History

The New Focus History:

The idea for New Focus was formed in 1984 by Jenny Forner, as growing requests for money came to an agency from people in the community. Granting those requests from church benevolence funds was not moving people out of poverty.

Jenny developed a budgeting class using church members as mentors to offer hope and help people with needs to overcome their immediate situation and encourage them to develop healthier financial habits.

People with emergency needs brought with them many other pressing issues, which often overwhelmed the volunteer mentors, and churches discovered that they were ill equipped to respond to the significant problems of both generational and situational poverty.

A motivational assessment helps participants examine their level of commitment to take steps to change the root cause. Life-skill coaching invites participants into a personal connection with the church family.

With that new approach, New Focus was established as a faith based non-profit training organization in 1994 to provide resources to:

• Equip and invigorate church volunteers for more effective outreach "right here in the neighborhood" (Matthew 10:5-10) with a practical and systematic approach to benevolence and outreach that blends emergency assistance with compassionate accountability, and
• Use people’s financial problems to offer hope, help and connect them with the church and help them move from getting to gaining to giving, "Get up and start walking" (Luke 5:18-20).

New Focus has trained over 300 churches from 26 denominations in 19 states. It has gained national recognition by demonstrating success in identifying the universal need and growing demand for more effective church-sponsored community compassion ministries.

Several churches, like Calvary Church and Madison Square CRC in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Community Presbyterian Church in Vacaville, California, and St. Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Mankato, Minnesota, stand out as success stories. A Needs Coordinator in these churches facilitates the ministry.

It has also been successfully used to join community churches together to offer people in need various resources in a coordinated way.