The Concerned Family Ministry

Forsaking Everything to Follow Christ

Written by Sophie Gravitt and Photos by Luc Stringer

The life of Jesus was not the kind of life that we would expect the king of heaven to live. He was born in a poor town, lived the life of an outcast and served the lowest people of the earth. Yet he was the most joyful, most content person to ever walk the earth. Now, he calls his followers to live this life also, to serve others and devote themselves to his mission, even if it means sacrificing everything. Lincoln Cooper, founder and director of The Concerned Family, left everything to follow in Jesus’ footsteps.

Founded in 1989, The Concerned Family (TCF) is a nonprofit organization located in Perris, Calif., that offers services to those in need throughout the Inland Empire. The organization seeks “To assess the needs of homeless individuals and families and to empower them to live independent and self-sufficient lives,” as outlined in TCF’s mission statement.

Above: Lincoln and Fortunate Cooper, founders and directors of Concerned Family Ministry, proudly partake in their project.

TCF is primarily a food bank, but they also offer shelter, clothing, healthcare and counseling services. Additionally, they hold church services every Sunday morning at which everyone is welcome. TCF is the only reliable place for many families in the area to access free daily meals. This organization has provided health, happiness and hope to countless people who have little.

Twenty years ago, before he started TCF, Cooper was working at a pharmaceutical company when he came across a homeless man in front of a McDonald’s, asking for food. Cooper bought him a coffee then got in his car and wept for those who live with almost nothing. From that moment on, Cooper began to serve and minister to those without homes.

Admitting the reality of his reluctance to continue this practice, he says, “It was a calling. It was not something I wanted to do. It had nothing to do with me. It was God that brought me into this ministry.”

Cooper left the pharmaceutical company to pursue the call of Christ. After Cooper found a new job, his calling deepened and he felt convicted to get a part-time job instead of a full-time job. God led him even further.

“God was telling me that he wanted me full-time, so I felt I needed to quit my job. I struggled with this for a long time, at least three or four months. At first I told God, ‘Wait, let’s talk about this. I have to eat! I have to live!’ But the calling remained. So finally, I said ‘Ok, God. It’s all yours. I give it all to you Lord, even if I have to sleep in a tent.’ It was not easy. It was extremely difficult. But Scripture tells us, ‘Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.’ You have to lose in order to gain. That’s what Jesus did,” Cooper says.

Cooper did not sleep in a tent. Instead he slept in a van in the Walmart parking lot for months.

There were many times he says he became deeply discouraged, and he often cried out to God seeking assurance. He explained that sometimes God seemed to be silent, while other times he heard Jesus whisper, promising to always be with him.

Above: Volunteers help pass out food to those who come to the food bank.

Above: The pantry stocks a variety of foods, such as the nopal pictured, to accommodate different cultures that may come to receive food. This helps rid those in need of the extra stress of learning new recipes.

Unexpectedly, he says discouragement did not hinder his ministry at all. In fact, it caused it to flourish. Cooper was hired in a new position while he sought to expand his ministry by attaining a building. After months of searching, he got a building at March Air Force Base in Riverside where he could provide shelter and daily food for those in need.

In 2013, Cooper found a new building in Perris, Calif., where TCF is currently located. Since its move, TCF has been able to feed an average of 2,000 people every month at its food bank, but that number has doubled in recent months. At this location, TCF has a storage closet full of free clothes, a warehouse full of food, multiple buildings for shelters and a bus full of medical supplies.

TCF is constantly growing. Because of their partnership with schools and other nonprofit organizations throughout the community, TCF is able to remain financially stable and maintain its resources to provide for families in need.

Above: Many come to the food bank to get food for their families while volunteers help them fill out the necessary paperwork.

Lincoln Cooper was not the only one who received a calling for this mission. While he was starting TCF, Fortunate Cooper, co-director of TCF and Lincoln’s wife, was in Zimbabwe, Africa deciding whether she should move to the United States. God had called her to missions work in America, and like her husband, she followed even though it seemed impossible. Fortunate

Cooper moved to America in 2002 with only $200 in her pocket and earned a college education. In 2013, she attended the official opening of TCF’s new location where she met Lincoln Cooper. They were married just a year later and have been running this ministry together ever since.

Fortunate Cooper did not lose her ties to her homeland. She is passionate about serving those in need not only in the Inland Empire but across the globe. When COVID-19 began to spread, she felt compassion for pastors around the globe who lost their source of income and lacked resources to keep their churches open or stay healthy in Zimbabwe. When she received her coronavirus stimulus check from the government, she wanted to do something for those in her hometown.

Above: Volunteers help pass out food to those who come to the food bank.

“When I received a stimulus check I wanted to do something. I have clothing, I have food, I have somewhere to lay my head. I do not want to spend this money on me — I can bless somebody else. Fortunate Cooper says, “When the pastor that I reached out to told me about other pastors in need, I knew my $1,200 would not be enough. It is a disturbing sight to see pastors in a despondent place because they are a pillar of hope in their community. So, I sat down with my husband and asked, ‘What can we do?’”

After realizing what great need pastors have in Zimbabwe, Fortunate Cooper started a program called Pastoral Crisis Outreach so she could send money and resources to pastors in Africa. They put together a care package consisting of cornmeal, cooking oil, cabbage, and dried fish.

“It is barely anything, but you should see the gratitudeon their faces for so little. And then, we had the same call from India,” she says.

Since then, the Pastoral Crisis Outreach has expanded. TCF is now providing for pastors throughout Africa, India, Malaysia and Uganda.

“What is most important to us is reaching the world for Jesus,” she says.

Above: Volunteers continue to help those in need while maintaining safe distancing and sanitary procedures during the pandemic. Right: The pantry stocks a variety of foods, such as the nopal pictured, to accommodate different cultures that may come to receive food. This helps rid those in need of the extra stress of learning new recipes.

Since COVID-19, all of TCF’s main resources shut down. They gain most of their food from schools and restaurants which were closed. They were sure they had to put their ministry on pause, but they knew that the people they served had nowhere else to get food. The Coopers were convicted to stand by faith alone, so they remained open. Following this decision, everything changed.

“We were reluctant to remain open, but we know our God. We had nowhere else to go, so we went to our heavenly father. He is rich. So, we prayed, and food began to come from everywhere. We are feeding more people than we ever have. We have more food than we know what to do with. God shifted everything,” Lincoln Cooper says.

In addition to many different food donations, an organization called Hope for Health donated a bus to TCF so that they could provide free healthcare services to the community. Hope for Health is a nonprofit organization of healthcare professionals that offer free healthcare and counseling in the United States. In the future, they intend to take the bus door to door so that they can care for people who are unable to leave their homes.

TCF has volunteers of all ages from many different places. Ruby Alvarado, TCF volunteer, has been serving at this ministry since she was young. She says the people there are her family.

“My favorite part of volunteering at TCF is supporting my community by feeding people without homes,” Alvarado says. “I love giving back to them even with a simple smile. It makes my day to hear how they have benefited from this ministry.”

TCF is committed to loving all people and sharing the gospel with them. Its website explains that “No one is turned away without food and there is no discrimination in relation to race, religious, persuasion or lifestyle.” The Coopers are dedicated to serving those in need, providing for those without anywhere to go and primarily, showing others the love of Jesus Christ.

TCF’s top priority is feeding and clothing homeless individuals. However, it also seeks to provide skills to these individuals so that they can live self-sufficient lives. TCF offers free counseling for addiction and mental health. They have also established a Parent Support Training Program which helps parents overcome challenges to reunite with and provide for their children.

Above: Volunteers help organize food to make the process of distributing it to people easier.

Top: Jose, a visitor to the food bank who wished not to be fully named, happily receives his daily meal and drink provided by the ministry.

Above: Those who visit the pantry help one another carry and package their food.