Worth More - June Changing Lives Newsletter

DenverRescueMission.org

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June 2017

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INDEED, THE VERY HAIRS OF YOUR HEAD ARE ALL NUMBERED. DON’T BE AFRAID; YOU ARE WORTH MORE THAN MANY SPARROWS. - Luke 12:7

(NIV)

LAST YEAR, 32% OF PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS WERE FAMILIES.* * Source: 2016 Point-In-Time Report – link: http://mdhi.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/2016-PIT-07.07.16-APT-JB.pdf

“I never thought that it was possible to be turned away from a shelter when you’re homeless with kids.

I slept in an alley with my kids one night.

I stayed awake. I even developed insomnia for four months because I was so scared someone could hurt my kids.”

- Terra

e or M h t or W “My relationship with my kids is so much better than it used to be,” Terra says. “We pray together every night, and I pray with them before they go off to school every day. They know I’m okay now and that we’re stable.”

Terra glanced with a smile at her two sons, Jessie and Joshua, as they played on the swings at The Crossing, the Mission’s largest facility which hosts the New Life Program and STAR Transitional Program. “They’re such good kids,” she says with a sigh. “But they’ve lost so much.”

she explains, “but I messed them up because I would start relationships with bad people. I was a big people-pleaser, and I was used by people a lot. It always came down to me losing everything and being back to square one.”

Terra has completed one year in the STAR program.

She has less than year to go before she’ll graduate, but for her, so much has changed already.

Growing up, Terra says she suffered various abuses. “I didn’t understand that people shouldn’t have been treating me the way they did,” she says. “Eventually, I turned away from God because I didn’t think I was worth his time.”

She says that life wasn’t always this good, and admits that some of that was her fault. “I had a lot of opportunities,”

Terra endured serious psychological difficulties as a teenager and young adult. “I didn’t have the support I needed, and it

all got brushed under the rug,” she continues. “I didn’t finish school. I started doing drugs, and I had a child who I gave up for adoption. Thankfully, he’s with a really good family now.”

Terra had three additional sons and continued to suffer from depression and the psychological effects of abuse in her relationships. Moving away from Denver to get away from her children’s father, she returned a few years later, only to end up homeless after having to remove her boys from an unsafe daycare center. “It was like going through everything I’d dealt with all over again,” she says. “I wanted to protect them. I couldn’t work because I didn't trust anyone to watch them, so I wasn’t in a position to get a place to live.”

With no one to turn to for help, Terra struggled to find a safe place for her and the boys to live. She remembers sitting in an alley one night, clinging to her children, afraid to fall asleep. “I had to stay in a park once too,” she says. “Being homeless in the summer is difficult …. One shelter said they were full and the weather wasn’t bad enough. I never thought it was possible to be turned away from a shelter when you’re homeless with kids. Even in the winter, there’s only so much capacity, for families especially. It was bad.”

That’s when Terra found out about the Mission’s STAR Transitional Program. It provides a transitional living environment for families and individuals who are homeless to be able to save money and build toward self-sufficiency.

When she joined the program, the oldest of her three boys moved to Florida to live with his grandmother. “My family is taking care of him until I get back on my feet,” Terra says.

But only four short months after Terra started the STAR program, she relapsed back into her drug habits and was dismissed.

“I was still hanging around the wrong people,” she explains, “and I kept making bad choices. But when I realized what it was doing to my kids, I knew I needed to change. I didn’t want to lose them.” Soon she was back at The Crossing, asking for a second chance.

This time, Terra says she broke off the negative relationships which influenced her before. She started taking a relapse prevention class and relentlessly pursued the STAR program goals of stability and accountability. “The support system here is amazing,” she says. “The biggest thing I needed was accountability for the choices I was making, and here, you have to be accountable if you want to stay in the program.

Being here has been one of the biggest life-changing things I’ve ever experienced.”

Today, Terra has a job at a distribution center in Aurora where she was recently promoted after starting as a

Terra and her two boys, Joshua and Jessie, are able to stay in The Crossing's one-bedroom unit as they transition out of homelessness.

temporary employee just a few months before. She’s talking to her family again for the first time in five years, and her finances are stable and growing. But for Terra, that’s all icing on the cake. “My relationship with my kids is so much better than it used to be,” she says. “We pray together every night, and I pray with them before they go off to school every day.

They know I’m okay now and that we’re stable. They’re not afraid of me being in bad relationships anymore. I quit that cycle because I know what I’m worth now. All the classes have been a huge help to me. I’ve been clean and sober for a year, and I’m really excited about that.”

As Terra finishes out her last few months in the STAR program, she’s grateful for all the opportunities and the second chance she's been given. Without the help of the Mission and donors like you, she might still be sitting in an alley, afraid to fall asleep, scared of losing her children, and unsure how to end the cycle of depression and hopelessness. But thanks to your support, Terra and many other families and individuals are given a second chance, reminded that they are loved and mentored on a path toward stability.

Thank you for helping us give families like Terra’s hope every day at Denver Rescue Mission through our transitional programs.

Look for more encouraging stories, news and updates on our Facebook page: Facebook.com/DenverRescue.

Are you ready to change someone’s life?

Use the enclosed envelope to mail your donation or give online at DenverRescueMission.org/Donate!

Letter from the CEO

Hit a Home Run Against Hunger Dear Friends, Experiencing homelessness is incredibly hard. For most of us, it is something we could not even begin to imagine. But being homeless with a family may be the most difficult. We have a number of single parents who stay with us at The Crossing—people like Terra, featured in this month’s Changing Lives.

Despite the misfortunes or missteps they might have endured or made, they are courageous people, fighting for their families, and really fighting to be able to love and encourage their children to be something more than they are.

Join the Colorado Rockies, King Soopers and Denver Rescue Mission for the “Hit a Home Run Against Hunger” campaign. Please bring nonperishable or canned food items to the Colorado Rockies game on Wednesday, June 21 to help feed the poor and hungry in our community!

And when you shop at King Soopers from June 18 through July 15, be sure to show your support by making a monetary donation as you check out! Thank you for helping the Mission “Hit a Home Run Against Hunger”!

For more information, please contact Lisette at 303.313.2414 or Lisette@DenRescue.org.

My hope is that my children, who are now grown, will have a life better than mine. I hope the time, the effort and the love that my wife and I have poured into them will result in them being better people than we are.

For parents like Terra, staying with us at The Crossing is an opportunity to lift her children up as well. Working alongside of our wonderful staff, she is putting the brakes on generational poverty and attempting to make their lives better than her own. That is nothing short of courageous.

Thank you for helping parents receive courage and hope at Denver Rescue Mission. We could not have continued this work for the last 125 years without people like you! And as we look to the future, we cannot hope to be able to continue changing lives in the name of Christ without heroes like you.

God Bless,

Brad Meuli President/CEO

Update from Easter at the Mission On Good Friday, 800 people joined us at the Lawrence Street Community Center for our annual Easter Banquet.

Each guest was invited to participate in a chapel service and take communion before being invited to have their feet washed by Mission staff and volunteers. A local doctor also examined guests' feet for possible hygiene issues, and each adult guest received a new pair of socks and shoes thanks to our sponsors, Runners Roost - Denver and New Balance.

And last but not least, everyone was able to enjoy a delicious Easter meal in our dining room. Thank you for making this Easter celebration possible through your financial support.

Graduation

Statistics How You Help April

Summer is a fun and busy season.

The warm weather and bright sunshine are ideal for vacations, sporting events and family get-togethers. But did you know that donations to the Mission often decrease in the summer months, and Mission expenses frequently exceed income at this time of the year?

Throughout the summer months, heat is oppressive to those living on the streets, yet simple things like food, shelter and clothing help create hope for the homeless.

And hope changes everything!

Join us this summer and help make it a Summer of Hope for Denver’s most needy. Donate today at DenverRescueMission.org/ SummerOfHope.

We’re celebrating our graduates of the New Life Program and STAR Transitional Program.

Join us in celebrating their great accomplishments!

When: Friday, June 16 9:00 to 10:30 a.m.

Where: The Crossing Amphitheatre 6090 Smith Road Denver, CO 80216

Please RSVP by June 12, to Josh at JLittleJohn@DenRescue.org.

YTD (fiscal year)

Meals provided

69,180

686,159

Nights of shelter provided

29,390

290,454

Chapel attendance

29,720

3,150

Clothing distributed (lbs.)

24,673

How many ways can you get involved? In honor of our 125th anniversary, we’ve come up with a list of 125 ideas of how you can help change lives at the Mission and all throughout Denver! Whether it’s serving a meal, hosting a drive, sharing resources about homelessness or mentoring someone in need, we invite you to join us in spreading the love with these “125 Ways to Give Back”.

Visit DenverRescueMission.org/GiveBack125 to get started!

Denver Rescue Mission Outreaches Lawrence Street Community Center Meals, restrooms, showers, washing machines and dryers, clean drinking water, and access to Mission staff for encouragement and guidance Lawrence Street Shelter Overnight shelter for men, chapel and health clinic Champa House Residential facility offering long-term help toward self-sufficiency to single mothers with dependent children Harvest Farm Rural rehabilitation program near Fort Collins

Fort Collins Rescue Mission Meals, shelter and transitional programs The Crossing Transitional program for families and rehabilitation program for men

323,641

Clinic services provided

333

3,932

Changing Lives is the monthly news publication of Denver Rescue Mission.

Director of Communications: Christine Gallamore Designer: Rachel Titus Writer: Robert Bogan

Ministry Outreach Center Central warehouse facility including food, clothing and furniture distribution Administration & Education Entry point for Mission programs and home to the Mission’s administrative and development staff Family Services Transitional program, assistance for permanent housing, and mentoring

P.O. Box 5164 • Denver, CO 80217 • 303.297.1815