Exactly what time period in what part of the world are you thinking of? If you go back too far, you'll hit a time when places of worship were the government, or

Exactly what time period in what part of the world are you thinking of? If you go back too far, you'll hit a time when places of worship were the government, or at least so entangled in it as to make no difference. If you don't go back far enough, you'll hit a time when work houses and sanitariums were commonplace, which might be inhumane by modern standards, but definitely count as "government programs to help the poor."