FAITH-BASED PARTNERSHIP IS SUCCEEDING HERE

Since Missouri is so often accused of lagging behind in areas like per-student education spending and transportation dollars, it's nice to see the state lauded for being in the forefront of a movement.

Missouri is one of only five states taking advantage of charitable choice, established under a 1996 law that allows churches and religious organizations to compete with other agencies for government contracts.

And we have a fine example right here in Cape Girardeau.

Project Hope, which stands for Helping Other People Excel, is a faith-based charity that matches welfare recipients with church-based mentors who provide advice and moral support and sometimes give material gifts like cars and appropriate clothing.

The idea is to move people off welfare and break the cycle of dependency. This creates workers who contribute to the community instead of consuming tax dollars in the form of subsidized food, housing and medical care.

What a fine example we saw just last year in Elsie Welch, a single mother of two. Project Hope helped her to get a job as a hospital cook and gave her the 13th car donated through the program so she could get to work.

The organization began only a year ago under the wide umbrella of the Community Caring Council, which receives funding from the Missouri Department of Social Services and Department of Health.

Since that time, Project Hope volunteers have matched 24 families with 10 churches. Specifically, parishioners volunteer to take on the task of helping their less fortunate neighbors.

Project Hope is the only group of its kind in Cape Girardeau County, but President Bush doesn't want it to be that way forever.

He's the one who brought the 1996 law back into the limelight. He's encouraging more faith-based charities to come forward.

It's an admirable goal indeed. Churches are more likely to address the whole person when dispensing assistance, giving clients religious reasons for breaking the habits that led them to a life of dependency upon society.

And while some may have concerns about doling out Scripture along with charitable assistance, what harm is done? Participants can take it or leave it. And if they take it, it can only help.