Fill Out your Serve Profile:

Today I'm coming to you as your CarePortal point person: Because I'm so excited to report on the impact that this tine upgrade in the CarePortal Platform profiles has had on our church. It's called the Serve Profile. Here's how it works. 1. you join a response team. (do that now if you havent already done it). 2. you fill out your profile. It takes 2 minutes to let us know- do you have a large vehicle? Can you lift heavy items ?(I am very proud to say that I marked YES on that one!) And fill your zipcode so we can make your impact super local! So many of you have already jumped in and here's the data... in April, May and June combined (BEFORE we really had serve profiles cranking) we had 20 responses and 1- ONE- first time volunteer. Which is sort of Church like usual, right... we had the same few people responding on a rhythm, keeping steady motion forward meeting about 7 requests a month, not too shabby. But in July ALONE - once we incorporated serve profiles into the process- we jumped to 30 responses and 22 - TWENTY TWO-first time volunteers. (And August results look very similar) Now, rather than responding to a request and calling my best friend to come with me when I connect, I'm checking to see who's closest to the family in need. Now, when another team leader is responding on behalf of his small group- he can look and see who hasn't engaged in a while, or ever, and make that personal invitation to someone new! Now, when a single lady in a our church has the sofa needed- but doesn't have a way to transport it, she doesn't give up on the whole process- she looks up a church member with a van and asks for help!!!

Let me tell you what happened with Adrienne.

Adrienne is a single mom who left a domestic violence situation, and is faceing the daunting challenge of starting over with her 4 children. As a general rule, when we are alerted to the needs of a violence survivor, we try to be as sensitive as possible. When I called Adrienne, I offered to gather up her items myself and meet her myself to minimize the number of strangers showing up to the door...if that made her feel safer....But Adrienne is on mission. She is rebuilding her life and finding the support she needs to thrive ... and she said, "no, ma'am-the more the merrier- I need all the new friends I can get!" Using Serve Profiles- we were able to connect Adrienne to church members within walking distance of her new place! She suddenly had neighbors to call when her little one got sick and she didn't have a ride to urgent care. She has prayer support, and people checking up on her and offering to bring by dinner. Not only were those first few CarePortal Requests met, but she's starting to build that village where she can share her struggles and celebrate her progress.

I could tell you 22 more stories- of church members who feel included and invited. Of families being served and seen... but

The bottom line here is Responder Profiles are a game changer. They give Team Leaders and responders ACCESS TO EACHOTHER- and that has not only facilitated meaningful connections with the families we are serving- but it has also created momentum and unity and a feeling of togetherness within the church. This is a Holy Spirit annointed addition to our tech... it is not just making my job easier - it's making the mission work! It's removing barriers and driving connection and providing ACCESS TO JESUS! BIGGEST UPGRADE IN A DECADE!!!