Springs Rescue Mission:

What's Happening At Springs Rescue Mission? - December 2017

Janine celebrating her graduation from the HOPE Program, symbolizing her journey from homelessness to stable work and housing.

A very special and heartfelt thanks to all the wonderful neighbors who donated frozen turkeys and non-perishable food items for Thanksgiving. On November 22nd, an army of volunteers served 1,200 Thanksgiving dinners to more than 730 men, women and children at our annual Great Thanksgiving Banquet events. Guests also enjoyed the opportunity to pick out some warm winter clothing and get a flu shot.And on December 23rd, we're hosting our annual Christmas For All celebration at City Auditorium, where we'll celebrate Christmas with hundreds of neighbors and serve them a delicious holiday meal.Please remember neighbors without homes this Christmas. This is an especially difficult time of year for them as they reminisce about Christmases past—longing to be home and celebrate with the ones they love.It's not too late to give neighbors Hope For the Holidays! Your Christmas gift provides meals, shelter, warm clothing and other crucial services. But more than that, your gift lets neighbors know they're not alone this Christmas and neighbors throughout Colorado Springs love and care about them.Enterprise Zone and Year-End Giving

Did you know that your year-end gift to Springs Rescue Mission could qualify for an additional Colorado state income tax credit?Springs Rescue Mission is included in a statewide program known as the Enterprise Zone. As a qualifying charity, donations made to Springs Rescue Mission through El Paso County's E-Zone result in an additional state income tax credit equal to 25% of the value for cash gifts or 12.5% for in-kind gifts (i.e. stock, equipment, services, land, etc.).So, a $1,000 donation to Springs Rescue Mission through the E-zone would result in a $250 Colorado state income tax credit on top of regular tax deductions available for charitable giving.Giving through the E-zone is easy. Just give a gift of $250 or more and make your check out to "El Paso County Enterprise Zone" and write "Springs Rescue Mission" in the memo line. If you've never given through the E-zone before, please include the last four digits of your social security number or your Colorado account number (this is required by the state of CO).Mail your gift to 5 W Las Vegas St, Colorado Springs, CO 80903 before December 30th (the 31st is a Sunday this year, and your gift has to be postmarked in 2017 to count towards the 2017 tax year). If you miss the postman on December 30th, stop by our offices at 75 W Las Vegas Street before 2 p.m. to make sure your gift counts towards 2017.Learn more about E-zone and how you can receive additional tax savings for your year-end gift to Springs Rescue Mission.IndyGive!

Springs Rescue Mission is participating in IndyGive! again this year, and there's no better way to help a neighbor in need and get some cool, local rewards at the same time. Give $25 or more to Springs Rescue Mission through IndyGive! and receive awesome rewards at local favorites like Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, Bingo Burger, Coquette's Bistro and Bakery, and Mining Exchange. The more you give, the bigger the reward!And if you know a young, budding philanthropist who can't wait to help others this holiday season, there are special rewards for donors under the age of 17. Your kids can experience the joy of helping others and a free slice of cheese pizza at Poor Richard's at the same time.Spread the word and help us stay on top of the leaderboard. Because the more you donate, the more we'll receive in matching grants from community partners to help our neighbors struggling with homelessness, poverty and addiction. Learn more and Give! today.

Stories and highlights

Fiscal Year 2017 Annual Report

2017 has been a year of first-time accomplishments at Springs Rescue Mission. It was the first year we opened a shelter just for women, fed hungry neighbors breakfast and dinner every day, and offered hot showers to help our neighbors stay clean and healthy.The community of Colorado Springs has helped us serve thousands of neighbors this past year and we're excited to share some of our accomplishments. But more importantly, we want you to meet some of the neighbors we serve at Springs Rescue Mission and read some of their amazing stories.Check out our 2017 Annual Report today.Stories of Hope

After the worship service at his church, Jeremy, a man in our New Life Program, hopped on the bus back to Springs Rescue Mission. Deep in thought, Jeremy felt a gentle tap on his shoulder and a voice say, "Dad?" He turned to find his son, who he hadn't seen for three years! He was delighted to spend the rest of his bus-ride catching up with his son. Jeremy was touched to know his family still cared about him and was thinking about him after all these years. His son thought the last time he saw Jeremy three years ago would be the final time he'd see his dad because of Jeremy's destructive drinking habits. Jeremy's conversation with his son was the highlight of the year!

Fred has struggled with homelessness for years and has been staying in our shelter since it opened a few years ago. Growing up overseas, his parents used to beat him when he struggled to communicate to them in separate languages. For years, Fred has struggled to stay sober long enough to take the necessary steps to obtain his U.S. citizenship and find affordable housing. One morning, Fred woke up and concluded that he only had, "one more sober left"—he was either going to stop drinking once and for all or he was going to drink himself to death one of these days. Fred stopped drinking, stopped hanging out with his drinking buddies, met with a lawyer from Catholic Charities to prepare for a citizenship test, and connected with our client navigators to start finding an affordable apartment. A couple of months later, Fred is now a U.S. citizen and moved into his very own apartment!

Timmy is a developmentally delayed young adult who has been a regular visitor to our campus. He never stopped by our campus for services, though. Instead, he'd stop by to see his closest friends—staff, volunteers and the men and women staying in our shelters. One day, he showed up on campus covered in cuts and bruises. Unable to clearly communicate what happened to him, our staff asked questions until Timmy slowly confirmed that he was being beaten regularly by his mother's boyfriend. Our shelter staff sent Timmy to the hospital to have his wounds looked at. As soon as they saw the severity of Timmy's abuse, the nurses and doctors at the hospital called the police. In a matter of days, Adult Protective Services removed Timmy from his mother's house, placed him in protective care, revoked his mother's guardianship and designated a new payee for his disability payments. Timmy is now safe from his mother's abusive boyfriend and she's not abusing his disability payments any longer.What we accomplished in November

Food services served 17,429 hot meals out of Samaritan's Kitchen, a new monthly record.During the last 15 days of November, we averaged 290 shelter guests in our men's and women's shelters. Some nights we provided more than 300 men and women a safe and warm place to spend the night.Our client navigators provided 306 one-on-one case management sessions in our resource center. A group of interns provided an additional 117 sessions for neighbors experiencing homelessness.Partner agencies made 468 connections with clients in our resource center, helping them find housing, work and health care services. Since July, our partners have conducted 2,408 one-on-one sessions with the people we serve.

Four men graduated our New Life Program with jobs and housing lined up, bringing the total number of graduates since July to eleven!Mission Inn, our sober living program, is running at full capacity with all fourteen available beds occupied. Twelve of the residents are working full-time or part-time jobs and two residents currently receive income from other sources.Our Supportive Family Services team distributed 440 emergency food boxes to help 741 families fill their pantries this Thanksgiving.Our transportation team delivered furniture to 24 families and individuals, helping them get settled in their new homes.Prayer RequestsThe following are actual prayer requests submitted by guests in our shelters, resource center, store, and kitchen. Please join Springs Rescue Mission staff and others as we remember these people in our daily prayers:

"I wish to have a home for Christmas." Barbara"Guidance. To not be in the wrong place at the wrong time." Anonymous "Lord, guide me in my recovery and show me how to live." Misty"That an elderly lady can find affordable housing." Anonymous"Pray for my kids, that they'll be well and safe." Paul"Pray for the sick and disabled and the ones that can't afford to eat. Pray for the homeless and the less fortunate. Also, pray for people to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior." Anonymous"Please pray that I can find a job and a place to call home." Jennifer"I need someone to make a miracle come to real life or come true. I cannot find my daughter and I feel empty and she needs a mom. Please, I need to find her. I am grieving, too! My mom passed away recently. I need prayers!" Debbi

Our Amazing Community

Local Businesses Giving Back

There are several local businesses giving back to the community and helping homeless neighbors this Christmas.

Goat Patch Brewing Company is offering $2 off a beer when you donate 5 nonperishable items for the Mission
A A A Platte Self Storage is collecting new and used coats at all of their Colorado Springs locations to help keep neighbors warm this winter
Bristol Brewing Company is collecting jackets, gloves, socks and hand warmers and rewarding those who donate by December 15th
D&J's (Drinks and Jewelry) is collecting gift-in-kind donations at their location off of Querida Drive
The Peak Producers raised more than $58,000 to help reward our New Life Program graduates for the rest of 2017 and throughout 2018
Two-time Paralympic judo medalist, Dartanyon Crockett, has collected and donated all kinds of warm, winter clothing to help our guests
Mountain Equipment Recyclers Inc released their 2018 Non-Profit Calendar and are giving 100% of the profit from calendar sales to the most voted non-profit (Vote for Springs Rescue Mission!)
Attic Salt/Fuego had a sock promotion in their stores and as a result are donating over 300 pairs of socks for Christmas
As part of their annual service project, the Colorado Springs Children's Chorale is collecting and creating gifts to give to men, women and children on our campus

We love our local business partners and we're always looking for more. If you're a local business or church and you're looking for a great way to help the community, let us know by calling (719) 632-1822 or by emailing us at info@SpringsRescueMission.org.