Reaching Women, Together: What This Season Means for PRM

When I opened the latest issue of Citygate Network's magazine, Instigate, and saw the cover feature, "Women Reaching Women," by Dr. Yvonne Brake, I found myself nodding along on nearly every page. Dr. Brake, Director of Development and Outreach at Haven of Rest Ministries, spent months studying women leaders across gospel rescue missions. Women who carry the weight of budgets, boards, donors, staff, and, most importantly, the hopes of women and families walking through our doors. Reading her research felt so familiar. 

Dr. Brake's study didn't set out to give a tidy formula. Instead, she found that women leading in this space, regardless of whether their ministry followed a traditional, clinical, or hybrid model of care, kept returning to the same five practices: 1) building systems that integrate faith into daily work, 2) truly understanding the journey that leads someone to homelessness, 3) measuring outcomes that matter for both the spirit and the practical realities of life, 4) modeling faith with consistency, and 5) holding together the many, often competing, demands of donors, staff, board, and clients without losing sight of any of them.  

A Living Example of Faithful Leadership

As I read, I thought of Janet Fraser, our Director of Women and Children's Ministry. Janet and her team live out Dr. Brake's five practices every single day. She knows our participant’s names and their stories, she holds our women's program at Shepherd’s Door to a high standard of both spiritual and practical outcomes, and she models a steadiness that our staff and participants alike lean on. She has been doing the quiet, faithful work of shepherding women toward transformation for several years, and honestly, some of the best parts of this role have been sitting across the table from her, trading notes, praying together, and watching her advocate fiercely for the women in our care. From my vantage point, she is someone who embodies "model faith integrity" and "engage multi-directionally" in the same breath.

Here at PRM, we've long known that transformation happens through relationships with God and others, not just services rendered. Reading Dr. Brake's research reaffirmed something I try to hold onto in this interim season: leadership isn't about having all the answers from day one. It's about stewarding what's been built by those before us, staying close to the people we serve, and trusting that consistency and faith integrity matter more than perfection. 

Dr. Brake's article also reminded me that we're part of something bigger. A whole network of faithful servants leading rescue missions across the country, each navigating similar tensions and finding similar grace in the process. Despite the difficult days, the through-line in every story was this: lives are transformed, and it happens because someone had faith that transformation was possible.

That's the work. That's why we keep showing up. 

With Gratitude, 

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