CarePortal, a charity networking system now available to churches in Hamilton County, works a bit like Uber, said Audrey Beatty, who is facilitating the rollout.
The idea is that many people need help, and many churches, nonprofits and individuals want to help. CarePortal uses a technical solution to match them efficiently together.
The program greatly expanded its collaboration with the Tennessee government last year. In recent months, it launched in Hamilton County, where a few churches have signed on, and others are considering doing so.
Through CarePortal, churches and community members can sign up to get alerted when a need — vetted by a staffer with the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services — gets posted on the online portal.
One recent request was for rent help, for example.
“A church was able to get in contact with their landlord, meet the family, have coffee with the family, with that mom, and pay that rent bill for them,” Beatty recalled in a phone interview.
Many requests involve furniture. For example, Beatty said, a few weeks ago, a Hamilton County woman had agreed to take care of some children the state was removing from their home but lacked funds to buy beds.
A caseworker put the need into CarePortal. Churches that had signed on were pinged. They could commit to help by providing items, like a good bed. Or they could provide money and let someone else buy and deliver the bed. Or, Beatty said, they could pray.
According to Beatty, Orchard Park Seventh-day Adventist Church ended up delivering the woman several beds.
Hamilton County has seen about one request per week since the Department of Children’s Services started posting them through CarePortal here. The launch is part of a broader initiative called Every Child Tennessee — a joint effort to boost engagement with the foster care system, which was arranged jointly by a taxpayer funded nonprofit and the state Department of Children’s Services.
“Hamilton County’s launch marks a significant step forward in equipping local churches and community partners to respond more directly to the needs of their neighbors,” Adam Weis, the CarePortal central U.S. field director, said in an email.
CarePortal in some places has connections with other local social groups to vet requests, and Weis said it has worked in Tennessee since 2018. But its presence in the state expanded sharply last year with a $500,000 one-year contract to process requests from the Department of Children’s Services.
Since then, some 2,000 children in Tennessee have received help through CarePortal, often in the form of car seats, beds and clothing, said a spokesperson for the governor’s Faith-Based and Community Initiative, the nonprofit tied to Every Child Tennessee.
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Troy Brand, pastor at Orchard Park Seventh-day Adventist, first heard about CarePortal years ago at a conference. He was impressed, he recalled by phone, feeling the software could give churches the chance to do ministry more efficiently.
He spread the word around town. While, on Facebook and beyond, there are other groups that seek to network charities, he said he is aware of nothing quite like CarePortal. The system identifies a need, champions it, finds money and fulfills the need.
Where normally a church would have to do all this on its own, he said, CarePortal allows an individual or institution to do the portion of the job that makes sense for it.
“It’s an amazing tool,” he said.
Also, Brand said, churches could stand to improve their reputations. Through CarePortal, he said, they can demonstrate that they care about all people.
Contact Andrew Schwartz at aschwartz@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6431.
