August 9, 2010-The negative impact of the Gulf Oil Spill has now been felt at the Waterfront Rescue Mission. Last month the Waterfront Rescue Mission shelters experienced an average increase of 30% in nights of shelter provided compared to last July with the highest increases being seen at the Pensacola and Ft. Walton Beach shelters.

"We have men coming to stay with us that have lost their jobs and have come here to work for the clean-up, but they don't have a place to stay," says Jason Grizzard, program director for the Waterfront Rescue Mission's Pensacola shelter. "Typically our numbers decrease slightly over the summer months," said Grizzard.

In order to keep track of the causes of homelessness the men who stay overnight at the Mission are asked why they are there. Recently, the reasons for some of them have been that they have lost their jobs as a fisherman, deck hand and so on and have come to Pensacola to work for BP. Grizzard continued, "Most of these men were already living on the edge of poverty before the oil spill so they can't afford to get a place of their own."

When asked about the current and future effects of the spill on local homeless shelters, Mick Breault, President of the Waterfront Rescue Mission, responded by expressing this concern, "Our fears are that with this spill the needs will increase and donations will decrease, but with the spill capped for now we're optimistic that things will hopefully go back to normal quickly." 

The Mission will be keeping track of how many men they have staying with them because of the oil spill. The Waterfront Rescue Mission heavily relies on individual donations which means they will also be keeping a watchful eye on their donations over the following months to see if there are any direct impacts. "The holiday season is when the Mission receives the majority of the monetary donations that get us through the year, if there is a large impact this season we'll have to increase our efforts in reaching out to new supporters who may be more able to help." Breault finished.

To find out how you can help those in need visit www.waterfrontmission.org or call 888-853-8655.