Charles’s changed life happened because of YOU!

Posted in: November 2019 Newsletter, Stories

November
18

It was a friend just like you who provided the $1.95 meal that reached Charles at the lowest point in his life . . .

When he came through the Mission doors, Charles was hungry, homeless, and desperately sick.

But the gift of that first meal changed everything! How?

Because it let him know that people like you really care and want to help him rebuild what is broken in his life.

Charles was visibly moved to learn that gifts from caring donors provide more than meals. We told him DRMM also offers many services and programs to help people beat addiction and homelessness, complete their education, find work, and more . . .

Charles’s changed life happened here at DRMM—and all because a caring friend like you made the gift of a $1.95 life-changing meal!

I’m thrilled to share that this Christmas will be very different for Charles. That’s because he’s overcome addiction. He’s healthier than he has been for decades, and he’s receiving the help he needs to regain his independence.

Charles says, “Hardships are everywhere. You have to have faith. I wear a cross and I read the Bible. Something good is coming my way . . .”

Charles is giving thanks for YOU this Christmas. He says, “I appreciate all the help.”

But many more hungry and hurting people are in need of help and hope. Each of these souls is praying for the same life-change Charles was given!

Please make a gift now to help another hungry and hurting neighbor get a holiday meal that could change everything for them this Christmas!

Give Christmas Meals

Charles thanks you! “Your gifts are truly helping a lot of people . . .”

Posted in: November 2019 Newsletter, Stories

November
18

In a critical time of need, people like Charles come to DRMM to find more than just a meal. They come to find guidance, hope, and a way to avoid, or escape the pain of having no place to call home.

It’s your gifts that are helping Charles overcome homelessness . . .

“I’ve been homeless. I’ve stayed with people. I’ve slept in my van. It’s embarrassing,” Charles says. The relief on his face was as big as his smile when we welcomed him to a meal and safe shelter here at DRMM. But that was just the beginning . . .

Charles was shocked to learn he could also receive job training and placement, and other tangible help to find work and get back on his feet. Charles says. “They help with food, clothes, a hot shower. They’ve definitely helped me.”

With winter bearing down on Detroit, Charles is especially grateful that he is not sleeping outdoors. “This place is a lifesaver. If not for the Mission, I would be on the streets, cold. I don’t think I would make it.”

But Charles’ favorite part about DRMM is the God-centered care he’s receiving that is deepening his faith.

“The spiritual side is very important to me,” he says. “They have church services here and I try to attend daily. It’s helping me get closer to God and to learn more about Jesus Christ. It gives me strength and hope. “I wake up thanking God for letting me see another day.”

This Christmas, Charles will be giving thanks to donors, too, for giving him a safe place to eat, sleep, and worship while he finds work and builds a stable life for himself. “I just want to say thank you to all the donors. All the guys here would say thank you to them, too.”

Please make a gift now to help people in their darkest hour with safe shelter, food, job and educational counseling, and so much more. And please keep Charles in your prayers this Christmas as he works to rebuild his life.

GIVE NOW

 

*Photo Changed for Privacy

Making a life-changing difference for Edward

Posted in: Uncategorized

October
21

Edward had just one word to describe the misery he’d endured for two solid years, after losing his job and not finding another one—

“Awful.”

Homelessness came more quickly than he could ever have imagined . . . and with it came sleeping in cars and vacant buildings. Scrounging for food. Suffering through bitter cold days and nights.

On top of all that he felt crippling fear and shame. Every day.

Support from a friend like YOU made sure Edward got a good, hot meal—and the hope for a new beginning he so desperately needed.

This Thanksgiving, I ask you to open your heart and give that same hope to other hungry, hurting people who will come through the Mission doors seeking a fresh start—one that begins with a good, hot meal.

Every $1.95 you give now will provide a delicious holiday meal with extra servings of life-changing help and lifesaving hope! Edward would be the first to tell you that it’s true—the simple kindness of a meal provided by a friend like you changed everything for him . . .

Because he learned that day that people like you really care.

This Thanksgiving, Edward will give thanks for big hearts like yours. He says, “If not for DRMM, I don’t know where I’d be,” Edward says. “This is the best organization. The whole program really works.”

But our job isn’t over yet, because more people like Edward are coming through the doors every day. In fact, in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, we will serve over 135,000 meals to neighbors in great need!

Will you make a gift now to provide meals to your neighbors who turn to DRMM for urgent help and hope this Thanksgiving?

On behalf of people in your community who are lost and broken, battling homelessness, joblessness, or addiction, I sincerely thank you for making this a Thanksgiving filled with help, hope, and new beginnings.

Provide Thanksgiving Meals

The Less Fortunate Love Surprises Too

Posted in: From Dr. Chad Audi

October
21

Pleasant surprises. Mind-bowing gifts and gestures. Try them with your spouse, children, friends, employees, parents, clients and see. Who doesn’t love them?

The fact is, I love surprising people because I love making people, especially the less fortunate among us, happy. That’s why pleasant surprises have become a staple at the annual graduation ceremony we host at our big banquet facility in Detroit.

The one we had on Thursday October 10, 2019 was indeed very special because it was also our 110th anniversary ceremony, hence the #1010for110 hashtag on our social media platforms.

Though Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, DRMM, clocked 110 eight months earlier on February 14, 2019, we decided to combine the graduation and 110th anniversary celebrations at a date that appeared to suit the schedules of our graduates and special invitees.

That decision paid of. The male and female graduates were overjoyed that we deemed it necessary to celebrate their achievements in a big way. Many invitees and awardees not only showed up early but stayed till the end of the event, which was significant, given their tight schedules.

The guest speeches were as exciting as the testimonies of the graduates, and our recognition of five outstanding youth volunteers.

As if those were not enough, the DRMM Choir raised edifying voices, with guests singing along, dancing and clapping.

Then came the time for surprises, and attendees were sitting on the edges of their seats and shedding tears of joy.

Four former clients received job offers, with Monday October 14 as start date. To further spice things up, we got four special guests to read and present them with their employment letters right there on stage. The audience loved it.

You need to have seen the glowing faces of the graduates who received new TV sets and assorted gift cards. Or the excitement of the guests. It was palpable.

To top it all, we gave two furnished brick homes to two deserving former clients. One almost passed out on stage. But nothing to worry about; we had reputable medical professionals on standby.

And by the time our chief operating officer, Barbara Willis, led the graduate processional, it was obvious the event was one to remember. One by one, the graduates – donning their beautiful clothes – walked majestically to the stage, collected their certificates, and shook hands with the dignitaries. For many of them – who were formerly homeless, stuck on alcohol and drugs, dejected or jobless – it was the first time they were celebrated openly – and by the high and low in society.

They smiled, they waved, they danced. You could tell they were happy and hopeful.

I was happy and hopeful about them too.

The Timeless Book sums it up this way: “Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

Hungry and alone at Thanksgiving

Posted in: Stories

October
4

My heart breaks for people who will have no family to share the joy of Thanksgiving with . . . people like John.

John has never known a loving gathering of family and friends at the holidays. He has never sat down to a Thanksgiving meal prepared by loved ones, joined hands, and given thanks.

His childhood was filled with terrible abuse at the hands of his family members as he was passed around over and over—unwanted—from his grandmother to uncles to aunts.

Yet John found it in his heart to forgive, and he was the one who took care of his grandmother throughout the illness that would eventually take her life. Once she was gone, John felt more alone and without hope than ever before in his difficult life.

John found the nourishing food, shelter, spiritual guidance, and the tools to begin again—job training, educational assistance, counseling, and more, here at DRMM . . . and it all started with a $1.95 meal provided by a caring friend like you.

Imagine John’s surprise at that first meal, when we all sat down as a family, joined hands, and gave thanks to God!

Since that day, John has worked hard to find work, rebuild his life, and restore his relationships. And now, he gives back each weekend to help others who are held captive by drugs, alcohol, and trauma from the past.

He says, “When guys say, ‘I need to go get a drink,’ I say, ‘Come on, let’s go talk.’ I don’t know how many guys I’ve helped to not touch alcohol.”

John has the great gift of compassion to share with others, in large part because of the compassion he has been shown by caring friends and donors like you . . . beginning with that first meal on Thanksgiving day.

For the sake of so many other lost and broken souls like John—who will turn to us in great need this Thanksgiving season—will you share your blessings and give today?

Every $1.95 you give will provide a delicious Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings to someone who is hungry . . . and hungry for a fresh start in life.

Thank you for providing good food and new beginnings to people in need!

 

Provide Thanksgiving Meals

 

The gift of a meal is a gift of hope this Thanksgiving season . . . especially to someone like Terrell.

Posted in: From Dr. Chad Audi

September
9

The gift of a meal is a gift of hope this Thanksgiving season . . .
especially to someone like Terrell.

Terrell never saw it coming, but one of life’s perfect storms slammed into him and wiped him out completely.

He’d been between jobs, so Terrell suddenly found himself homeless, with no savings, and nowhere to turn for help!

He said, “Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries (DRMM) gave me meals, a safe place to sleep. They kept me off the streets and I’m just happy to be here, because being homeless fills me with hopelessness and despair.

Then he dropped this bombshell—“If not for DRMM, I believe I would’ve thrown myself off of a bridge.”

I thank God that instead of ending it all, Terrell turned to DRMM and found a new beginning in life. Here at the Mission, he’s strengthened his faith in God, and is receiving the job and educational counseling that will help him find and keep a good job so he can live independently again soon.

“Lots of people are just one paycheck away from homelessness. But DRMM is a family-oriented community, and there are people here who genuinely care,” Terrell says. “I’m thankful for volunteers and people who donate, because there is so much need. You’re like a ray of sunlight.”

On behalf of struggling neighbors like Terrell, please partner with us again today, so we can say “yes” when someone is in urgent need of emergency services and help in their transition to a life of independence and productivity . . .

By making a special Thanksgiving gift now, you’ll help feed the huge number of hungry families and individuals who will turn to us in the weeks ahead. This is so important because between now and Thanksgiving we expect to serve nearly 300,000 meals!

Please make a gift now to provide as many $1.95 meals as you possibly can.

Thank you for sharing your blessings with those among us who are hungry, hurting, and in need of the love and mercy of Christ, because no one should be hungry and alone at Thanksgiving.

Provide Thanksgiving Meals