In the early 60s ... before the Government “took over” ... the Rural Communities I grew up in basically ran their own “charities” on a Local Level at a Local Level often with major support from one or another Religious Establishment. The People often knew who the recipients were and why they were in need ... and, more importantly, WHAT they were in need of.
The “Charities” tended to try to help AT the level of need.
If a person was in need due to being jobless, jobs were found.
The Elderly, the Disabled were watched after by a Community effort so that they did not go without food, heat, clothing or even social contact.
In cases where, for instance, a family found themselves impoverished because the “Man of the House” became a “Drunkard”, charity was given to the household based on the needs of the family while pressure, subtle and not so subtle, was applied to the Man to “Straighten Up” and figure himself out.
Granted, this was not uniformly applied or uniformly successful but it tended to have a greater chance of success of Repairing Damages than the “Government System” seems to.