Missoula 3:16

Denver Mattress Launches "Help the Homeless" Campaign

2009-11-17T18:49:00.000-08:00

The economy has brought an overwhelming number of people to our doors at a time when our funding has decreased. The population that is hardest hit are the homeless women and children, with an average of 60 percent more women and kids coming to us for assistance in 2009 so far as compared to 2008. We have also served twice as many meals to children in May and June of 2009 as compared to the same time period in 2008. Missoula 3:16 Rescue Mission is continuing to stand in the gap for these homeless and needy individuals.

The Good News is that right now the Denver Mattress Company will give Missoula 3:16 $1.00 for every $1.00 donated through the website below. Please follow the link and donate.

www.denvermattresshelps.com/missoula

New Missoula 3:16 Thrift Boutique

2009-07-16T13:30:00.000-07:00

Sequels Thrift Boutique is the well known store that sits on the corner of Front and Orange in downtown Missoula. Saint Patrick Hospital and Health Foundation decided they wanted to gift their thrift boutique to a local nonprofit, and we were one of three invited to turn in a proposal to receive the store. What an incredible blessing to be chosen! The store is a turn-key operation that inculdes existing inventory, which allowed us to open for business on June 2, 2009.

The new store is now called "Missoula 3:16 Thrift Boutique and Home Furnishings." The previous creative store manager has done a wonderful job creating an atmosphere of a cozy, yet stylish, women's boutique, which also included some furniture. Missoula 3:16 will maintain the boutique reputation, but the store will also be an outlet to sell refurbished, refinished, or anitque furniture - many items will be built and refnished at the Missoula 3:16 School of Christ men's residential addiction recovery center.

THANK YOU ST. PAT'S!

All proceeds from the store will support the Missoula 3:16 Rescue Mission. The store is open 10 am to 6 pm, Tuesday through Saturday. Phone is 406-728-5538

Missoula 3:16 is addressing the increasing homelessness in Missoula

2008-07-23T09:10:00.000-07:00

According to the 2008 Montana Homelessness Survey, there were 906 homeless people in Missoula County on January 1, 2008 -including accompanying family member, which is a 64% increase over the 2007 count of 551. Although the number of homeless people in Missoula County is probably higher than the recorded statistics, the survey provides a benchmark each year as a means of analyzing homelessnss in our area. The Homelessness in Montana Report of 2004 indicates that approximately 73 % of the chronically homeless cited drug/alcohol and/or mental health issues as factors in thier homelessness.

The report listed the following services most needed by chronically homeless people:

Emergency shelter and food
Transitional/permanent housing
Substance abuse treatment
Mental health treatment
Case managemnt/brokering services
Cash assistance
Entitlements and income supports
Life skills
Community living skills
Family reunification
Job skills/self-sufficiency

Thank You

2008-05-01T09:09:00.000-07:00

We have been so blessed by you who support the work of our Lord Jesus Christ by giving to Missoula 3:16. We realize that not everyone is called to work at the mission, but without the support of our donors, God's Great Commission couldn't be fulfilled. We pray that you will continue to respond as the Lord leads, and we thank you for partnering with us.

If you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.

Isaiah 58:10

Home for the Homeless Banquet

2008-03-27T14:31:00.000-07:00

Are you ready for another heart changing event?

Mark your calendars for May 9th, 2008 - Missoula 3:16 Rescue Mission's 4th annual banquet

In the meantime, read the book and check out the website at samekindofdifferentasme.com.

Hope for the Homeless Banquet Flyer (PDF)

Call Janet Seagraves for details on sponsoring or hosting a table, or for tickets:

406-542-1312

Because you gave to Missoula 3:16

2008-01-12T17:51:00.000-08:00

34,995 meals were served

1,323 Food boxes were given

570 Nights of lodging/men's program

New 24/7 program - School of Christ

New building and increased staff

Over 500 people were sponsored for the "Hope for the Homeless" Banquet

Over $3,000 of Benevolence help given (gas vouchers, medical, rent assistance, car repairs, special needs, emergency shelter, cars, etc.)

350 people were served Thanksgiving and Christmas meals

Thousands of pounds of food were given to Pantry Partners to help serve the Bitterroot Valley

Countless lives touched by the love of Jesus

Thank you!

Sleeping Bags Needed

2007-12-09T22:01:00.000-08:00

Every year many of Missoula's homeless are kept alive by caring people in the community who donate sleeping bags. If the Lord lays this urgent, life saving ministry on your heart - whether it's to rid your garage of sleeping bags, blankets, tarps or tents or to encourage your church or service club to have a sleeping bag drive - please know that you may truly be saving a life. Thanks to all of you who have shown God's love in this area of service. For questions call
542-5240.

Thanksgiving

2007-11-14T01:23:00.000-08:00

The point of Thanksgiving is to remember the
things we have to be grateful for. It's our special
time to give thanks... not just for the obvious, like
food, but for the thousands of fortunate moments,
the multitude of blessings that we receive each year.
That's not always as easy as it sounds. We tend to
remember the bad things much more easily than the good.

Don't focus on what you don't have. Focus on what you do have. For example: "I'm so fortunate to have a warm place to sleep in
the winter." "I'm so fortunate to live in a safe neighborhood where
I can take walks." "I'm so fortunate to be able to see the beauty around me."

Think about people you've known that have made you thankful
for their existence.

They can be family, friends or simply people that you've read
about or seen on television. Imagine how many other people
there are who might be equally as wonderful. You just haven't met
them yet. Think about people who have made life hard for you.

Now think about the things you accomplished because of them.
Did you finish something because they said that you couldn't?
Did you get better at something because they made fun of you
when you did it badly? Did their cruel actions make you vow never
to treat others that way? Even the negative forces in your life can
be hidden blessings, worthy of your gratitude.

Think about the animals that have given you joy: Dogs that love
you with every inch of their hearts, cats that think your lap is the
best place to nap in the whole world, birds whose songs uplift your
spirit, squirrels whose antics put a grin on your face and so on.

Think about the places that make you smile: A favorite hangout,
a wooded trail, an exciting city, a great spot from which to view
the sky, a hill that you once rolled down. Give thanks for all these things.

Refuges for the homeless

2007-10-30T14:59:00.000-07:00

There are many places where a homeless person might seek refuge.

Outdoors: In a sleeping bag, tent, or improvised shelter, such as a large cardboard box, in a park or vacant lot.

Hobo jungles: Ad hoc campsites of improvised shelters and shacks, usually near rail yards.
Derelict structures: abandoned or condemned buildings, abandoned cars, and beached boats

Vehicles: cars or trucks are used as a temporary living refuge, for example those recently evicted from a home. Some people live in vans, covered pick-up trucks, station wagons, or hatchbacks.

Public places: parks, bus or train stations, airports, public transportation vehicles (by continual riding), hospital lobbies, college campuses, and 24-hour businesses such as coffee shops. Public places generally use security guards or police to prevent people from loitering or sleeping at these locations for a variety of reasons, including image, safety, and comfort.

Homeless shelters ranging from official city-run shelter facilities to emergency cold-weather shelters opened by churches or community agencies, which may consist of cots in a heated warehouse.

Inexpensive Boarding houses called flophouses offer cheap, low-quality temporary lodging.
Residential hostels, where a bed as opposed to an entire room can be rented cheaply in a dorm-like environment.

Inexpensive Motels also offer cheap, low-quality temporary lodging. However, some who can afford housing live in a motel by choice. For example, David and Jean Davidson spent 22 years at a UK Travelodge [27].

Friends or family: Temporarily sleeping in dwellings of friends or family members ("couch surfing").

Source: Wikipedia

Homeless:Poetry

2007-10-13T20:29:00.000-07:00

HOMELESS

Psychologically speaking,

We’re all quite insane.

Financially speaking,

We’re a taxpayers drain.

Religiously speaking,

We’re a very fertile ground.

Anthropologically speaking,

We’ve always been around.

Individually speaking,

We’re not the ones to fear;

But, popularly speaking,

They wish we’d disappear.

First published in THE STREET SPIRIT in the Spring of 2000

Give Thanks

2007-09-29T14:13:00.000-07:00

For flowers that bloom about our feet;
For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;
For song of bird, and hum of bee;
For all things fair we hear or see,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee!

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Many Things To Many People

2007-09-13T12:02:00.000-07:00

As about 25 people gathered in little McCormick park a few weeks ago for memorial service for one of our beloved firends called "Hillbilly", it struck us what a wide scope of services rescue missions truly supply. Many of our homeless firends have no family, or have been estranged from them for many years. This is not the first memorial service that we have provided. I am sure it won't be the last.

We have known "HillBilly" for several years and we all will miss him. he always spoke to us in a kind, respectful southern way. He was willing to help in any way he could, whether it meant taking out the garbage , doing dishes after lunch or mopping the floor - he was a servant at the day center.

We thank God for every one of you who help Missoula 3:16 Rescue Mission to be so many things to so many people!

Homelessness

2007-09-06T07:46:00.000-07:00

Definition of homeless

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines the term "homeless" or "homeless individual or homeless person" as -- (1) an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and (2) an individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is: A) supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill); B) an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or C) a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodations for human beings.

Other names for homelessness

In different languages, the term for homelessness reveals the cultural and societal perception and classification of a homeless person:

Britain: "rough sleeper" (person who sleeps "in the rough" i.e. outdoors)
Spanish: "persona sin hogar", (person without a home) , "sin techo" o "sintecho" (person without roof above)
French: "sans domicile fixe" (SDF, without a fixed domicile)
German: "obdachlos" (without a shelter)
Italian: "senzatetto" (without a roof)
Portuguese: "sem-abrigo" (without a shelter) or "sem-teto" (without a roof)
Polish, Russian, Slovene: "bezdomny", "бездомный", or in more frequent use, "бомж", standing for without fixed place of living (без опрделенного место жительства), "brezdomec" respectively (without a house)

Source: Wikipedia

The Simple Path

2007-09-01T10:22:00.000-07:00

The fruit of silence is PRAYER

The fruit of prayer is FAITH

The fruit of faith is LOVE

The fruit of love is SERVICE

The fruit of service is PEACE

Serve and believe

2007-08-30T15:55:00.000-07:00

GOD IS NOT A REPUBLICAN....
A DEMOCRAT...
AN AMERICAN ...
OR BIGGER, BETTER VERSION OF YOU...

Serve and believe...let's help and bridge the gap.

Libraries as homeless shelters

2007-08-27T20:40:00.000-07:00

In his recent column on Friday, August 10, 2007, Wichita Eagle editorial writer and columnist Randy Scholfield asks the question: Why are libraries homeless shelters?.

Libraries do not provide nighttime sleeping quarters and other needed services for people living homeless, yet many libraries are a shelter for reading, study and learning, they offer a variety of educational type of resources as well as a place for any and all members of the general public to simply be, regardless of who they are or what their financial or housing status might be, this includes those of us who might not have homes.

Please join us in making a difference.

2007-08-25T14:58:00.000-07:00

Missoula 3:16 Rescue Mission's

passion is to pursue changed lives by offering hope through proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Partnering with Missoula 3:16 Rescue Mission makes it all possible...refuge for the homeless, nourishing food for the hungry, spiritual guidance in order to share the hope found in Christ and new life for people battling addictions. We are currently working on improving our Men's Program.

Visit our website at http://www.missoula316.org/ to find out more.