Our mission and vision
Love INC of Charlottesville / Albemarle is one of more than a hundred Love INC locations across the United States and Kenya, who partner with over 7,800 Christian churches to serve hundreds of thousands of people in need.
Our local Love INC serves families who reside in Charlottesville or Albemarle or attend one of our Love INC partner churches. How? By mobilizing local churches to transform lives and communities In the Name of Christ. Here’s why that works:
Churches serve their communities in different ways. One area may have a financial literacy program, while another has housing assistance. Yet, when care is not coordinated, needs can be overlooked or duplicated, and people are not served in a holistic manner.
With Love INC
Love INC fosters collaboration and organizes holistic care to help churches serve their neighbors through resources and relationships. By networking churches together, each church is able to lean into their strengths, knowing that their neighbors will be cared for by the body of Christ within their community.
Love INC History
Dr. Virgil Gulker, a Michigan social worker founded LOVE INC in 1977 as a way to empower local churches to help and engage marginalized people in their communities.
Dr. Gulker understood that many Christians who felt called to help their neighbors simply needed help in getting started. That’s where LOVE INC came in. And LOVE INC also brought local congregations together so that they could combine their efforts to transform their communities.
Dr. Gulker’s idea for integrated church ministry spread quickly and by the late 1980s, fifty LOVE INC affiliates were operating in fourteen different states.
By 2023 Love INC affiliates were operating in 30 states representing a network of more than 10,000 churches and community organizations, who provided care and services to more than 150,000 of our neighbors. And we continue to grow, with new LOVE INC affiliates opening every year.
LOVE INC of Charlottesville / Albemarle
For more than 20 years, LOVE INC was shepherded by our executive director, Raymond Klein.
Under his stewardship, LOVE INC moved into a permanent facility on Pantops, hired professional staff, and helped our partnering churches launch hundreds of Gap ministries. Ray’s leadership over the decades enabled our area churches to provide love and assistance to thousands of our community neighbors, and truly helped spread the Love of Christ in the world. Ray retired at the age of 85 in 2025.
From its initial list of 7 churches, LOVE INC Charlottesville/Albemarle has grown to more than 120 area Christian churches, and provides thousands of volunteer hours each year. Our church members reach out to the needy with the transforming power of the Gospel, and through our service together, God is transforming our community and changing lives.
Our Partner Churches
Christian churches from across at least six denominations partner together to form a Love INC. Within these partnerships, Love INC serves as the scaffolding upon which greater growth is possible. However, it is the Christians in these churches who model Christ’s love and answer God’s call to serve. Working together as the body of Christ, we can best love and serve our community.
Our Staff
David Oberg, Esq.
Executive Director
