When Helping Hurts How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor . . . and Yourself

Churches and individual Christians typically have faulty assumptions about the causes of poverty, resulting in the use of strategies that do considerable harm to poor people and themselves. When Helping Hurts provides foundational concepts, clearly articulated general principles and relevent applications. The result ia an effective and holistic ministry to the poor, not a truncated gospel.

Steve Corbett is the Community Development Specialist for the Chalmers Center for Economic Development and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics and Community Development at Covenant College.  Previously, Steve worked for Food for the Hungry International as the Regional Director for Central And South America and as Director of Staff Training.  Steve has a B.A. from covenant College and a M.Ed. in Adult Education from the University of Georgia.

Brian Fikkert is an Associate Professor of Economics at Covenant College and the Founder and Executive Director of the Chalmers Center for Economic Development at Covenant College.  Brian received a Ph.D. in Economics with highest honors from Yale University, and a B.A. in Mathematics from Dordt College.  Specializing in Third World Development and International Economics, Brian has been a consultant to the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the United States Agency for International Development.  He has published articles in both leading academic and popular journals and has been a contributor to several books.  Prior to coming to Covenant College, he was a professor at the University of Maryland and a research fellow at the Center for Institutional Reform and the Informal Sector.