Giving Tuesday Events - December 3rd!

Following Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become consumer holidays emphasizing buying for ourselves and our families. Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving which was initiated in 2012 to help us focus on our gratitude and to give us the opportunity to give to those in need.

The Rescue Mission is celebrating Giving Tuesday this year to bring our community together in a spirit of giving. It’s not a matter of how much you give, but if we all participate, we can make a huge difference that will go a long way to improve people’s lives.

On the morning of December 3rd, we will be hosting a prayer breakfast beginning at 8:00 am at the First Baptist Church which is located at 500 Buena Vista Drive, Merced, CA 95340. The cost of our breakfast is $25.  Annette Macias, CEO of Love Inc., will open our prayer breakfast in song.  Our guest speaker will be Mr. John Abbate, co-founder and president of Possibility Productions, speaking on his latest book, Invest Yourself. It is the story of one man’s quest to live his faith boldly and authentically in the workplace. Mr. Abbate has been a real estate investor and owner of multiple McDonald’s franchises for over twenty-five years. He has had his share of difficult experiences, and yet, he feels we are all called to lives of abundance expressed in self-giving. John will be an inspiration to all who attend.

At our prayer breakfast the Mission’s Building Hope Campaign will be presented.  Proceeds from this event will be used to build a home on the campus for homeless pregnant women and their babies. Sister Davida Schaefer, who is an integral part of this effort, will be introduced as our new volunteer for the development of the homeless pregnant women and children project.

On Giving Tuesday evening we will also be having a Birthday Party for Jesus at First Baptist Church. This will begin the advent season of hope with entertainment including song, dance, and many other surprises, together with food and cake for Jesus. The cost of the evening will be $10. Limited seating is available. Please contact Sister Davida at 209-349-2912 to purchase or reserve tickets or tables of 8.
 

Giving Tuesday Events - December 3, 2019
Location: First Baptist Church
8am Breakfast $25
5:30pm Birthday Party for Jesus $10
Tickets: Sister Davida, 209-349-2912

Privileged to Teach

I thank God and am humbled for the privilege to study God’s Word with the Mission Disciples, men and women. I have only been teaching at the Mission for six months, and what a blessing it has been to my life and I trust to theirs as we grow in studying the Bible. Certainly, this opportunity to teach has been the most meaningful thing in my life this year. To be able to sit and discuss God’s Word together and how it applies is so important to our everyday living. I am so thankful to the Mission for this opportunity to love and learn about each other as brothers and sisters in Christ!

Paul Cauwels,
MCRM Board Vice Chairman

A Visit from Congressman Jim Costa

On Tuesday, September 3rd, Congressman Jim Costa visited the Dos Palos Living Well Café. It is one of seven Senior Nutrition Programs that are run by the Mission, which contracts with Merced County. Congressman Costa spent an hour with the seniors and answered many of their questions.

Building Hope Campaign Update

The Building Hope Campaign will raise funds for our faith-based Hope for Men & Hope for Women programs. These funds will help build facilities to house 32 men and 20 women in our programs, along with a chapel and classrooms. Since its launch in June, this campaign has seen an outpouring of generosity from the community. We will continue to provide updates on the status of our Building Hope Campaign. Thank you for supporting God's work through the Mission.

So far in 2019, the Merced County Rescue Mission has helped 103 men and women find independent housing in the community upon completing our programs. 103!!! The waiting list is growing for our Hope for Men and Hope for Women programs, as our current capacity for each is 10 and participants remain in the program for three months to a year. Mission programs are currently operated in 2 homes owned by the Mission, 10 rented homes, and one rented office throughout Merced.

A new campus will allow us to expand our capacity for Hope for Men from 10 to 32 and our capacity for Hope for Women from 10 to 20 to better meet the needs in our community. For our other buildings on the new campus we are pursuing other avenues for funding.

You can make a difference! Donate today to the Building Hope Campaign, you can make a one-time donation or set up monthly, quarterly, or annual donations to the campaign. Simply click here, choose an amount, then choose Building Hope Campaign. Changing lives through life transformation is the primary focus of the Mission. Thank you for your support

Building Hope Campaign - Launched!

By Dr. Bruce Metcalf, Exec. Director

The Building Hope Campaign is off to an exciting start!  YOU are making it happen; your pledges are coming in daily.

We especially want to thank Cornerstone Community in Chowchilla that sent the Rescue Mission a check for $100,000 towards the campaign. What a great boost to move us towards our goal of 3 million.

Every one of your contributions is like a building block that is forming the foundation for the buildings. Your prayers are the spiritual foundation upon which the lives of men and women will be transformed as they become new creations in Christ.

As we move deeper into this Building Hope Campaign, we are becoming more aware of the grants and funding opportunities that are willing to partner with us. These funds, together with your donations, will transform five acres of weeds into a garden where the lives of men and women will blossom into the people that God has created them to be.

May God richly bless you for your partnership in this incredible venture where Jesus is saving people and lives are being changed for His glory!

Merced Bridge Housing & Respite Care Expansion

A generous donation from Dignity Health coupled with some matching funds from Merced County will make it possible to double our capacity in respite care and add a ten-bed bridging house for longer term transitional housing. These donations are aimed at providing needed expansion and necessary services while we work towards the development of a new campus.

For the past four years we have been operating respite care with only 10 beds.  We receive multiple referrals from Dignity Health every day and are constantly full and not able to meet all the need.  A second respite care house will significantly address this need to provide space for the homeless individuals being discharged from the hospital.  When homeless patients leave the hospital and go to the streets, they are likely to return very quickly to the hospital.  Respite care provides them with a short-term place to heal as we work to find them permanent housing.  During this past year with only 10 beds we were able to provide a place for 200 unique individuals to recuperate from their hospitalization.

Our partnership with Dignity Health and Merced County has been a real blessing.  Their donations and funding have allowed us to address the needs in our community as we care for people.

Los Banos Bridge Housing

The Merced County Rescue Mission was awarded a Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) grant through the Merced City/County Continuum of Care to start operating a bridge housing program in the City of Los Banos.

With the latest homeless count of 49 people in Los Banos, this will immediately take 10 homeless people off the street and help them start receiving services toward permanent supportive housing.  The house will be a low barrier facility which will offer people the opportunity to come in without a large list of restrictions and requirements.  The goal is to help people where they are, and to help them move forward in their lives.

It is a parallel concept to Jesus taking us as we are and helping us turn our lives around for the better.  This effort will be the first extension into Los Banos to provide bridge housing for individuals who find themselves homeless.

For some years, the Mission has been working with the county to provide meals for seniors in Los Banos.  It is now our privilege to further meet the needs of people in this community.