Advancing the Kingdom

127

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in clientele. Later it was the Eat-n-Run

that was started to replace the Patchwork

Auction.

The tournament was one of the

first big projects the new development

director, Ralph Lewis, undertook.

Lewis came on board October 1,

1994. Morse recollects:

I think the decision to hire a development

director was part of the wider move to

improve the board and move the agency

forward. It was clear that if we were to

provide the programs that we wanted and

were needed that a single executive working

also as the de facto development person

wasn’t going to get it done. It was pretty

clear during that time, early nineties, that I

needed more help. Donna [Puyear] started

volunteering one day a week to help in office

administration and board support. We got

a man to volunteer to help with writing and

newsletters and p/r pieces. Then we said that

as soon as we could get the money we would

get a development director and department

going. I remember I took a small night

course for a few weeks so that I could learn

more about what we should be doing and if

the time came to hire a development director

I might have better idea of what they were

supposed to do.

I was reluctant to take money from the

programs and spend it on development. It

was kind of a catch 22. You need the help

you can’t afford. I knew from the course I

took (and it turned out to be pretty true) that

it would take 3 to 5 years for a development

department to start producing a steady

stream of income that outweighed the

expenses. About that time we got money from

an estate (ca. $165,000). We took that money

to fund up front the development….

Kingdom House “welcomed Ralph

Lewis as director of development,

a position in which he will be

responsible for the overall management,

direction, and coordination of financial

development initiatives on behalf of the

agency…” According to

Missouri East

United Methodist Reporter,

the creation

of a development director position was a

response to the demand for services and

the critical reduction in support sources

and government funding.

Indeed, the

mid-1990s were a time of decreased

federal spending on welfare programs as

well as an overhaul of the entire system.

Under President Bill Clinton,

Congress passed the Personal

Responsibility and Work Opportunity

Reconciliation Act (Welfare Reform

Act) in 1996. The new legislation did

away with the Aid for Families with

Dependent Children (AFDC) program,

placed permanent ceilings on the

amount of federal funding for welfare,

and gave each state a block grant of

money to help run its welfare program.

As a result, social service non-profits

were pressed to offer more job training

opportunities, expand childcare and

after-school programming and address

issues the federal government was

relinquishing.

Writing on the impact of this

reform, Reverend Mark Harvey (then

at Kingdom House) described the

impact the legislation initially had at the

agency:

Missouri Legislators will decide within

the coming weeks how to implement changes

in welfare programs required by new federal

legislation. Kingdom House programs have

always focused on assisting families with the

transition from welfare to work, but cuts in

aid will likely affect Kingdom House clients

and programs greatly.

In October AFDC ended, replaced by

TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy

Families). No one is now ‘entitled’ to welfare

benefits. Most current recipients will be

required to work. Our one Employment

Placement Counselor is already swamped

with assistance requests from our clients

for available full and part-time jobs

and training to upgrade their skills for

employment that will enable them to

support their families. His secretary assists

prospective workers to prepare resumes.

Unless Governor Carnahan asks for a

federal waiver, 17,000 ‘able-bodied’ adults

in Missouri will lose their Food Stamps in

February. For many this is their sole income

hoto

Ralph Lewis, First

Developement Director

the

creation of

development

director

position

was

response

the

demand

for

services

and

the

critical

reduction

support

sources

and

government

funding