MISSION UPDATE
Homeless can happen to anyone. Hope happens here.
News of hope and healing from Atlantic City Rescue Mission
Easter 2017
FROM
DESPERATION
H O P E
TO
Nate’s drug addiction cost him his job, his home, his family, his integrity. He was slowly dying…
THROUGH YOUR SUPPORT, you share new hope with people like Nate.
Inside
Hope 2 Sharing Starts Here
Mission has given 3 “The 4 Easter for Everyone! me everything.”
A Message from Dan Brown
SHARING HOPE STARTS HERE
75,000 BOWLS
for the Hearts and Souls Atlantic City chefs are donating their time and talent each Thursday to make healthy, delicious soups for our residents and the homeless who eat their meals at the Mission. Each week, these gifted and generous folks make enough soup to fill about 400 bowls with their warm, comforting, heart-healthy creations.
What does it look like to share hope? Compared to a plate of nourishing food or a warm blanket, it’s often hard to visualize how hope changes lives. But for the homeless and hurting people you’re helping through your gifts, hope is transforming their lives in very tangible ways. Take Nate, who’s featured in this issue – at his lowest point, he turned to us. He didn’t know if a new life was even possible. Meals, shelter and care changed Nate’s life from the inside out. Experiencing God’s love showed him that a new life is possible. He began believing in a better future – and began living that life every day! When you see Nate today, you see hope... made real in his life through your generosity. Just as Christ shared hope with
you and me through His glorious resurrection on Easter, you share His hope with men and women through your prayers, your acts of service and your generous financial support of this ministry. Thank you for sharing with our community’s homeless – and for making Atlantic City Rescue Mission a refuge of encouragement and hope for everyone in need.
Dan Brown President & CEO
THANK YOU to these chefs and all of you who donate your time, talent, and financial gifts to help those in need!
THIS IS NICK. You’d never guess that he once believed all hope for his life was gone… until he came to the Mission. There are so many like Nick – in need of new hope for a new life. You can share new hope this Easter by sharing meals, shelter and God’s love with homeless and hungry people. A meal is just $2.72!
Share online at acrescuemission.org. Share now using the enclosed reply card + envelope.
Thank you for sharing new hope with hurting people in southern New Jersey!
2
“THE MISSION HAS GIVEN ME
EVERYTHING”
N
ate was 14 and very shy when his family relocated to Atlantic City, so he started using drugs to fit in. “It’s hard for me to make friends, and the first people I met here were using drugs,” he says. “I started out just smoking weed but, by 16, I was using heroin.” Nate got clean when he was 18, but relapsed five years later and his addiction took over his life. “I couldn’t keep a job. I lost my apartment. I stole from my family. I got arrested,” he says. When he was 29, he finally reached out for help. It was then that a rehab counselor told him about the Mission, and Nate entered our Work Readiness Program. “I’d lost everything. I came here with
barely a change of clothes,” he says. “It was a big relief that I had a roof over my head and three meals a day.” Through our daily chapels, devotions, and Bible studies, Nate received spiritual food, as well.
work experience in our kitchen, laundry, and warehouse. “They really emphasize that whatever you do, you’re doing for the Lord,” he says. “It’s given me a good work ethic.” Nate graduated and is now in our HOPE (Homelessness Overcome
“I was slowly but surely killing myself.” “When I got here, I was so spiritually dead that I didn’t know how to pray,” he says. “I’ve done a complete 180. I won’t leave my bed and I won’t fall asleep before I pray.” Through the program, Nate has also attended life skills and money management classes, learned job interviewing techniques, and gained
through Programmed Employment) Program, where he will look for work and, once employed, save money for his own place. “I’m going out there and will make it on my own,” he says. “Before I came here, I had no guidance, no direction, no spirituality, nothing. The Mission has given me everything.” 3
04/16
Sunday EASTER CELEBRATION
EASTER FOR EVERYONE! Will you join in and set more places at our table for hungry people this Easter? We need your help! Just look at our needs this Easter season:
33,333 meals for men, women & children
And there’s no way we can serve them without you!
DONATE FOOD Please consider hosting a food drive or donating these needed items by April 10th: Drop off donations at the Mission, 2009 Bacharach Blvd., Atlantic City. Thank you!
VOLUNTEER
• Ham • Bagged potatoes • Canned green beans • Dinner rolls • Fruit • Soft drinks • Homemade desserts (cookies, brownies, cobbler, cake) • Snacks • Bagged chips • Cheese and crackers • Assorted candy
You can help from now until Easter Sunday. Contact Corie Taylor. (609) 345-5517 x 165 corietaylor@ acrescuemission.org Don’t have time to shop? DONATE NOW! (609) 345-5517 acrescuemission.org
VISIT US ONLINE to learn more about our outreach, read stories of hope & securely donate anytime!
2017
C • A • M • P • A • I • G • N
33,333
18,000
meals
nights of shelter
Dan, here’s my Easter gift to share food, care & hope with people in need:
acrescuemission.org
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Check enclosed
m
m
m
Bill my credit card
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m
NAME
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$21.76 to feed and care for 8 people $51.68 to feed and care for 19 people $76.16 to feed and care for 28 people $_______ to help as much as possible
CREDIT CARD #
EXP. DATE
PHONE #
acrescuemission.org Donate Now! (609) 345-5517, ext. 116
_________________________________________________________________ NAME
_________________________________________________________________ ADDRESS
_________________________________________________________________
Atlantic City Rescue Mission P.O. Box 5358 Atlantic City, NJ 08404-5358
CITY / STATE/ ZIP
_________________________________________________________________ E-MAIL
EAST17