The University’s Council of Religious Advisors is partnering with Phoenix nonprofit organization Open Table and student volunteers to bring an ASU-related person or family out of poverty.
By gathering volunteers and utilizing their connections, the partnership provides families with resources that can improve their situations in the long run and bring them to financial stability.
“Open Table is a model that gets people to plug in their own networks and experience to change someone’s life,” CEO Jon Katov said. “We can get dentists to donate free dental care, lawyers to donate pro bono work and even get donated cars.”
Open Table is partnered with many local state services, faith organizations and charities. A “table” is a group of people that act as a team of life specialists, encouragers and advocates for an impoverished family, according to the group’s Web site.
In 2009, Open Table had 20 individual and family-assistance tables in Arizona, Texas and Kansas, and is projected to expand to 50 to 75 tables in 2010.
ASU is the first university to team up with the organization, and Katov said it is a great place to start.
“This campus has more network connections than anywhere because of the vastness and excellence of the University,” he said, adding that this collaboration will open the door to other University-sponsored tables.
“Students can truly help someone out and create the potential for change,” Katov said.
2009 ASU graduate Jessica Stocks, a volunteer with the organization, said it brings together many individuals.
The model consists of a 13-chair table of volunteers who each have different goals and address specific issues, Stocks said. Certain members are responsible for tasks ranging from housing to health care, while others serve as mentors and networking directors.
Having multiple volunteers responsible for different aspects of the project works much better than the typical model of having a single individual address every aspect, she said.
“There is no burnout, and we don’t inundate one individual with solving all of the problems,” Stocks said.
Katov said the group is currently looking for an ASU student or a family with an ASU student for the program.
After being referred, candidates must go through a process that includes a background check, credit reports and family status.
This process reveals the specific issues the table will address and protects the safety of the volunteers, he said.
“If the family is forthright from the very beginning, we can avoid any surprises,” Katov said.
Rob Rynders, United Methodist campus minister at ASU’s Wesley Foundation, organized Wednesday’s informational meeting.
Rynders said another meeting is planned for April 14, where interested people or volunteers can find out more about the project.
In addition to the Wesley Foundation at ASU, other faith-based organizations involved in the project include the All Saints Catholic Newman Center, Lutheran Campus Ministries and Extreme Life College Ministry, he said.
Katov said the homeless rate in the U.S. has remained exactly the same for 42 years.
“Most of what we do give to the homeless population will not help them leave poverty,” he said.
Open Table is working to provide the resources and networks needed to stay out of poverty, Katov said.
“More important than material success is the relationships we have,” he said.
Reach the reporter at chase.kamp@asu.edu
