Sources: Navajo Nation Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy 2018; Navajo Nation Division of Economic Development; Demographic Analysis of the Navajo Nation Using 2010 Census and 2016-2017 American Community Survey Estimates

Yes, I’d like to sponsor a family!

In the heart of Appalachia’s Cumberland Mountains, the town of Beverly is home to Red Bird Mission, a poverty relief organization that serves a remote, impoverished population in Bell, Clay, and Leslie counties in southeastern Kentucky. Access to the region can be difficult, depending on the weather and time of year. Public services and infrastructure are minimal, and lack of education is a significant issue. Public water is inadequate and there’s no public sewer. Telephone and electricity service are unreliable during bad weather.

According to the 2022 Census data:

  • In Bell County 15.7% of residents do not have health coverage
  • In Bell County 455 of residents are unemployed
  • In Clay County 35.1% of households have an income of under $25,000
  • In Clay County 62.7% of housing units are valued under $100,000

Red Bird Mission is the local coordinating agency that refers families in need and distributes groceries purchased by Family-to-Family donating families. Red Bird is a National Mission Institution of The United Methodist Church, and since 1921, it has provided educational, medical, and community outreach programs for residents of the Red Bird River Valley.

In addition to its regular sponsorship program to help families living under the poverty line, Family-to-Family also supports “The Gap Pantry” at Red Bird Mission, which provides food to struggling families with incomes just over the poverty line. Through this sponsorship program, low income, working families can “shop” (no funds needed), for the foods they most need at the “Gap” pantry. Read more about “Gap” family sponsorship here.

Community Contact
Candace Collins
Red Bird Mission
70 Queendale Center
Beverly, KY 40913

To learn more about the area:

Data Sources: Poverty & Education statistics – U.S. Census Bureau

Yes, I’d like to sponsor a family!

Pembroke was the beginning. The community that inspired the founding of Family-to-Family in 2002 when it was featured in a front-page article in the New York Times, is:

  • Located in Kankakee County, 70 miles south of Chicago.
  • Populated by roughly 2200 residents, primarily African-American.
  • Lacking a supermarket, police force, barbershop, gas station, bookstore and pharmacy and has no bus or train connections.

Many of Pembroke’s roads are unpaved, just sand or gravel, and many homes are trailers or crumbling shacks with dirt floors and no running water. Some have tires sitting on top to keep a damaged roof from flying off, and many households have no telephone service. Until a credit union opened in 2007, there were no banks or financial institutions of any kind.

According to 2022 data, in Pembroke:

  • Median income of $41,250
  • 28.5% of households have an income under $25,000
  • 46.4% do not have a high school diploma

Family-to-Family works with Wilhelmina Gibbs of the Pembroke school district to serve our sponsored families in the Pembroke/St. Anne/Momence area. We partner with Meijer Stores in Bradley to provide groceries for our sponsored families.

Community Contact
Wilhelmina Gibbs
Lorenzo R. Smith School
4120 S. Wheeler Road
Hopkins Park, IL 60944

To learn more:

Data Sources:  U.S. Census Bureau, Census 2022

Yes, I’d like to sponsor a family!