Just A Little Help (JALH) is a Community Mission created at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to provide simple direct services and resources that address the observed or expressed needs of neighbors (we are all neighbors). Since March 2020, JALH has provided over 1000 “helps” in terms of food, transportation, PPE supplies and other emergency supports.

Just a Little Help is what we all need at different points in our lives. So many times I would meet people on the edge or over the edge face to face with a financial, housing, employment crisis. Most of these crisis preventable or could possibly be minimized with a little help. Our systems are set-up to address large scale problems but was does the single parent, young couple, college student, the elderly or marginalized do when emergencies hit? What happens when you don’t have enough food for the month or a MetroCard for the week or your gas tank refill hasn’t lasted long enough – Just a Little Help.

A little ministry with large impact.

How do we do this? A community of volunteers, partnerships, churches and the collective acts of kindness of those who understand the impact of Just a Little Help at the right time.

-Cynthia Gardner-Brim, Founder & Executive Director

About the Director

Cynthia Gardner-Brim formerly served as the Alumni Director at New York Theological Seminary.

Her role included being a liaison to alumni and partner churches.  She facilitated communications, coordinated networking and events, while addressing alumni and partner church concerns.  A fundraiser and grant-writer, she dually served as the Director of the NYTS Count the Cost Project, a six-year research and educational initiative funded through the Lilly Endowment program to address the Economic Challenges Facing Future Ministers (ECFFM). 

Cynthia is an Associate Minister at Mariners’ Temple Baptist Church under the Pastorate of Reverend Dr. Henrietta Carter.  She serves as the Youth Minister, Coordinator of the Mariners’ Community Food Pantry and a Church School Teacher. She also assists with leadership and advisement for various for additional ministries and community projects.  

Cynthia’s passion is for youth/community resourcing and empowerment.  She has spent her career in non-profit and faith-based organizations aligned with her passion.  

Presently she is courting one of her first loves as our nation emerges from the COVID19 pandemic. The gift of connecting people to one another, to needed resources, and helping to build stronger communities is vital to the fight for justice and equity.

She holds a BA in Journalism from Benedict College and MPA from Ohio State University.