Introducing the new Housing Navigator for the Navigation Center

We would like to introduce Erin Thomas as the new Housing Navigator for the Navigation Center.

Erin writes, “I grew up in Coarsegold, California.  I went to school there and started my family there. I held positions working for a collection agency as a bookkeeper, an office manager for an optometrist, and an assistant office manager to a busy veterinarian hospital. Although I enjoyed all those jobs, the job as Housing Navigator is the one I am most excited about. It is an opportunity to really make a positive difference in people’s lives.

At a young age, I began to struggle with a drug addiction, and it continued as I became an adult. I was able to maintain my family, home, and work-life, but in 2017 I lost my husband, and I went on a downhill spiral. The loss and grief were too much, and I relapsed after several years of staying clean. It took no time at all for me to lose everything I had worked so hard for, including my family.

My life was horrible, but like so many people with a substance abuse problem, I had to hit my rock bottom. I eventually found my way to a Rehabilitation Center. Upon my release, I was able to get into one of the Rescue Mission’s sober living homes for women, and my life has become manageable again.

Thanks to God and the Rescue Mission, my life has also been full of blessings. I am clean and sober; I have my family back; I have my own home again. I have this awesome opportunity to give back to the community through my new position as the Housing Navigator.

I look forward to working with community members and agencies to end the homeless epidemic in our area. I am excited about making a difference.  I am excited about helping others find their forever homes.”

With sincere gratitude,

Erin Thomas

Introducing the Director of the Navigation Center

We would like to introduce Jennifer Carr as the new Director of the Navigation Center.

Jennifer writes, “As a child, I grew up in a drug environment together with my brother and sister. As I grew older, I became a product of this environment and I struggled with drug abuse and homelessness. During that time, I was in and out of many drug programs. At one point I was able to remain clean for about seven years and worked my way up from a crew member at McDonald’s to a Store Manager. I completed the following training in management skills: Basic Shift Management (BSM), Advanced Shift Management (ASM), and Effective Leadership Practices (EMP). McDonald’s also sent me to Chicago to attend Hamburger University. My life at this point was quite successful, but I felt like something was missing. My life fell apart and I lost my relationship with my husband, I lost my kids, my home, my job, and my freedom.

I was sitting in jail alone, broken, and pregnant, looking at prison and having to give up my baby. I had truly hit an all-time low. Little did I know that God was starting a new journey in my life. I ended up getting out of jail pending my next court appearance, and I went into the women’s program at the Rescue Mission.

It was not until I came to the Merced County Rescue Mission that I realized what I was missing in my life. I had no relationship with God. At the Mission, I began to build a real relationship with God. I was able to raise my baby, rebuild the relationship with all my children, and my marriage was restored – all through the power of Jesus Christ. I am now remarried to my husband, a wonderful man, and I have four amazing children.

I am grateful for the opportunity to serve others through the Navigation Center.”

- Jennifer Carr

New Campus Update

A groundbreaking ceremony for Phase 1 of the Village of Hope campus was held on August 11th.  Through his words, Mark Mayo, board chairperson, painted a beautiful picture of the vision we share of a place where people’s lives will be transformed through the power of Jesus Christ.  People without homes who are discharged from the hospital will find an inviting environment where they can recover and make plans for a place of their own.  Families with young children who have been displaced will find refuge and a safe place from which they can make plans for their future. Veterans who are homeless will also have a place that will give them stability as they work towards independence.  The Village of Hope will be a wonderful community where love, peace, and hope will be evident.  The light of Christ will shine and illuminate the lives of people who come to this campus.  Phase 1 is expected to be complete by November of 2021.

Phase 2 of the Village of Hope campus will provide space for the Rescue Mission’s faith-based ministry.  In Phase 2 our Hope for Men and Women’s programs will have space to expand and meet the

needs of men and women who are seeking life-change.  There will also be a facility for pregnant women who are homeless, as well as a chapel, classrooms, and office space.  Phase 2 of the Village of Hope campus is dependent upon raising funds from generous donors like you.  The Mission is grateful for the many ways that you provide support, especially through prayer.  In the coming 2 years, the Mission will need to raise 6 to 7 million dollars to fund the next phase of the Village of Hope.

Click here to learn more about our programs.

Donate to the Mission’s Building Hope Campaign

HOPE IMPACT with Matthew Serratto

The Rescue Mission is an incredibly important Merced institution. It is on the front lines of the often lonely struggle against some of our state’s most difficult problems, especially homelessness and drug addiction. When people in our community want someone to stand up and do something about these issues, most frequently it is the Rescue Mission that does it. In response to the needs of our community, the Rescue Mission is responding, using creative ways to rapidly expand their capacity. We are only as good as our people, and the Rescue Mission helps make better Mercedians every day.

As a District Attorney, I have worked closely with the Rescue Mission for many years. As DAs, we don’t get a lot of happy news, but there is nothing more gratifying than taking a chance on someone, giving them a chance at rehabilitation, and seeing them transform themselves and their lives. I have seen the Rescue Mission do this many, many times – it is a beautiful sight to behold, seeing a drug addict who cares only of themselves and does damage to society grow into a caring adult who wants to give back, be productive, and make the world a better place. So many of us who fail in life have it in us to be wonderful people but are simply products of poor environments. The Rescue Mission provides that good environment that allows the better angels of our nature to emerge.

I support the Rescue Mission because it supports Merced. All too often our options are limited when it comes to finding drug treatment programs to help address the root causes of someone’s criminal behavior, but it’s the Rescue Mission that steps up and provides the primary path to help people get clean. It’s hard to imagine where we would be without them. They lead the way when it comes to addressing some of our toughest issues.

HOPE IMPACT with Michael Belluomini

The Rescue Mission is a leader and effective program to provide the basic needs of the large portion of Merced’s homeless. It strikes a balance between helping others and teaching them to help themselves. The Rescue Mission is a major contributor to relieving homelessness.

Housing the homeless is an issue of values. There are households where both parents work hard at minimum wage jobs to support their children, pay rent, utilities, car expenses who feel it unfair that homeless persons who do not work and/or abuse substances are provided decent dwellings at no cost. There are those who see a homeless person sleeping on a street in the cold or extreme heat in filthy clothes, malnourished, sick, and/or mentally ill who feel it is wrong that in one of the richest countries with a strong Christian heritage, that such neglect of our fellow human beings continues. I understand both viewpoints.

The Rescue Mission programs recognize that homeless people need things many of us take for granted. They need shelter from the weather, a shelter safe from attack/robbery, a place to securely store their possessions, a home for their pets, the stability of an address to receive mail, water with facilities to maintain personal hygiene, and training/counseling to help transition to independent living which some will achieve. The Rescue Mission is a leader and major provider of programs that fulfill these needs in a way that meets the needs of people in a Christian way without rousing the resentment of those who work hard to care for their families. Housing the homeless in leased homes, the future navigation center, the future respite care for the ill, and the future Village of Hope apartments for Veterans and families with young children are all such programs that serve our fellow human beings in time of need.

I have advocated for facilities for the homeless through the city championing the attempt to convert the California Motel into 40 studio apartments denied by the council, and by supporting the city’s efforts to develop very low-cost housing at K and 13th St., plus the large apartment project with 30 very low-cost units at B St. and Childs Ave., which has taken over four years but is underway now. The Rescue Mission is a highly valuable advocate for the homeless without which government programs would be much less effective.

Groundbreaking - Village of Hope campus

On July 13, 2020, the Merced County Rescue Mission Board of Directors awarded a contract to Skip George, owner of Commercial Construction Company of Merced, to build Phase One of the Village of Hope campus. Mr. George expects to break ground in August on the Hope Medical Respite Care building which will be the first of four buildings in Phase One.

Phase One of this project will include a 32 bed “Hope Medical Respite Care” building where Mercy Medical Center Merced can discharge people who are homeless for a period of recuperation. The Respite Care building has been funded through a generous 2.5-million-dollar grant from Central California Alliance for Health and a generous 837-thousand-dollar grant from Dignity Health.

The Respite Care program has been operated by the Mission in houses during the past six years and has made a significant positive difference in the lives of men and women whose health has been compromised from exposure to the elements while living on the street. Over 50% of the people who utilize the respite care program do not return to the street but are able to be placed in housing.

Also included in Phase One will be a ten-unit apartment building for Veterans who are homeless, and a ten-unit apartment building for families with young children who are homeless. The apartment buildings will provide transitional living and will be funded through New Market Tax Credits, forgivable Federal Bank Loans, and other grants yet to be identified. Phase One will also include a maintenance building and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2021.

Phase Two of the “Village of Hope” campus will include a 32-bed men’s facility for the Mission’s faith-based, “Hope for Men” program and a 20-bed women’s facility for the “Hope for Women” program. In addition, Phase Two will also include a 20-bed facility for pregnant women who are homeless and a building that will house classrooms, a chapel, and offices. The Phase Two portion of the “Village of Hope” campus will be funded through gifts from individuals, churches, and organizations that support the faith-based work of the Mission.

Thank you for your ongoing prayers and support of the Mission!

If you would like to donate towards the Phase Two portion of our campus, you can do that here.

If you would like to set up monthly donations towards the Phase Two portion of our campus, you can do that here. 

Double the impact of your donation to the Mission through Travis Credit Union

We are thrilled to share an opportunity to double your impact thanks to the Travis Credit Union! All funds raised for Merced Rescue Mission, up to $20,000 will be matched by the Travis Credit Union. Be sure to choose the Merced County Rescue Mission from the dropdown when donating.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE & DOUBLE YOUR IMPACT

LEARN MORE ABOUT TRAVIS CREDIT UNION’S EFFORT TO HELP OUR COMMUNITY

Thank you for your prayers and support during this time.