Featured Stories of Faith Partnerships in Action
With a shared commitment to partnership, service, and community well-being, SAMHSA is deepening its collaboration with faith-based entities, community organizations, and houses of worship to expand hope, healing, and access to behavioral health support in communities across the country.
When the Storm Passed, the Doors Were Still Open - Western North Carolina
How faith communities became the backbone of disaster response in Western North Carolina after Hurricane Helene.
“What the storm could not take was the network of faith communities that had been serving their neighbors long before it arrived.”
Nobody plans for a hurricane to change everything. But on September 26, 2024, Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina. Power lines went down. Cell service disappeared. What the storm could not take was the network of faith communities that had been serving their neighbors long before it arrived.
In the months that followed, Hope4NC crisis counseling teams deployed across all 39 affected counties — meeting survivors where they were. Often, that was in a church.
At Clyde Methodist Church in Clyde, North Carolina, neighbors could find a meal, a coat, and someone to talk to. When Hope4NC staff visited, the clothing closet was running low on coats and cold-weather items for children. The team gathered donations from their own homes, partnered with a local recovery center to collect more, and restocked the closet by end of day.
That is what it looks like when partnership shows up with its sleeves rolled up.
North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) received federal funding through SAMHSA's Crisis Counseling Assistance and Training Program to support Hope4NC. Hope4NC serves all 39 counties affected by Hurricane Helene, providing free, anonymous, community-based crisis counseling and support to survivors.
When Faith Communities Become the Safety Net: The Blessing Bag Homeless Initiative - Ocean City, NJ
“Faith communities did not wait to be asked. They showed up the way they always have — as neighbors, as connectors, as the safety net that was already there.”
In Ocean County, New Jersey, communities in the southern half of the county faced real barriers to housing, mental health care, and substance use services. A network of faith leaders and community partners had the trust, the relationships, and the will to help.
In 2021, RWJBarnabas Health Institute for Prevention and Recovery brought that network together as the SOCIAL Network — 33 congregations and faith-based organizations, more than 100 active members, and partners from local law enforcement, schools, and recovery agencies across the county.
And then there are the Blessing Bags.
Three hundred bags filled with cold-weather essentials and resource bracelets, hand-delivered to people experiencing homelessness. Through a text-based app, people in need were connected to resources 486 times. Not through a helpline or a clinic but through a network of congregations and faith-based organizations that show up like they always have.
That is what it looks like when faith communities are engaged as the leaders that they are.
RWJBarnabas Health Institute for Prevention and Recovery is a Strategic Prevention Framework—Partnerships for Success (SPF-PFS) grantee serving Ocean County, New Jersey.