Love INC looking for receptionist,

clothes sorter, grant writer, mentors and more

By Don Rush

If you have the time and a good heart, Love INC (In the Name of Christ) of North Oakland wants you.

“We are at a critical time in our ministry where our calls are starting to increase and our volunteer numbers have dropped since COVID,” Love INC Executive Director Patricia Schapira said. “We are offering a financial class and need instructors and mentors. Our staff is having to take on more of the tasks that we have traditionally had volunteers perform.”

Love INC is a non-profit cooperative effort which links churches, volunteers, and service agencies and helps them to organize their efforts by reaching out to the poor and disadvantaged.

“We serve as a needs Connection Center, where people in need contact us and we in turn get them connected with local churches and agencies that provide them with assistance,” Schapira said.

The call for volunteers runs the gamut from a receptionist for their Connection Center, to clothes sorters at the Clothes Closet in the Oxford Free Methodist Church to grant writers, client mentors, class facilitators, volunteer coordinator and volunteer church liaison.

“People can volunteer as little as one day a week or a couple times,” she said. “We currently have 25 volunteers, down from 48, just a year ago.”

The organization receives an average of 22 calls a week from people in need, she said, adding last year they assisted 328 individuals. All those people are helped by the volunteers, plus a staff of two full-time and two part-time staff members.

“People are feeling overwhelmed mentally, physically and financially,” Schapira said. “Rising costs are affecting families. The lack of affordable housing is becoming critical as rent and mortgage costs continue to increase.”

To help those in need, Love INC has a couple of different ministries.

The purpose of a Gap Ministry is to provide a resource or services to meet ongoing needs which are not currently being met by other agencies or organizations. They work with area churches in the operation of Community Meals, a Clothes Closet, Little Luxuries, Bed Blessings & Beyond and a Laundry Ministry.

Transformational Ministries mobilize churches and church volunteers to provide classes to equip participants to better cope with and gain skills to improve their life circumstances. These classes address underlying issues which may keep people living in poverty. It also develops relationships between clients and the volunteers, who walk alongside them long-term.

“We offer a Managing Money class quarterly,” she said. “We also are sponsoring a Freedom From Anxiety Workshop on June 21. We are continually expanding our programs and looking for new class opportunities to offer the community.”

Tonight’s Freedom from Anxiety Workshop is at Journey Lutheran Church, 136 S. Washington St., from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

Volunteering is easy, Schapira said. “Just call our Connection Center at 248-693-4357 to set up an appointment.”

The Connection Center is open Monday through Thursday, 9 to 5 p.m.