Work With the Poor

Couples for Christ Foundation for Family and Life (CFCFFL)'s  Work With the Poor (WWP) is an integral part of its Social Ministry. It is guided by the following principles:

Mission and Vision

Vision

No one is in need. Every Catholic helping the least of their brethren, living out the spirit of the first Christian community where they shared things in common.

Mission

Encourage every parish to have work with the poor, leading to massive work of poverty eradication.

On God and the Catholic Church

The care of souls is the soul of the care of the poor. WWP, while addressing the materialistic side of the Church teachings, always affirm the human soul. Personal holiness is the ultimate goal for the benefactors and the beneficiaries and their families.

WWP, in consonance with CFC-FFLs core values, is ideally parish-based. It is ideally a joint initiative of the Church, represented by the Parish, and CFC-FFL. WWP looks at itself as the enabler as the Church takes a proactive role in the dioceses and parishes.

WWP is overtly Christian. The program is subject to Catholic Church doctrines and teachings. We seek the guidance of our bishops and parish priests.

The primary aim of the program is to be obedient to God, to prepare His people for His Kingdom. We seek only recognition from Him. Except to proclaim Gods power and majesty, CFC-FFL or any of its members, will not seek fame or recognition for themselves.

We do this work not to build excellent showcases to impress the world; rather, we will just seek to provide for the needs of the poor and restore their dignity as children of God, while still looking to giving them our best.

On Project and Beneficiaries

Projects are chosen and initiated together with the Parish. Each project undergoes the prescribed due diligence prior to launching and mobilization.

WWP is inclusive. It is open to Christian and non-Christian beneficiaries. Under the guidance of the Church, WWP will heed the call for integrated evangelization that is, simply sharing the love of Jesus.

The launching and implementation of each WWP project is dictated solely by the readiness of restoration teams, the beneficiaries, and donors, in that order.

Beneficiary self-help and volunteerism are two of the important values of the WWP. It is mandatory for all WWP projects.

To preserve the integrity and consistency of various aspects of the work, WWP deliverables to beneficiaries, ex. housing units, are reckoned in terms of need, quality and quantity rather than in purely monetary terms.

On Partners and Donors

Partners and donors provide financial and material support to WWP. While their support for the work enhance their public image through publicity, we emphasize the intrinsic rewards (and where applicable, spiritual rewards) of helping the poor.

We shall seek donors or partners who accept these guiding principles. 

The scope of WWP consist of work in Restoration Communities and in Mission Communities.

Restoration villages are contiguous areas of holistic development.  The land parcels on which these villages stand are outright donations, owner-authorized for long-term use (usufruct), or collective acquisition by beneficiaries through some form of  community mortgage. Thus, restoration communities are only implemented when there is legal basis for land occupancy. RVs will provide not only housing but also fraternal caring and most importantly programs of faith renewal. This is to restore the poor to God, to restore their dignity as children of God, to restore fellowship among brethren especially rich and poor, and to restore social justice that is a hallmark of the kingdom of God in our midst. All RVs are under the care and guidance of  volunteer community restoration teams dedicated and trained to implement programs for the various mandatory components.

Mission Villages are CFCFFL's response the needs of poor communities occupied "informal settlers" (a.k.a. Squatters). Through the years, various religious organizations, including CFC, have adopted their on mission communities while work in these mission area consist mainly of evangelization, material upliftment has been more in the nature of outreach, informal and sporadic. While building of infrastracture are restricted or limited due to legal considerations, the other development components, such as education, health, and livelihood can be full-blown implementation going beyond outreach. 

Thus, our work with the poor also touches the lives of the poor who are still transitioning from being informal settlers to being rightful residents of holistically developed communities such as the restoration villages.

Members Housing Initiatives are CFC-FFL’s affirmative response to the clamor of poor CFC-FFL members who reside in mission communities and the homeless, in general, to be accommodated in restoration villages. The initiatives result in the establishment of restoration villages for these members or the provision of stand-alone houses, as the case may be. WWP builds Stand-alone Houses for poor members who live in their own land or authorized by the owner of the land in writing. The member must be a member of good standing, faithful to community life, have transformed and free from any serious wrong-doing. The chapter head will attest and certify to this effect.

Home ♦ Components of WWP