Jeff Minton, Executive Director, Board Chair Pro Tem—Mr. Minton is a former Suit Referral—Litigation Disputes Unit Manager and Recovery Analyst for 5/3 Bank and Providian Bancorp where he and 3 others managed 1.6 billion dollars of the company’s assets. He is also a retired Domino’s Pizza Franchisee where he managed 35 employees and 4 managers and assistant managers on annual, monthly and day-to-day operations of single unit and multi-unit delivery locations. Mr. Minton has been our Executive Director since 2007.

Mr. Minton is quoted as saying, " Anyone who has served among the poor for any length of time will recognize the following progression: give once and you elicit appreciation; give twice and you create anticipation; give three times and you create expectation; give four times and it becomes entitlement; give five times and you establish dependency. We believe that investing is better than lending, Lending is better than giving – While giving may seem like the kind and Christian thing to do, it often ends up undermining the very relationship a helper is attempting to build. It creates dependency for the giver and the recipient and that's an absolute lose-lose situation."

In March of 2012, Clean Socks Hope joined Midtown Commons, an outreach ministry of Northside Christian Church and Hope Southern Indiana for a road trip and open house at Focused Community Strategies in Atlanta Georgia. After reading Toxic Charity and When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself, and living Jon Abercrombie’s quote, “At the heart of volunteering is the rightful belief that helping others is a good thing. But sometimes, helping others makes their lives worse even while the helper is basking in the warmth of a job seemingly well done,” the leadership had seen that become truth in most of their specific programming options.

Clean Socks Hope began to fully understand that those “love you” and “leave you” ideas plus governmental entitlement programs were only making those we were so desperately trying to help lives worse by making them all the more dependent upon us creating bitterness, without dignity and frankly betrayal. After a Monday night at Midtown Commons where we witnessed grown men knocking children down to get in the free food line first – they pulled the plug on ALL FREE giveaways whether it be food or anything else that folks believe they are “entitled” to.

Mark Twain said it best, “This country owes you nothing. It was here first.”

So that’s where they are now.

Back to the beginning, at place where we get to know you first, get to know your family – your hopes, dreams and goals for a better future. If there is a need then together we work toward that goal like friends and family do and yes like neighbors. We are working with hundreds less people on a weekly basis, but the outcomes have become redemptive for us and for those we serve. We now know names, faces and families and with the love and support from the community and you we are reaching people who aren’t being reached by doing things that have never been done!