Recognizing that many people along the Gulf Coast need only immediate and temporary assistance, the Waterfront Rescue Mission operates daytime ministries called Community Care Centers. The Mission opened its first Community Care Center in Crestview in the summer of 2000 with a full-time chaplain, who offers spiritual counseling as well as indigent assistance. The second Community Care Center opened in Pensacola in March 2001, and later added full-time social worker Millie Calvin. As a result of this addition, the waiting period for help has been reduced from weeks to no more than a couple of days.

In its first year of existence, the Crestview Community Care Center helped 5,934 people. Presently there are full-time staffers at the Pensacola Center and the Ft. Walton Beach Center.

Through our Bargain Center Stores, we are able to help people who come off the streets in need of a blanket or sleeping bag. We are often able to provide those who have relocated or been separated from their families, or lost material goods through a fire or other emergencies. Shelter guests and residents are also assisted with furniture and other household items as they move on, into their own apartment or home. In 2006, a total of $227,160 worth of clothes and furnishings alone were provided to more than 5,900 people through the Mission’s system of community care.