Thanks to you, guests at Springs Rescue Mission knew they were loved and cared for during the holiday season. Not only did they eat a festive Christmas Eve dinner, but they also received a showering of gifts as well. Plus, nearly a dozen guests found permanent housing during the month!

Here are a few highlights from December:

Guests celebrate Christmas at Springs Rescue Mission

On Christmas Eve, hundreds of hungry neighbors celebrated as they ate a special holiday meal on the Springs Rescue Mission campus. Guests were served plates overflowing with ham, potatoes, and more while festive music played in the background. In keeping with our Layers of Safety protocol, sanitization was done in between seating times, masks were worn by all, and multiple hand-washing stations were available.The next day, more than 500 gifts were handed out to guests in the shelters and day center, plus the residents of Greenway Flats! Women staying in the women’s shelter received gifts under the tree, stockings, and their choice of makeup and perfume. Guests in the other shelters woke up to a special gift as they left the buildings on Christmas morning, and tenants in Greenway Flats all had a surprise waiting for them on their doorstep.Thank you for going the extra mile to make sure neighbors feel loved during the Christmas season. You have truly shown us what it means to love bigger!

Eleven Guests Find Housing

Nearly a dozen guests found permanent housing in December! Thanks to the care and dedication of the case managers and shelter staff, four of these guests were able to be reunited with their families. One guest in particular left the shelter to work on restoring their broken marriage. They returned to their spouse and children with renewed hope and dedication.

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SRM maintains increased safety protocols to protect guests from COVID-19

Springs Rescue Mission is continuing to operate on “Level Red” status through the end of January 2021 due to the COVID-19 regulations. This includes keeping our guest capacity at 25% in the day center, so additional capacity has been added in the dining room and entry shelter in order to accommodate as many people as possible. Despite the reduced capacity, guests were still able to take 1,748 showers and do 778 loads of personal laundry during the month of December. Samaritan’s Kitchen also provided 2,481 sack lunches during the month, in an effort to keep guests socially distant from each other during lunchtime.

January newsletter now available

The January edition of the Springs Rescue Mission newsletter is now available! Take a few moments to read Shannon’s inspiring story of overcoming addiction and teaching others how to do the same, plus hear from CEO and President Jack Briggs about what he’s looking forward to in 2021. Click here to learn more.Subscribe to our blog to learn more about Springs Rescue Mission and the people we serve — people who have seen tough times but are committed to breaking the cycles of homelessness, hunger and addiction in their lives. We see stories of hope and transformation lived out every day, and we’d love to share them with you.