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- How did the Providence Rescue Mission start? We first opened our doors to the public in 1999 and have remained in continuous operation since then. We have been blessed by many volunteers who initially completely renovated the building interior and continue to serve today.
Our house doors are open to all and many men, women and children in great need have come to 627 Cranston Street to be fed, clothed and encouraged.
Truly, unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Since we know that our lives are a like a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes, we work so as to be an encouragement to those around us.
- What is our Mission? We are a ministry that is committed to partnering with local churches, businesses and individuals to reach the homeless and the needy of Rhode lsland's urban centers with the Gospel of Jesus Christ while providing physical, emotional, educational, and rehabilitative services at no charge to the communities we serve.
- What are we? The Providence Rescue Mission is a 501-c-3 non-profit non-denominational ministry that is located in the heart of the cities' neediest area.
- What do we do?
What We Do Weekly:
- Conduct Chapel services seven nights a week.
- Serve dinner to the community seven nights a week. (Currently
we serve about 6500 hot meals a month.)
- Conduct Bible studies.
- Resident Discipleship Program and Career Counseling Center
- Overnight Guest shelter (men and women)
- Provide Biblical counseling for individuals.
- Provide clothing from our clothing room.
- Provide emergency food staples to families.
- Provide food boxes near the end of the month to needy families
- Partner with Rhode Island churches in serving the poor.
What We Do Annually:
- Easter Sunday Chapel and Dinner
- Thanksgiving Chapel and Food Basket Registration
- Two Thanksgiving Dinners - one the Saturday before
Thanksgiving and on Thanksgiving Day
- Christmas Chapel and Toy Ministry Registration
- Christmas Day Dinner
- Annual Banquet
- Disciple Graduation Program
- Who is our customer? We serve those in need who come to our door. This includes men and women who need temporary overnight shelter, families and singles (men, women and children) who need food and clothing. We also refer many to other specialized services which we might not offer directly.
- What are our needs? Food items such as coffee, sugar, breakfast cereal, and dry milk. We're looking for someone to underwrite the cost of upgrading our phone system to include voice mail; commercial washer;
Fitted sheets and pillow cases for our overnight guests (we wash & bleach the sheets every day and as a result they do not last very long); A scale so we are able to weigh our in-kind donations.
- What kinds of donations do you accept? Short answer: Just about everything! Our overnight guests are in constant need of Individual sized bars of soap and tooth paste as well as tooth brushes, socks, underwear, undershirts and plastic type razor blades.
Specialized items such as baby carriages, disposable diapers, bicycles, etc., help women and children. Contact Asst. Director Steve Gomes in advance if you're not sure about any item. For example: we received a new replacement piano for the Chapel within one week of praying for it! Praise God.
- Why should I never give the homeless money? "How to really help" by Steve Burger, Executive Director of the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions:
"If you give a dollar to a panhandler, often you are really funding the local tavern or drug dealer," says Rev. Burger. "Most Americans do not know how to give effectively or wisely. I wish that people would stop giving spare change to the homeless because it can promote irresponsible and self-destructive behaviors. What the homeless really need is permanent change and long-term help; not spare change." Rev. Burger offers "sure fire" ways your contribution will make a real difference in the lives of homeless, women, and children in community. They are:
Don't give money hand-outs. Instead purchase food items yourself, refer the person to an agency that can provide food, shelter, and other assistance, or give coupons to restaurants or grocery stores that can be turned in for food. Want proof that change given directly to the homeless does not go to meet their deepest needs. Listen to Verdan, a formerly homeless man from Los Angeles: "People would drive up and give me a ten-dollar bill. When it should have been a blessing, it really was not a blessing because it was used to buy drugs. People were trying to help. They were being good spirited. They were being good hearted in trying to help somebody less fortunate. But I used their gift to buy drugs.
Donate food to a local agency. Food is usually in short supply at rescue missions, shelters, and other social service agencies. They especially need items such as juices, meats, soups, and stews.
Donate clothes such as jackets, sweatshirts, new underwear, socks, shoes, knit hats and gloves which are needed for men and women. Because the fastest growing groups of homeless people is children and women with children, these is a need for disposable diapers, baby food and formula, clothing, and blankets.
Homeless children dream of new toys such as dolls, trucks, and games. These donations may be the only gifts they receive for a birthday or Christmas.
Soap, shampoo, toothpaste, hairbrushes, combs, and shaving lotions are always welcome*. "The holiday season sparks an urge in many Americans to help the homeless, " Says Rev. Burger. "By supporting your local rescue missions you become part of the solution to homelessness, not part of the problem. That's because rescue missions are effectively transforming homeless men and women into productive citizens and successful in promoting personal responsibility."
The Association of Gospel Rescue Missions is an association of 250 rescue missions from around the country. Last year, rescue missions provided more than 30 million meals, 10 million nights of lodging, and 13 million pieces of clothing to homeless men, women, and children. Rescue missions are faith-based, private organizations that provide job training, education, and drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs.
* Note that in donating items to the Providence Rescue Mission such as tooth paste, soap, mouth wash and shaving lotions please donate small sized products. We give these items out to our overnight (transient) guests on a daily basis for their personal needs.
- Future goals Open a new shelter for women and children.
- Any difference between a "Shelter" and a Gospel Rescue Mission?A "shelter" may provide any combination of temporary shelter, food, and clothing to men, women and children who come in their door.
A "Gospel Rescue Mission" may provide any combination of temporary shelter, food, and clothing to men, women and children who come in their door as well as many other services such as GED training. The principal difference is that a Gospel Rescue Mission ministers in the compassion and great love of Jesus Christ. The reason? "Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." John 6:35
and "Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." John 4:13-14
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Providence Rescue Mission is happy to announce that you can now make a donation to the Mission online using your credit card through PayPal. |
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