During our Thanksgiving Banquet, the wonderful folks with the Bi-national Health Week Committee will be providing FREE FLU SHOTS for ages 4 and up. And we are very thankful to Life Line for providing FREE CLOTHES at the Bus Boutique again this year.
Thanksgiving Banquet
Nov. 22, 2018 10am-12pm
At the American Legion Hall
939 W Main St., Merced
To volunteer, call 209.947.1394
To donate, call 209.480.3899
UPDATE: Thanks to all who joined in on our campaign that ended on Sept. 15th. 18 t-shirts were sold and you helped raise $252 towards furnishing a Sober/Transitional Living Home for men. On behalf of MCRM, we are grateful for your support. Thank you and God bless!
With your help we've recently rented an additional Sober/Transitional Living Home for men in Merced. Funds from this campaign will help us furnish the home and get more men in our program as soon as possible. Hope truly does grow in Merced County. Thank you all for sowing seeds of HOPE. CLICK HERE to view and purchase a shirt!
CAMPAIGN ENDS SEPT. 15th, 2018!
On Tuesday, August 21st, we witnessed the bravery of two of our recovery participants as they presented their “giants”. Based on the Biblical confrontation between the boy, David, and the Philistine giant, Goliath, our participants are required to identify major issues in their lives that have become major stumbling blocks or “giants” for them, such as self-worth, jealousy, and anger. The participants must find 20 scriptures that represent their journeys and complete action plans, including to whom they can go to in a time of need when they are struggling. The participants' presentations of their “giants” to their peers and the Mission staff are opportunities for affirmation, growth, and the releasing of strongholds in their lives. The “giants” become a resource for our participants so that, as they face other issues in their lives, they will have a model for dealing with those issues.
How do you envision solving the homeless crisis? Providing a meal and overnight shelter simply enables people to stay homeless. Criminalizing the behavior of people who are homeless also does not address the root issues. How about a solution that is FAR MORE COST EFFECTIVE and reduces the cost to tax payers by over 50%? We need to work toward supplying the basic human need, which is a permanent place to live. The attached video gives good reason for this position. Please take the time to watch it, and while it’s from a few years ago, this program which was tested over 20 years has proven to be effective and continues to spread throughout the whole United States. It’s a model which has been adopted by H.U.D. and the video will help you understand why we are doing what we’re doing. Traditional treatment has been shown to be successful approximately 25% of the time while the Housing First model has been shown to be about 85% successful.
At the Rescue Mission we firmly believe in the Housing First Model. In California and Merced County housing is limited and there are not enough places to house people. Research shows if California doubles the amount of affordable housing being built each year it will take 10 years until there is enough housing available to meet the need. Therefore, while we firmly believe in the Housing First Model, we are working very hard to provide transitional housing. Through our transitional group home programs, we can move people from the hospital, incarceration, and the street into transitional housing as we work to help them find permanent housing. Housing First is the ultimate goal, transitional housing is simply a stop-gap measure until enough housing is available.
On July 8, 2018 at Gateway Community Church it was a privilege to witness some of our program participants, and their family members get baptized. It is truly a blessing to be part of these men, and women's journey, and witness God working not only in our program participants lives but in their family's as well. God bless.
David Carr
Care Services Manager
