European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 16, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                A photo love inc. Founder Virgil gusto retort it Tot from which he has a celled inv trial about starting chapters. Clearinghouse for the needy by Lisa Perlman associated presso be Yeafol ago Diana Huckaly Al Allandale mich., was in almost constant pain physical and mental. A spinal Dalel Rosul Lertg from childhood scoliosis and worsened by a later Auto Accident Kepi her in bed All Day. Thinking nobody  a single Mother she scraped by on social Security disability checks then her Furnace broke. I had no Money and did t know whore to  says Huckaba. 37. But As it turned out thai Furnace breaking was the turning Point in my  when Huckaba called the Healing company she ended up speaking to the local program director of love inc. Floie she knew in. She had a new Furnace soon alter she had a new Outlook on Lile in cases like these. Love inc provides the missing link. Says Virgil Gulker founder of the nationwide Church services network. Gulker began the first love inc program in the Southwest Michigan cry of Holland in 1 9b 1while working for a Church sponsored Community Agency he was frustrated thai the vast resources no area churches mainly their volunteers were no being tapped to help meet the Community s needs. Ulkei saw the waste created by agencies and private organizations that duplicated services because they lacked a Clear idea of what others did. He was frustrated by the Holiday Lood by skill  the tendency by churches id provide groceries at thanksgiving or a Coal at Christmas White ignoring deep sealed problems faced daily by members of the Community guided by the by lion Hal a Church s resources if organized effectively could meet almost every need of a Community Gulnor sol Oul to Creale love inc. Local clearinghouses thai would keep inventories of services provided in a Community and link those in need with Tho Agency of group most Able to help. Where a need could t be Mel by an Chisling group love inc. Would Lap Iho resources of the Church. Since its inception love inc. Has expanded to so local programs in 14 states linking 1.300 churches of 50 denominations and meeting about 12,000 individual needs each month Gulker says. What Sels love inc. Apart from other Church sponsored organizations is that it is strictly a Clearinghouse and re Terra service. Us volunteers do not provide any direct assistance. That s left up to the agencies or churches to which the person in need is referred. We have a saying Here we will not knowingly help anyone " Gulnor says. That sounds awful. But in s the Only Way a program like this can work " if a person has a need that a government or Jiva be Agency is not equipped to meet or it the person does not meet specific eligibility requirements a participating neighbourhood Church is called upon to help. One of love inc s most important responsibilities. Gulker says is to ensure that Community services provided Are not duplicated. In one Community. Clothing was provided so of sadly and without a governing policy Hal some Ami ties stopped doing their laundry he Days when their clothes would get dirty they d throw them Oul and gel More. Through our failure to communicate As agencies and Church representatives we have created that dependency. We have said to these people there s no need to be personally responsible Lor your own situation we will Lake earn of that Lor you " to end the chronic dependent s Cycle love inc. Encourages churches to attach sell help conditions to assistance so the individual can become self Auto icon. For example a person who continual by asks a Church to help moot rent payments would a required to improve budgeting skills with the help of a Church Volunteer. Other self help conditions include academic or vocational training personal couns taig of help with parenting shopping or cooking All of which Are provided by Church volunteers. All participating churches Are asked to Survey their volunteers to find Oul what Type of service each individual can Best provide. A physician May Volunteer to help a sick child whose Mother does t qualify for emergency medical Aid who an Aulo Mechanic May be Able to donate a Lew hours to fix the Carol a struggling family. When someone in need contacts a love inc office program directors first conduct a background chech to Weed out roving panhandlers. If the need is legitimate it is then funnelled to the appropriate government Agency or existing help group such As lha salvation army. In Diana Huckaba s Case love inc. Referred her to a Little known government program which provided a new Fumach. Mow on the Days when she is feeling healthy enough she woks us a Volunteer at the local love inc. Office since gelling involved in he program the entire Community has reached out to embrace me says Huckaba who remarried in december. My entire life has changed love inc. Has Given me Back my  Gulker says government agencies Are Best Able to Deal with specialized needs such As spouse abuse or mental illness. But As Federal funds dry up Church assistance becomes essential love inc., which Gol a boast in november when it entered a partnership with the International Relief Agency world vision wants la have at least one program established in each of the United slates within 10 years. In Fresno calit., Mare than 2,200 Church members from a total of 50 area churches have volunteered to help with love inc cases since the chapter opened two years ago. Thirty three local government agencies also Are part of the chapter s network. All the agencies have responded very Lav Oraby. They Leel that the Church is an untapped resource and they re at the breaking Point says program director Larry wad Deji. He said that of the approximately 400 requests for assistance thai come into the office each month. Love inc. Can arrange to meet about 00 percent of those needs about 40 percent of those through existing agencies. The lest Are handled by Church volunteers. Kathleen Busse opened a love inc. Chapter in the Chicago suburb of Clarendon Hills about two years ago. There Are More than 200,000 people in the area served by the chapter and about 85 requests Lor assistance come in each it Mph. Of those the chapter Tan successfully refer about 60 cases. Sixty four churches now participate in the program. I think we be been doing a bang up Job. But we have nothing to compare in to.  Ahe says. There s no precedent Lor  Bombeck i can t remember Tho name of the n Ian who spoke at my High school commencement but 1 Remall what he said. He told us to Buluro of the world rested in our shoulders and he changed us with finding our destiny and fulfilling in he went on to say we alone must cure disease hunger and poverty throughout the world and above All. We must Lind Success. I glanced Ovet at Jack the class Delciene who could t even find his parents after they parked the car. And i got an uneasy feeling. Not Only Hal bul for those of us who planned to sleep in Lor a week the speech was very depressing Asil seemed to Call for a to of work irom such a Small class Afler the speech the entire group scrambled Oul of the auditorium in search of Success As if in were to first hem on a scavenger Hunt we had no idea what in was where to look for in How much in Cost whether it was in season or whal it looked like but from thai Day on. We go up Early in the morning and pursued it till late Al night. Sometimes we heard that Anol Hor classmate had found it but when we confronted him he assured us Hal if he had he would be Hap Pic i. By our 10th reunion no one had found it yet. The men slug led in their jobs and fertilized their lawns on weekends and the women raised babies and polished the to idioms of their Revere Ware ii seemed we were never Rich enough Ihn enough secure enough educated enough fulfilled enough or important enough to Quality for Success i be spent a lifetime trying to figure out who has Success i thought olympic skater do by Thomas was a Success because she was on the cover of time Magazine and won a Bronze medal Lor her country bul obviously she did t think so because she looked so sad and cried when she Gol third place. On Tho of her hand Eddie the Eagle the skier from Britain was in last place in his event and did l even get a medal yet everyone said what a Success Story he was because he did what he thought was not possible for no Todo could in be that Success is not a judgment of society bul can Only be self administered is it possible thai Success in t a plateau of wealth and honors bul a condition that lies within each of us when a handicapped child takes a step in t that Success when a person puts an old haired to rest in t that Success when you hold in your Amis the baby experts said you d never have in t Hal Success in Fresno calil., a group of third graders was asked to spell Success on a spell info lest. Their answers ranked from Celsos to Suglea to seckols to  if the graduating classes of 1938 Are Reading shia maybe it s not important How you spell it. Maybe what is important is knowing when you be got it. 1c the us Vehse. A Bess no bats Page 16 the stars and stripes monday May 16.1988