The Highlands of Scotland, where Tim Gore ran 102 miles to raise money for Springs Rescue Mission to fight homelessness in Colorado Springs[/caption]As I was talking with the team at Springs Rescue Mission about how the Mission would celebrate its 20^th year of amazing, gritty, compassionate ministry, one thing became clear: we needed to do something unique. One of our team members had been reading about the history of rescue missions and mentioned the original mission in Glasgow, Scotland. We realized that the Glasgow City Mission is only seven miles from the start of a 95-mile ultra marathon, and a plan began to take shape.A sponsored 102-mile run over rugged terrain in a foreign country: what could possibly go wrong? Well, quite a lot actually. We knew before we started that this would be a very different challenge than your average “marathon for World Vision.” However, something a little extreme seemed to fit the Mission we all know and love. Our friends at Perkins Motors thought the idea was crazy enough that it just might work and provided a lead sponsorship of $100 per mile (thanks David, Crystal, and the whole team at Perkins Motors!). Before I knew it, I had scheduled vacation time, bought my ticket, and was packing my bags (full of running shoes and snacks and rain jackets and more snacks).

Starting Where It All Began

My team and I arrived in Glasgow the Wednesday before the race’s Friday-night-start. We settled ourselves in a little flat in East Glasgow, made a run to the local super market for a few pounds of “streaky bacon,” and set out to make some new friends at Glasgow City Mission. GCM’s CEO, Grant Campbell, showed us around Glasgow and told us about the city. The social safety net in the UK is much wider than it is in the U.S., but it has not kept pace with demand in Glasgow, causing GCM to expand services to meet needs.[caption id="attachment_4142" align="aligncenter" width="900"]

Tim with Grant Campbell, CEO of Glasgow City Mission[/caption]In recent years, GCM has launched a winter shelter, which operates similarly to that of Springs Rescue Mission, and expanded services in its kitchen, which, also like that of SRM, takes up the ground floor of its four-story building. The core of the ministry we witnessed at GCM, however, happens in its day center, a space the organization calls “Urban.”

A Vision of the Future

As we entered the brightly colored, tastefully decorated space called “Urban,” we saw groups of people working on computers, a therapeutic art class taking place around an open table, a group of Syrian refugees learning English, and various rooms leading to other facilities. I noticed a few things immediately: the guests were all clean (and most of the men were clean-shaven), everyone seemed happy, and there wasn’t a single shopping cart or sleeping bag in sight. The main reason for this, of course, is that everyone in Glasgow is guaranteed a roof overhead, a place to store his or her belongings. But there was more to the story…We met Steven, a guest of GCM who took charge of our tour and, with great pride, showed us around the facility. He pointed out showers, an exercise room, and a music room (where he talked for some time and with great enthusiasm about the wattage of various stereo systems). He pointed out the beautiful art in the hallways and introduced us to some of the guests who had created it. He told us about the history of the new facility, which had been gifted to GCM. He was confident. He was grateful. He belonged.

Tim and team with William, a guest of Glasgow City Mission and creator of the pictured sculpture

Deep Roots: Serving Glasgow Since 1826

Glasgow City Mission was founded by David Nasmith in 1826. Its agents’ “aim” was “the eternal happiness of their fellow-citizens, many of whom [were] perishing for the lack of knowledge.”During our tour, we spent some time reading various ledgers and annual reports, the first of which was published in 1827. These reports, yellowing, crumbling at the bindings, included meeting minutes, lists of donors, details about the Mission’s efforts to fight cholera outbreaks and to “disabuse the minds of the people of their prejudice against Medical visits from the Board of Health.” They tell about a zealous group of people whose faith led them into people’s homes, where they discovered people “in great poverty” and “without clothes.” The work of these missionaries evolved with the needs they found.

Painting of a man experiencing poverty in Glasgow Reports that seemed like precursors to today’s casework notes detailed, in beautiful, flowing script, what happened at these house visits. One recorded an incident in which a woman (whose name I cannot recall, so let’s call her Mrs. Smith) suffered domestic abuse. It was a Friday evening, and Mr. Smith had not returned home. Knowing that his wages, which were likely the family’s only means of subsistence, were probably being spent at the local pub, Mrs. Smith set off to find Mr. Smith and bring him home. When Mrs. Smith found her husband “in his cups” with no money left, an altercation ensued in the street. “There he did beat her about the head with the hammer used for breaking apart rock and left her bloodied on the pavement,” detailed the reported. The agents of GCM bound her wounds and cared or her.I realized something reading that account: the human race hasn’t changed very much over the centuries. Whether the city is Glasgow or Colorado Springs or anywhere in between, hurting people need a safe place, a place to belong. These people need places like Urban at Glasgow City Mission or the day center that Springs Rescue Mission is now building.

Tim receiving a hug from Mary, a new friend and a guest of Glasgow City Mission

The West Highland Way

We met many more wonderful people before starting the seven-mile run from GCM to the start of the Ronhill West Highland Way Race, a 95-mile, invitation-only ultra marathon that ends in the heart of Scotland’s beautiful Highlands. A few friends were there to support me, including Crystal Johnston of Perkins Motors, and after struggling with our video feed, I began my run at 8:30 p.m.

Tim and Crystal Johnston of Perkins Motors at the start of the West Highland Way I was not prepared for Scotland’s mountains. Having completed the Leadville 100 (most of which is run at an elevation over 10,000 feet) in 2015, I felt confident that I could take the Highlands in stride: Ben Nevis, Britain’s tallest peak, is, after all, only 3,000 feet tall. Man, was I wrong! And man, did I suffer! The mountains of the Highlands are dense and steep and rocky. In places, there were no switchbacks and the trail was barely discernible. The rock – unlike the pea gravel many of us are used to on Pikes Peak – was relentless, mercilessly hard, and dangerously slick.

Tim running with a pacer to raise funds to fight homelessness

A Hard Road, Like the Pathway Out of Homelessness

As I was running, I thought about the people I had met at Glasgow City Mission and the people I have met over the years working as a volunteer and staff member at Springs Rescue Mission. I thought about the people who have acknowledged that they’ve made mistakes and have issues and have come to a trusted place to get help and begin a journey of healing. I thought about how long that journey can be and how much help I would need if I were to find myself on it; I felt grateful to, once again, be supporting those people and, in an indirect way, be feeling some of the feelings I know they feel.At times I felt exhausted. At times I felt like lying down and going to sleep. There were moments I was so disoriented that my pacer had to physically keep me from walking off the side of a mountain. There were times when the only thing that kept me moving forward was the thought of seeing my daughter Kennedy at the next aid station.That’s what Springs Rescue Mission does for our neighbors in Colorado Springs who are trying to recover from homelessness. They walk alongside these neighbors and encourage them to keep going. They do everything in their power to keep these neighbors on the right path, and they show them the way ahead. And sometimes, when everything comes together, they manage to reunite families or restore an individual to a lost community.

A Springs Rescue Mission client experiencing homelessness in Colorado Springs

Helping More People Walk the Path

Though I now help people with disabilities in my work at the Independence Center, I am very familiar with Springs Rescue Mission’s plans for expansion because of the years I spent working with the fundraising team there. I can tell you that there are hundreds of people who, because of our lack of facilities in Colorado Springs, have little or no chance of successfully walking the pathway out of homelessness.Can you imagine trying to find a job when you slept by a creek last night because every shelter bed in the city was full? Can you imagine even agreeing to a job interview when you haven’t showered in days because the line for one of our community’s two public showers was too long? Can you imagine even going inside a building where someone could help you and leaving all your earthly possessions unguarded in a shopping cart while doing so? Now imagine facing those challenges with a mental illness, a physical disability, or an addiction.It’s difficult to gain momentum when you don’t have hope that you’ll ever arrive at the journey’s end.

Tim at the finish line of the West Highland Way Race

Crossing the Finish Line

These are some of the issues that Springs Rescue Mission will address with its campus expansion. But it won’t happen unless our community takes action. About 97 percent of Springs Rescue Mission’s funds are received from donors giving philanthropically, and SRM’s plan to increase and improve services to our neighbors experiencing homelessness in our community is the most ambitious project of its kind that the Mission (or anyone, in my opinion) has tackled in Colorado Springs. Right now, SRM is in the difficult middle of their fundraising journey, and they need support from a large group of community members. My fundraising effort in Scotland inspired nearly $18,000 in donations from our community. But much more is needed.So, my challenge to you, at the end of what, for me, was an epic journey, is this: take action, get involved, and make Colorado Springs a more compassionate, hope-filled place for every one of our neighbors. We’ve come a long way in providing homeless services in our community in the last 20 years, thanks in part to Springs Rescue Mission. Let’s come together and make the next 20 years even greater.