When one Ohio couple called Love in the Name of Christ (Love INC), they asked for help with housing. But what they found was a supportive community.

When Elmer and Dawn contacted Love INC of Greater Holmes County, Elmer was recovering from drug addiction, and the couple was working to regain custody of their three children. They were regularly attending a local church, where a family had opened their home as a temporary place to stay. Although they both had jobs, they needed help reaching their ultimate goal: building savings to secure their own housing.

“Elmer and Dawn signed up with two others from their church to join our Faith & Finances class,” says Vicki Conn, Director of Love INC of Greater Holmes County. “Every week, they came to the class and reported how much they had in savings.”

Love In the Name of Christ (Love INC) is a national network of 137 affiliates that connect local churches and mobilize them to transform lives and communities. Love INC’s network represents more than 7,800 churches in 29 states across the U.S.

We’ve partnered with Love INC to train their affiliates to offer our Faith & Finances financial education program as part of their comprehensive transformational ministry model, which provides long-term relational support to people like Elmer and Dawn who want to make significant changes in their lives.

Through Faith & Finances, Elmer and Dawn discovered biblical principles for managing their money. More importantly, they were surrounded by a community of people from local churches who were willing to walk with them through the process.

Eventually, Elmer and Dawn saved enough to purchase a mobile home—and celebrated after closing with their friends from Faith & Finances. They were able to buy a few essentials for their new home, and Love INC and their church provided furniture, linens, cleaning supplies, and cookware—all donated from local churches. Today, Elmer and Dawn are continuing their journey toward reuniting their family—and they have a network of people with them every step of the way.