Don’t look now, but we are already through the first two months of 2015 and inching closer and closer to the official start of spring (March 20 to be exact). Have you been keeping tabs on what’s been happening at Portland Rescue Mission? If not, stay informed and up-to-date by signing up for our email updates.
In the meantime, here are just some of the highlights you might have missed (find even more in our blog):
For the men at The Harbor, our yearlong New Life Ministry program, working on themselves is often the hardest thing they have ever had to do. What can often take people their entire lives to navigate, individually, the men at The Harbor are trying to do in one year. It is an exhaustive undertaking. It’s also a very comprehensive process that calls for some much needed solitude along the way – including a recent retreat themed around Luke 5:16, “But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.”
Celebration. Excitement. Anticipation. Transformation. These are all words and feelings that came emanating out of the Jubilee celebration at Shepherd’s Door. Five women had not only finished the 12-month New Life Ministry program, they were radically changed as a result.
Harbor men chop wood in the rain to provide fire wood for families in need.
At only 8.3 miles apart, or about 13 minutes driving without traffic, the distance between our Burnside Shelter in downtown Portland and The Harbor doesn’t seem like much. And yet, it’s that very distance itself that makes The Harbor such a powerful place total life transformation.
Our Public Relations Specialist Alexa Mason sat down with The Oregonian’s Anna Griffin to talk about Portland’s homeless crisis, a seven-week series the newspaper is working on. During a live chat, Mason spent some time answering reader’s questions about how we can help homeless men and women, and what Portland Rescue Mission is doing to give hope and restore life and healing to people in need. Here are some of the highlights.
One of the issues often overlooked when it comes to homeless men and women is their healthcare needs. As a demographic that frequently uses emergency rooms, their healthcare can be very costly. And as a way of increasing the amount of outreach taking place, while also helping as many people as possible, the staff at Portland Rescue Mission’s Burnside Shelter has helped organize a “health resource day” in our Guest Care Center.
Five women at Shepherd’s Door recount their past, look forward to continued growth.
For many people, one of their greatest desires and yet biggest disappointments is a complete lack of meaningful work. Not so for Christine Ourada, Director of Women and Children’s Ministries for Portland Rescue Mission.
Take a tour with her at Shepherd’s Door, listen to her talk at Jubilee (the women’s New Life Ministry graduation ceremony), or simply sit down and chat with her, and within minutes she’ll tell you how much she loves her job.
(And to all of our supporters out there, we want to extend a heartfelt thank you to you for continuing to give hope and restore life through many stories just like these).