It’s scorching outside, but winter came early for Portland Rescue Mission this year.
With hundreds of people recently displaced by the closing of the Peace Shelter and the clearing out of the Springwater Corridor, we greatly need your help!
We’re issuing an S.O.S. call to provide shelter and safety for the increased numbers of people coming to us for help. In fact, we opened our winter shelter program three months early just to meet the need. Floor mats in our chapel area provide safety for 94 additional people each night.
“We are so appreciative of the volunteers, staff and donors of Portland Rescue Mission for stepping up to provide these special emergency services as we work on additional shelter solutions,” said Marc Jolin, Director of Portland-Multnomah County Joint Office of Homeless Services. “The magnitude of our homelessness challenge requires everyone coordinating and working as partners.”
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Your gift of $9.00 provides safe shelter, a hot shower, clean clothes and a hearty meal. You give them an opportunity to take a step forward through our short- or long-term programs that assist with housing, employment, life skills, addiction recovery, reconnection with God and a fully restored life.
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“We look forward to welcoming these guests to ease their pain and isolation of homelessness, and help them find a path toward a better life. It’s what we do,” said Eric Bauer, Executive Director for the Mission. “With the Portland area’s longstanding lack of shelter space, Portland Rescue Mission has actively worked to expand our capacity at the Burnside Shelter, more than doubling our warm-weather capacity, and sheltering up to 220 people a night during the cold months. With recent events, this change causes us to operate in winter-like emergency conditions.”
Once the guests we serve are inside the doors at the Burnside Shelter, many will choose to start transforming their life for good. Whether through our 3-to-6 month Connect program that assists with employment and housing, or our New Life Ministry at The Harbor (for men) and Shepherd’s Door (for women and children) that focuses on addiction recovery, counseling and more—each option provides more than just a temporary fix—it offers up forever hope and real life changing transformation.
By opening our winter shelter three months in advance, our staff and resources are being stretched in unprecedented ways. But with your help, we’ll be able to provide an additional 8,000 nights of safe shelter for people in crisis.
To donate safe shelter and the opportunity for a new life, visit www.PortlandRescueMission.org/SOS.