History

In 1963, a group of seven local women came together as the Committee of Church Women United to address the conditions of poverty in Chapel Hill and Carrboro. Later that year, the Inter-Church Council formed to continue and expand their work, launching a variety of projects for clothing distribution, school lunches, pre-school readiness, tutoring, loans and grants, furniture distribution, aging, and home building.

As programs grew, the Inter-Church Council became the Inter-Faith Council and incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1970.

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, IFC began its concentrated efforts to feed those with food insecurity by establishing a food pantry (now the Community Market) and the Community Kitchen that serves daily hot meals to anyone in need.

IFC responded to community need in the 1980s, offering emergency shelter to adults and families at the old Chapel Hill Town Hall, co-located with the Community Kitchen at that time. HomeStart, a dedicated shelter for women and families, opened in the late 1990s, and Community House for men followed in 2015. 

In the early 2000s, IFC began its evolution from a charity to a social justice organization. Social justice examines the fairness of opportunities, privileges, and wealth distribution within a society. It seeks to break the barriers of social mobility, eliminate discrimination, and protect individuals’ rights.

We recognized that homelessness and food insecurity are systemic problems that can only be solved by centering those people with lived experiences and by challenging the inequities inherent in our systems.

Since establishing a social justice framework for our work, IFC has created a Permanent Supportive Housing program with federal funding to support people experiencing chronic homelessness.  We’ve launched Activate! IFC, a civic engagement and advocacy initiative. And we’ve built the IFC Commons to house our administrative offices, all of our non-shelter programs, and to serve as a central hub for community nourishment, connection, and engagement.