Fit and Focused

Since 1992, the Rescue Mission has operated from 2 locations: from our warehouse on Glenwood Ave and from the Emergency Shelter Building on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. Beginning this week, there will be a change in business as usual.

In a press release, Executive Director, Jim Echement said:

 

The Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley’s Emergency Shelter continues to experience an unprecedented increase in the number of overnight guests and meals served to the community. The average overnight census has reached 130 people nightly from just 65 people five years ago.  In the same time frame, the average number of meals served has also increased dramatically from 273 daily, climbing to 631 daily meals this year.

 

At this increased service level our resources have been stretched necessitating change.  We are grateful that the community remains faithful and our revenue has remained steady ¾ yet it has not kept pace with the increased demand for services.  To that end, and to remain faithful to our primary purpose as an emergency shelter, The Mission must channel its resources toward the needs of our burgeoning overnight census: shelter, meals, educational, employment, and recovery programs.

 

The changes have resulted in consolidation of the two Rescue Mission locations. All services will now be operated from the shelter location at 962 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd.  We have begun to wind down operations at the warehouse located at 2246 Glenwood Avenue.  It will close by December 31, 2015. 

 

Looking forward, we are requesting the community to limit in-kind donations to non-perishable food stuffs  and personal hygiene items¾ all of which can be dropped off at the Mission’s consolidated location, 962 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. in Youngstown.

 

The Mission is extremely grateful to our faithful donors for sustaining our operations for nearly 125 years.  We embrace the changes that must be made to satisfy the needs of our community and look forward to a continued partnership as we maximize the impact of your generous cash and in-kind donations.