WATERFRONT RESCUE MISSION EXPANDS WOMEN'S PROGRAM

The Waterfront Rescue Mission has life changing plans for their new space on Cervantes Street.

The Waterfront Rescue Mission, a Christian non-profit that provides services to the homeless and those who have substance abuse problems, opened a new home in April for women in need of their programs and services. The Mission began offering their services to women back in 1993 with two homes in downtown Pensacola. The new addition is a third house located directly next to the original two houses and opened in response to the rising demand of the programs and support provided by the Waterfront Rescue Mission.

This third house had been used as the Waterfront Rescue Mission administrative office for the past several years. The administration employees moved out of the home in March and the work began to make the appropriate adjustments needed for the women. "We have seen a steady increase in demand over the past several years and the Mission needed to act in order to keep up with the needs of the community. We should have done this a long time ago, but by opening this space we hope to meet the challenges we are facing," said Mick Breault, CEO of the Waterfront Rescue Mission. The expansion has allowed twelve more beds to be added for the Women's Recovery Program and two more beds for the Women's Career Development Program; making a total of 38 beds for women in various phases of the programs.

The Waterfront Rescue Mission's Recovery and Career Development programs were created for men and women suffering from substance abuse issues. Once a man or woman joins the program they live on-campus with the Mission while receiving individual and group counseling, work therapy, spiritual guidance, life skills courses, relapse-prevention courses and much more. After they complete the six month Recovery Program they can move on to the Career Development Program where they can choose to go back to school or enter back into the workforce with the support of the Mission. All of the Waterfront Rescue Mission's programs are provided for free.

When asked what this new addition will bring to the local community, Connie Painter, the director of the Women's Career Development Program said, "We want the women who come to us to know that this home is a safe place for them and we hope that they would see Jesus' love for them through the Mission. This expansion gives us the opportunity to extend this to even more women in need."

The new home will not only provide more space for women in the programs; until recently the Mission only had two beds in Pensacola for homeless women who were not in the programs. The additional space provides space for four more beds for overnight guests, making a total of six rescue beds. "Providing these much needed beds for women who have found themselves homeless has been a high priority for the Mission. There is nothing worse than turning someone away who needs help," Mick Breault continued.

For those who would like to support this expansion of the Waterfront Rescue Mission's women's programs and services there are several items that the new house is in need of. Some of these items include, twin sized bed sheets, new pillows and artwork or decorative items for the walls and kitchenware. For a more detailed list of needs call (850) 436-7857.