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 The Good Shepherd Restoration Ministries, Inc. is a non-profit, evangelical outreach ministry, which functions as a Faith-Based Initiative.
Our mission is to provide addiction and co-dependency recovery support, family and life skills development as well as mentorship for at-risk, urban youths and young adults.
While providing badly needed community services in our communities is the focal point of our ministry, we do not compromise our evangelical foundation in the process.
On the contrary...it is our very faith in God that we attribute the success of helping our clients. It is faith in God, which drives our mission. It is faith in God, which is the source of strength that keeps our volunteers focused and encouraged. It is, in fact, faith in God that gives our clients hope in what would otherwise be considered a hopeless situation.
More About Faith-Based Initiatives
"Charitable Choice" Defined
What Are Faith-Based Initiatives?
Faith-Based Organizations (FBO's) can be defined as: A non-profit organization (which is religious in nature or that has "faith" as its core value) that effectively deliver traditional social and community services in such a manner, that they are able to successfully compete with government and other non-profit agencies for federal, state and private foundational funding so as to expand the scope and coverage of badly needed social services.
These FBO's, all around the country, consistently attribute their success to the very strong influence of "faith" in transforming the negative or harmful behaviors of their clients into positive behaviors that supports newly aquired coping skills, which are rooted in their faith. To learn more about the views and opinions of many of the pastors and leaders of successful FBO's, click here.
The sweeping changes to how our government deliver social services, which was spawned by passage of the Welfare Reform Act of 1996 included by-partisan support for "Charitable Choice" as an alternative to traditional services rendered by federal and state agencies in support of assisting families in their transitions into "Welfare-to-Work" programs such as "WAGE" and others. As a result, FBO's gained notariaty and were launched into the public-policy limelight.
Many of the nation's top public policy experts in the field of urban issues, such as Dr. John. J. Dilulio Jr. and Bruce Katz of the Brookings Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, rallied behind the cause of FBO's and helped to solidify President Bush's support for "Charitable Choice" and the prominence of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives as viable alternatives to less than promising federal and state social services programs.
The following articles in PDF version are of value for gaining insight into the need and support for FBO's. We recommend that you download the articles for future reference:
 Unlevel Playing Field: Barriers to Participation by Faith-Based and Community Organizations in Federal Social Service Programs
Rallying The Armies Of Compassion: President Bush's Plans to Support Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
Compassion "In Truth And Action": How Sacred and Secular Places Serve Civic Purposes, and What Washington Should--and Should Not--Do to Help
What Is Charitable Choice?
Charitable Choice is a set of rules about how government buys social services. It already exists in federal law and applies to these domestic programs: Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (1996); Welfare-to-Work (1997); Community Services Block Grant (1998); and SAMHSA drug treatment (2000). Congress has passed Charitable Choice repeatedly, by wide margins and on a bipartisan basis.
Charitable Choice is not a special fund set aside for religious charities. Instead, it makes faith-based groups eligible to compete on a level playing field with other groups for government funds to provide certain public services. Charitable Choice creates equal opportunity for faith-based groups that are effectively achieving public purposes. It doesn't ask a provider "Who are you?" but "what can you do?" Charitable Choice is results-oriented and prizes performance over process.
Charitable Choice:
- Prohibits government from excluding faith-based providers from competing on an equal basis for government funds because they are religious or "too religious";
- Obligates government to protect the religious character of groups that receive government funds;
- Protects the religious liberty of people who need government-funded assistance by expanding their service options and requiring alternatives if anyone objects to a faith-based program;
- Honors the constitutional rule that government not be biased for or against faith-based groups or fund inherently religious activities like sectarian worship, instruction, or prosellytization; and
- Prohibits discrimination against beneficiaries on the basis of religion, race, gender, age, disability, etc.
The following articles in PDF version are of value for gaining insight into the concept of "Charitable Choice." We recommend that you download the articles for future reference:
Top 10 Frequently Asked Questions About Charitable Choice: From the Office of Faith-Based & Community Initiatives
Briefing Paper: Charitable Choice and Its Implementation by States
Welfare Reform: An Overview of Effects to Date
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