(765) 482-6144

We serve Boone County residents with physical, emotional and spiritual needs, free of charge, and regardless of religious affiliation or lack thereof.

We have learned that it is almost always necessary for the person who needs help to personally call us to request assistance. Well-meaning friends, family and care-givers should encourage the person in need to call, although you are certainly welcome to alert us about a situation or a forthcoming call. If, however, the person in need is physically unable to speak or call us, we will consider your referral on a case by case basis. We are also available to you to offer advice or to help you find the resources you need for someone in need. Please call the office if you have further questions.

In order to accommodate anyone needing assistance, we have allowed a person needing assistance to call anytime day or night.  Our volunteers will always return your call within 24 hours.  Please be prepared to accept our call.  If there are specific times that are best for us to call, be sure to tell us those times when you leave a message.

Our in-take workers are all volunteers, offering their time in service to their neighbors. Each volunteer works one shift per week, so one person may receive your call and gather information about your request while another may call you back another day for more information or to inform you of the status of your request. The volunteers who actually provide the help to meet your need are church volunteers and do not work in our office – so they are different people from the one(s) you talk to on the phone. This is teamwork in action.

Our method of receiving and processing requests for help functions solely over the phone. We do not have the facilities nor the personnel to provide face-to-face intake processing of your request. We’re confident you will find our phone volunteers pleasant, caring and patient.

You will be asked some basic questions, like your name, address and phone numbers where you can be reached. We’ll also ask a few questions about your family to better determine the scope of your need. We’re interested, of course, in the need that you have and will try to fully understand your request, how you are coping right now and what kind of help you need by asking questions. For some requests, we will ask financial questions to help us assess your situation. And, we’ll ask if you are working with other helping agencies, organizations or ministries in the area. Finally, we’ll ask for a couple of references – people who know you and can verify the situation that you face. Please note: for some types of requests, not all of these questions are asked and some may be abbreviated. The fullest in-take is necessary for requests for monetary assistance (which we are rarely able to provide).

It helps us understand more fully your situation and the need you have. References can be landlords, employers, doctors, neighbors or family members. Depending on your request and if you are working with a service agency, we may need a reference and a release from that agency to verify your situation.

Love INC assures confidentiality to all of the people we serve. Love INC volunteers sign a confidentiality agreement, stating that they will disclose no information regarding a past or present client at any time to any unauthorized person.

It can take a week or more from the time you call us until a volunteer meets your need. We need this time so that we can contact your references, research what resources are available to meet your need, and, if your request is referred to a church, to locate a volunteer. In addition, although we encourage our church volunteers to respond as soon as possible, sometimes their personal lives and schedules may delay their response for awhile. So, if you need transportation to an appointment, for example, please give us plenty of advance notice.

Love INC has no funds to provide financial assistance. That is not what we do, although we network with other groups in our area who do. But this does not mean that our ministry cannot help you when you are in a financial difficulty. What we do is provide volunteers to offer services and resources to you. So, for example, if are unable to meet your rent payment this one time due to difficult circumstances, we can do a number of things for you: we can locate other agencies and sources who may be able to help you (if you meet their qualifications), and we may be able to provide volunteers who can offer services or helps that will free up some money for you that you can use for your rent. For example, we may be able to provide you with referrals for food boxes, diapers, or toiletry items and volunteers who could weatherproof your leaky doors and windows (to reduce your power bill) – and free up money for rent. We can offer budget counseling that often reveals areas where you will be able to save money to have available next time for rent. That’s why, when possible, it’s good to look ahead and call us about your pending need before the due date. In dire emergencies (for example, a car accident that hospitalizes the breadwinner), we may be able to find ministries and churches who will offer exceptional help for you.

Budget counseling is required when a second request for financial or material help shows ongoing need or potential for dependency to occur. We want volunteers to meet with you to be an encouragement to you and possibly help you find ways to squeeze some extra cash out of your budget in the future. We realize this is not always possible. But usually our budget mentors are able to help you understand your situation more clearly and actually find ways to improve it a bit. Our counselors are patient and kind and will keep your financial matters confidential. Many people, even in good financial conditions, pay to have a budget counselor help them manage their finances. We offer this resource as a gift to you.

Please call us. We will listen. If you’d like, we will pray with you.