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Chase Corner Community Ministries was established in 1979 by a cooperative effort of six United Methodist Churches working together to address community needs at that time. Several of the local mills had shut down and many families were in need of a helping hand. With a grant from Duke Endowment they began helping families with financial assistance with crisis needs. Because they were helping the community, the community started helping back by means of bringing donations. This started a clothing closet, which eventually led to a thrift store. The idea of the thrift store was to help families help themselves by offering low prices for families living on a tight budget, so their pride could stay intact as they provided for their families. Many years and directors later, and a move from the original Henrietta location to our current location in the old Chase United Methodist Church building in Forest City, our ministry has evolved into a many faceted ministry. We have an 18 member Board of Directors who serve from four of the original churches who started this ministry, Cliffside UMC, Avondale UMC, Caroleen UMC, and Providence UMC. All four churches are small, but do their best to support our emergency pantry, give an annual donation, and meet other emergency needs upon request. We are a non-profit 501C organization. We run on a tight budget. We try to give more back than we consume. We have three part-time employees: Dwala Hardin our Store & Donation Coordinator; Cynthia Cooper our Ministry Director; and Hatheleen Parris, our 93 year old cashier who operates our thrift store.
We offer the community affordable items from our thrift store where proceeds go back into the Crisis Center to assist with crisis financial assistance needs, financial assistance with crisis needs every first Monday of each month, prescription medication assistance, free clothing, shoes, household items to families in crisis by appointment, bag sales where you can get lots of merchandise in a grocery store size bag between $1-$4, Christmas toy assistance to families missing the Christmas Cheer deadline, backpack assistance in August, turkeys for families through cooperation with counselors from 6 local schools, heaters in the winter and fans in the summer, wood assistance by availability in winter months, diaper assistance for adults and babies when donations available, and free walkers, wheelchairs, shower chairs, crutches when donations available. Our most beneficial ministry is our three food pantries. We do a really good job helping feed insecure families with supplementary food from our : 1) Emergency Walk-In Pantry, open M-F, 9-2; 2) our USDA Government food distribution every Wednesday from 9-2 (each family may access this once every 2 months); and 3) our Mobile Food Trucks through cooperation with Second Harvest Food Bank in Charlotte each month where each family typically receives two large boxes of fresh produce, meat (if available), bread, and other food items. To qualify for any of these three food programs you must be a Rutherford County resident and meet income requirements. However, you might want to check to see if you qualify, because some families who do not qualify for government assistance still qualify for services we provide. It is based on income and number of people in household. All clients are encouraged to participate in all three food programs so that they can stretch their food budgets to provide for their families.
What can the community do to help their Neighbors in Need?: 1) Volunteer even a few hours each week - task are not difficult, but necessary in the daily operating of our thrift store, our food pantries, processing donations that come in, and many other ministries we participate in - Just show up M-F, 8.30-2.30 or call us at 828.247.0096. Let us know your particular skill and we may be able to use that skill in a new or existing ministry; 2) Give food items to our pantries like: Canned vegetables and fruits, Kid friendly canned and boxed foods, Canned meat, Soup and crackers; Toiletries like toilet paper, paper towels, soap, shampoo, razors and deodorant; 3) Give any amount of money - We accept donations from individuals, corporations, organizations, churches, Sunday School classes. Many months we run very tight on funds and we always need whatever support you can give. We are happy to provide our tax id number for your tax purposes. 4) Provide a service to us like landscaping, cut loads of wood (we have 12 clients currently on a waiting list today), We even have a Registered Nurse who is offering her skills to begin helping clients with health care readings to take to their doctors.
Some new ministries we plan to start in 2018 is providing fresh produce, dairy, and bread items to be stored in our new refrigeration unit provided by the RHI Legacy grant. We do need people to transport this food to us from local farms or grocers. If you can help with this please call us at 828.247.0096. For this to be successful, we need your help! We also work in cooperation with many local community groups trying to make a difference in this community like: ICC's Community Connection Team; the newly formed Homeless Coalition through United Way; the newly formed Rutherford Food Network; Networx, Rutherford, Yokefellow who is coordinating a network of local helping agencies through a database called Charity Tracker; work with 9 local churches and organizations providing Mobile Food Trucks across the county; cooperation with 6 local school counselors to provide specific needs to local students and their families.
"This is a community based ministry. Without donations and volunteer support from the residents of Rutherford county, Neighbor helping Neighbor, we cannot continue to exist, thrive, or serve our neighbors who need a helping hand. If you are passionate about making a difference in the needs that exist in this community, this is a great place to start. Your efforts will not be in vain."
One way everyone can help us immediately is to go to our local facebook page and like us and share with your friends and family at www.facebook.com/foodpantrymobile. We keep daily updates on needs, ministries, and celebrations here at Chase Corner Community Ministries. We are located across from Chase High School at 1604 Chase High Rd, Forest City, NC 28043. If you would like to mail a donation please send it to PO Box 327, Henrietta, NC 28076.
