Dale Johns, CEO of Mercy Medical Center, and Val Fogelberg made arrangements for the Rescue Mission to receive a truckload of food that will make thousands of meals. Through the generous donation from the Church of the Latter-Day Saints 24 pallets of food were delivered. The Mission which feeds over 900 meals every day at over 30 locations throughout the County has been blessed and will use this food to feed hundreds of people every day.
New Activities Director
The Mission’s Hope Respite Care facility is for participants who have been discharged from the hospital and are in need of a place to recuperate after surgery or illness. In the beginning of February, an Activities Coordinator was hired to provide activities to help stimulate the minds and bodies of our participants and aid in their healing.
Sidney, our new Activities Director, came to help us get started. She has her A.A. degree and will begin her nursing program in August. She has been busy building relationships with our participants and having lunch with them. Different activities are being offered like games, such as Bingo, and puzzles. Sidney is also involving the participants in decorating cookies and cupcakes, as well as teaching people how to crochet. She is also looking forward to getting participants involved in games like Cornhole and Bocce Ball. The participants at Hope Respite Care, and even at Hope for Veterans, are paying attention to what is going on and getting involved. We hope and pray that these activities will bring about better mental and physical health for all those we serve.
Mission Campus Update
In March of 2022 the Mission opened its doors to three facilities on the Village of Hope campus. Two of the facilities are buildings with ten apartments each. One building is for unhoused families with young children, and the other building is for unhoused veterans. The apartments in the Hope for Families and Hope for Veterans buildings are each 600 square feet one-bedroom apartments with a full kitchen. Each building also has laundry facilities. The Hope for Veterans apartments filled up within a week of opening, and the Hope for Families apartments were filled within a few weeks. These facilities have operated at capacity throughout the three years since opening and have provided a home for many families and veterans.
The third facility, Hope Respite Care, is a building with 32 beds for unhoused people being discharged from the hospital who need recuperative care. During the first year in the new facility, Hope Respite Care operated at between half and three quarters capacity. Since that time, it has operated from near to full capacity, even having to turn down people at times who were in need of care. During the three years of operation on the Village of Hope campus, Hope Respite Care has served hundreds of people who have received loving care while regaining their strength.
With the need for more capacity, the Mission is planning to break ground on the next phase of the campus. Originally, the plan was to use the open two acres of our campus to build our Hope for Men and Hope for Women faith-based facilities, but there was a pressing need to expand our Hope Respite Care facilities and provide more housing in this area. We are now in the process of acquiring land adjacent to the campus where we can build the facilities for the Hope for Men and Hope for Women programs.
This summer we will break ground for an expansion which will provide a second 32-bed facility for post-hospitalization care and 40 studio apartments. Half of the studio apartments will provide housing for those coming through recuperative care and post-hospitalization care. The other half of the studio apartments will provide housing for a portion of our Transition to Hope program. This is a great undertaking, and we hope to have the project completed by the fall of 2026. We are grateful for grants from Central California Alliance for Health and Central Valley Opportunity Fund which have made this project possible.
The Village of Hope campus has given the Mission the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of many people. People’s lives have been changed, and healing has taken place and continues to take place. The core of the Mission’s work and ministry continues to be the Hope for Men and Women programs which centers on life transformation through Jesus Christ. The Village of Hope campus will not be complete without building facilities to expand these ministries. We are excited about the opportunities and possibilities that God has provided. Please continue to pray for the Mission as we move forward on the path that God has placed before us, and we thank you for your generous contributions which go completely to fund these faith-based ministries.
Workforce of Gratitude in our Community
By Dr. Bruce Metcalf, CEO, Merced County Rescue Mission
When I think of the many programs at the Mission, I think of the faith-based program – Hope for Men and Hope for Women. I also think of the transitional programs, the program for people coming out of the hospital, and the programs for people coming directly from the streets or from incarceration. But, until recently, I have not considered that the many people who work for the Mission have received the opportunity to be part of a great team.
Today the Mission has about 140 employees, and over 90% of them have come through one or more of our programs. In fact, when we are looking for a person to fill a position, we first consider the people in our programs to see if one of them would be a good fit for the position. During the time that people are in the Mission programs, we get to know them and experience their work ethic and their integrity.
For one of our staff retreats, I assigned our employees the task of reading The Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni. In this book, Lencioni identifies three characteristics of the ideal team player – humble, hungry and smart. Lencioni shares that Jesus Christ is the best example of humility in all of history. When Lencioni speaks of being hungry, he means that a person is willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done. When he speaks of smart, he is speaking of being smart in relationships between people. These three characteristics are an important part of our team culture here at the Mission. When we hire, we are aware of these three characteristics and look for people who will emulate them.
People who have gone through Mission programs and now work for the Mission have become part of this culture and part of a team. They understand the importance of being humble, being willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done, and the importance of relationships. What’s more, employees whose lives have been transformed are excited to help others so that they might experience what employees have experienced for themselves.
The people employed by the Mission are part of a workforce where they are not only part of a team, but part of a family. In this environment, our employees have a sense of belonging as they learn to become productive and accountable. People who at one time were dependent on society to take care of them are now joyfully helping others, paying rent, buying groceries, and paying taxes. As the Mission has invested love, time, and treasure into the lives of people through our programs, we have inadvertently discovered that we are overseeing a wonderful workforce which is making a remarkable difference in lives, the Mission and our whole community!
Congrats Graduates!
Hope, Growth, Future
On November 14th, Love INC celebrated the graduation of about 15 people who successfully completed the 14-week Love Plus program. About 12 of the people taking the course were from the Mission’s Hope for Men and Hope for Women programs. During this course, participants were paired with mentors who worked with them through the course. The men and women from the Mission gained a great deal from this experience, including learning how to properly budget, how to cope with emotions, and how to interview for employment. Most of all, through the classes and the relationships that they developed with their mentors, each participant came to have a closer relationship with Jesus. The Mission is grateful to Love INC for offering this wonderful opportunity to the men and women in our programs!
Mission Program Gradutes
On December 10th, the Mission's quarterly graduation ceremony took place at Grace Community Church. Those who graduated had completed the 9-month Life Transformation program - Hope for Men and Hope for Women. In addition, many of the participants received multiple certificates for completing various classes on their way to graduating. The evening was a time of inspiration and encouragement!
The graduation ceremonies are far more than a ritual. These events are a celebration of hard work and lives that God has dramatically changed.
Thank you for blessing the Mission!
Food Drive
We are extremely grateful to all the schools, churches, and businesses that participated in the Food Drive! Your great efforts provided food for our holiday banquets and have given the Mission a storehouse of food from which we can prepare meals throughout the year. Presently, the Mission is serving about 900 meals every day throughout over 30 locations.
Year-end Giving
You are a blessing. 2 Corinthians 9:8
The year-end giving campaign has once again been a tremendous source of blessing for the Mission. The incredible response from all of you, our donors, demonstrates your support of the Mission’s programs as we participate together in this wonderful endeavor to transform lives.
Even as God revealed His love for us by sending His Son, Jesus, to come to earth and bring salvation, God continues to reveal His great love by transforming lives every day. What a joy it is to be a part of God’s work!
Banquets and Toy Drive
Both the Thanksgiving and Christmas Banquets served to bless our community. At each event, over 1,000 meals were served. Elderly folks without a place to go were welcomed as family. Families experiencing limited resources found a place to feast and receive presents for their children. People without housing were able to come and enjoy a sumptuous meal and receive clothing. Over 100 volunteers at each event brought desserts and gave their time to serve. These banquets displayed the outpouring of generosity by our community to care for those whom God wants to bless.
Thank you to all who donated toys for our annual toy drive. At the Christmas Eve Banquet, Santa gave toys to children 0-12 years old. Thank you for being a blessing to those in need in our community!
Christmas Presents for Children
A huge thank you to the employees from the Merced School District who coordinated an effort to put over 180 presents together for kids at our Christmas Banquet. Children who attended the Christmas Banquet with their parents received a gift from Santa.
jackets - The gift of warmth this winter
Families and friends from Hilmar brought over 70 new coats to the Mission to be distributed to men, women, and children. Thank you so much for this incredible gift that will keep so many people warm this winter!!
Donations of Hygiene Items to Those in Need
The Mission is always in need of hygiene necessities to pass out to those who are unhoused. We are always grateful to those of you who help, by bringing these items to us. Recently, we were blessed by both Atwater High and the California Psychiatric Transitions in Delhi who brought in supplies of these much-needed items. Thank you for your great support!
228 housed so far in 2024
With your help, we are making a difference and doing God’s work in Merced County! Thank you for your prayers and contributions. When you give to our life transformation program, you are supporting housing, meals, and most importantly, staff who provide counseling and teach classes to bring men and women to life change through Christ.
