6/26/25, 5:00 PM

In a world that constantly screams individualism, we often forget the most sacred truth: we were created for relationship.

At CareNetworkCR, we’ve seen over and over again that the most devastating form of poverty is not just material—it’s relational. The Chalmers Center names this clearly: poverty at its root is not just about a lack of stuff, but a brokenness in the four key relationships:

1. Relationship with God
2. Relationship with self
3. Relationship with others
4. Relationship with creation

When these are fractured, we experience poverty in its deepest sense. And in nearly every life we walk alongside—whether a single mom facing housing loss, a teen battling shame, or a family stuck in generational cycles—we see that poverty of relationship is at the center.

THE RELATIONSHIP THAT HEALS ALL OTHERS

At the core of every healthy relationship is the greatest relationship:

Our relationship with God.

“Abide in me, and I in you… apart from me you can do nothing.”
— John 15:4-5

When we are disconnected from God, everything else suffers—our sense of identity, our ability to trust others, our capacity for compassion and hope. But when we are anchored in Christ, something beautiful happens: we begin to heal relationally.

God doesn’t just fix broken things. He restores broken people into communities of grace.

“The highest form of wealth is the ability to live well with other people.”
— Jordan Peterson

Peterson often speaks about how voluntary cooperation and mutual trust form the basis of a good life.

That’s echoed in Scripture, where the early Church is described not by what they owned, but how they shared, prayed, and walked in unity (Acts 2:42-47).

TRUE RELATIONSHIPS TRANSFORM

In our work, we’ve learned that transformation doesn’t happen through a service delivered—it happens in a relationship shared. And healthy relationships require truth, time, and a willingness to see one another with dignity, not distance.

“People are not problems to be solved—they are people to be loved.”
— The Chalmers Center

BUILDING RELATIONSHIP-RICH COMMUNITIES

We’re building a potluck, not a soup kitchen. That means we don’t “serve the poor”—we walk with people in mutual relationship. We listen, we learn, we share, we pray.

Because the goal isn’t charity—it’s connection.

The goal isn’t efficiency—it’s restoration.

The goal isn’t rescue—it’s reconciliation.