For years, our focus on charity has been inspired by Blessed Frédéric Ozanam’s words: “The order of society is based on Charity and Justice.” You, our incredible volunteers, have given so generously, delivering food to families, providing essential household goods and helping prevent evictions.
But on home visits and at our food pantries, our volunteers saw a more profound truth. They saw neighbors trapped in the “tyranny of the moment,” where a paid bill today was only a temporary fix. These repeated crises pointed to a systemic problem of social injustice: the lack of access to healthcare, affordable housing and living-wage jobs.
We realized we couldn’t just keep treating the symptoms. We had to tackle the root problem.
This is the story of former Council President Sheila Gilbert. Instead of accepting the status quo, she dared to ask, “What if we could change someone’s life forever?” Her vision, fueled by the Bridges Out of Poverty framework, became the Changing Lives Forever (CLF) program.
Since 2011, CLF has empowered over 600 neighbors to create a new, stable future. When we adapted CLF to combat homelessness, its incredible success led to the next chapter of our story: the Love Your Neighbor Center (LYNC), founded in 2023.
LYNC continues this legacy by giving men leaving homelessness various tools to rebuild their lives: stable housing, mentorship and a path to meaningful work. It’s the next step in our journey to build not just charity, but justice.
