James and Marsha Whitford, Co-Founders at Watered Gardens Ministries: Work Can Break the Cycle of Dependency
James and Marsha Whitford, Co-Founders at Watered Gardens Ministries: Work Can Break the Cycle of Dependency
“Challenge folks… incorporate, exchange, incorporate work. If we don’t do that, then they’ll never develop what is necessary to escape their bed of poverty.”
– James and Marsha Whitford, Watered Gardens Ministries
In the summer of 2000, James and Marsha Whitford opened the doors of Watered Gardens Ministries in Joplin, Missouri to boldly engage with low-income individuals, families, and the homeless. Everyone who enters the doors at Watered Gardens is seen as more than the issues they are facing—they are valued individuals capable of contributing to their own success.
James and Marsha’s vision to empower others to become contributors to their own upward mobility has proven successful. As of 2021, Watered Gardens has helped more than 170 individuals find purpose through work by helping them gain skills through training programs, establishing a support system through relationships, and by empowering them to find worth through an “earn it to get it” mindset.
To learn more about welfare reforms that help Americans experience the power of work, click here.
At FGA, we don’t just talk about changing policy—we make it happen.
By partnering with FGA through a gift, you can create more policy change that returns America to a country where entrepreneurship thrives, personal responsibility is rewarded, and paychecks replace welfare checks.
