From the NFL (via the Salvation Army) to Social Enterprise
No, Herb isn’t affiliated with the Salvation Army. In fact, he had an aversion to poverty
initially. Having grown up in wealthy Monterrey, California, Herb wasn’t around the poor very much.
He was the son of minister of an affluent congregation and a popular football player in high school.
In college, Herb graduated as an All American from Long Beach State and was signed on by the Philadelphia Eagles.
But the contract included a stipulation. He told the coach and the NFL that he would only play for three seasons.
Herb believed there was “something more to life than football.” Of course, everyone thought he would change his
mind once he had a taste of the money, so they scratched their heads when the three years were up never
expecting him to stick to his word. Not only did Herb walk away from the NFL, he gave up his prospects for an NFL pension!
Once he left, Herb changed focus completely and decided to go to seminary. Just prior to graduation, a fellow
classmate played a practical joke on him by tricking him into taking a “fill-in” preaching post at an old run-down
church in the poorest section of Philly. What the classmate didn’t mention was that only eight senior citizens comprised
the congregation. That and an equal number of buckets catching rain from the leaky roof were the audience for the newbie
pastor. After preaching that day, one of the men, a deacon, asked Herb if he might take on the open pastorate.
Herb bowed out. But as he drove away, he looked into the empty and hopeless eyes of the men in the soup line across the
street who were leaning up against the windows of the, you guessed it, Salvation Army. Herb turned his car away from
it but ended up on Broad Street, smack dab in the middle of the Richard Allen housing projects. The sight of the
aimlessness there, the drug activity and young people with no hope gripped his heart. It was in that moment that
a clear thought pierced his mind, “What better place to start work than in a place with so much need?” He turned his
car around and told the deacon, “Alright, you have yourself a pastor.”
That was in 1981. By 1989, Herb had grown the church to 1,000 members and remodeled the large old
facility while still pulling the church from $275,000 in debt. But a shiny church couldn’t mask
perpetual poverty. Herb grew weary of the welfare dependency and decided to take deliberate measures
to transform the dependent attitudes. He rallied a few Eagles players and community residents who
provided role models for the kids and their parents. Herb also added a critical jobs training program
in 1989, and established People for People, Inc. as a separate arm of the Greater Exodus Baptist Church.
It’s not uncommon for churches to add a nonprofit outreach initiative to their mission. Many have charter schools.
Most tap individual and corporate donors. A few, like Herb’s, even tap government jobs training money.
But unique compared to most inner city faith-based missions is Herb’s private revenue streams component.
Herb has launched small businesses such as a banquet catering operation staffed by area residents,
mostly the formerly welfare dependent. Another business, the Community Development Credit Union, employs
local residents and is designed to encourage African-Americans to save something from a pay or benefit check.
Typically, dollars in the Asian community remain in that community, turning over an average of six times.
But dollars spent by the black community seldom turn over even once. To keep more money in the neighborhood,
expenses are kept low allowing credit union members to keep most of their net earnings and share dividends on
combined investments. Banking with People for People automatically gives the local residents a stake in their
community’s growth and future while teaching them how to build a nest egg.
As of 2006, People for People has a remarkable success rate of helping the formerly welfare dependent
leave the rolls landing good jobs in corporations like UPS and G.E. Capital. They’ve also gone a long way
to stabilizing the economic viability of the North Central neighborhood and providing hope of a secure
financial future for thousands of its residents. People for People helps an eye-opening 15,000 people per
year reach self-sufficiency leaving the government dole behind. And now the visionary reverend is confident
that his nonprofit “will always grow.” So confident is Herb of that fact that plans for replicating the
People for People model are now in progress. Already the first sites, three churches located in other
Philadelphia neighborhoods, are in various states of program development.
Looking from the outside, many presume that it’s Herb’s contacts with the Eagles or his status as a
former NFL player that has made his initiative work so well. Others believe it must be his ability
to work the grey areas of federal TANF funding. While all of those things play an important role,
clearly they’re not assigning credit to Herb’s innovative ability to find new, more entrepreneurial
“for-profit” sources of income. That’s what makes People for People the sustainable entity that it is.
This founder has the comfort of knowing that if one source of revenue were to dry up tomorrow,
he could come up with a new one to replace it.
Herb has brought his mission a long way since 1981. The church is now up to 2,000 members.
There are more parishioners volunteering to help the needy than need People
for People’s
services. And while the Salvation Army is still in operation right across the street from
the church, it doesn’t symbolize a dead-end for those in the soup line. Today, one can feel
the hope in the air of North Central Philly no matter what month of the year it is.
Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday!
Herb Lusk’s story taken from interviews for The Power of One: The Unsung Everyday Heroes Rescuing America’s
Cities.
“The Power of ONE:
The Unsung Everyday Heroes Rescuing America’s Cities”
…chronicles 26 successful innovations and 35 average Americans who have invented solutions to Goliath-sized social issues such as child abductions, poverty, housing shortages, and neighborhood decay. Some have given up 401Ks, personal lives, and even NFL pensions to create their eye-opening cures. More amazing is the unorchestrated trend they have created, which Debra Schweiger Berg, the author, refers to as the “The New Civic America.” In her book, she supports her conclusion that recent economic and social dynamics have fueled an unprecedented network of citizen innovators now spanning the globe.
...buy the book»
“ANNOUNCING NEW E-BOOK:
”
Debra Berg’s new interview format radio show, “The Power of One”, launches on VoiceAmerica.com internet radio beginning January 10, 2007 at 3 pm CDT/4 pm EST.