Did you know that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month? It’s a tough topic to discuss, but it strikes close to home for those of us at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. Many women in our shelter have suffered from abuse—in 2016, it was almost 50% of the women we served.

No one should have to live in fear of someone who is close to them or suffer abuse at the hands of a spouse or boyfriend. But one of the worst things about domestic violence happens when we stay silent. When women are too afraid to tell someone or to seek help, they often end up in even greater danger.

Joy House, our shelter for women and children, is one of the places women can turn to when they flee a situation of domestic violence. Sometimes, they come to us with just the clothes on their back, because they just knew grave danger was imminent.

But when they come here to MRM, they find safety and help. Your generosity gives them safety. Not only do they receive meals, shelter and clothing, they are surrounded by loving staff members who remind them of their worth and importance. In fact, our staff are specifically trained to help our neighbors who have experienced serious trauma.

And there’s more. Women who come to Joy House can stay and heal. We provide classes for them to grow, counselors for them to talk through what has happened and time for them to reconnect emotionally with their children. Their needs are met, and they can begin to heal—and to hope.

So this October, I ask you to remember those who are suffering from Domestic Violence. I ask you to pray for them. And, if you are able, I’d ask you to give.

Even something as simple as a hot meal can be the first step for a woman in need to start down a path towards a brighter future—a future that holds promise for her and her children.

Please consider joining many other generous friends who make brighter futures possible every day!

Dear Friend,

A colleague once told me, people aren’t homeless because they run out of money. They’re homeless because they run out of relationships. They’ve run out of friendships and community. And that’s far more tragic than a lack of money.

One of the most heartbreaking things I hear from folks at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission is that they feel completely alone as they try to cope with their addiction or homelessness. They’ve failed time and time again to fix their problems without any outside help. They can’t.

But no one can. We all need help. We need family and friends. We need love, encouragement, wise counsel and practical help. And that’s the great thing about the Milwaukee Rescue Mission — we are a community of friends and neighbors ready to offer this kind of support to those who want it.
I hear it over and over from our guests. The meals and shelter saved their lives. But what transformed their lives was the love, friendship and support they found here. When they realized they aren’t alone, change happened.

But here’s the thing: There is no one more important in this community than YOU. As a donor, everything that happens here, from meals to relationships, happens because of your generosity. As a community, we all have roles to play. And the role you play in this community makes this great community possible. It’s not just your check, it’s YOU — your love, your compassion, your commitment and your relationship with the hurting people we serve together. Thank you!

Sincerely,

Patrick H. Vanderburgh, D.Min.
President

Dear Friend,

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.

It’s not always easy to empathize with people we meet. Most of the time when we encounter someone, we see only the surface, where they are at a moment in time. But how well do we really understand them?

Take Lakesha and Paul, both featured in this issue of Soup for your Soul. On the surface, you’d see two hurting people who’ve made bad decisions in their lives, decisions that led to addiction, violence, prison, loneliness and homelessness. But if that’s all you knew, you wouldn’t truly understand them.
Empathy is hearing someone’s story, his or her entire story, and trying to understand it. It’s not just knowing the decisions they made, but understanding what may have led them to those decisions. Because when you understand the painful traumas of their childhoods, the rejection and regret they endured as adults, only then can you begin to relate to them, to empathize with them.

That’s when you begin to understand that if you had experienced what they had, your life would probably look much the same. That’s why we tell the stories of these extraordinary men and women in our newsletters. When you understand their stories, you begin to understand that we might look different, or come from different backgrounds, but we’re really not so different. We all have the same needs. Our stories may look different. “There, but for the grace of God, go I.”

That’s what sets caring, compassionate people like you apart. As a supporter of the Milwaukee Rescue Mission, you demonstrate real empathy all the time. You read the stories of these hurting men, women and children — and you understand. You care. On behalf of all those we serve, thank you for all you do.

Sincerely,

Patrick H. Vanderburgh, D.Min.
President

Dear Friend,

I can’t imagine what Jalissa must have felt. A young mother with her kids, hungry and homeless, and despite the bitter cold, none of her family or friends would take her in. The fear and stress she experienced must have been unbearable. And that’s why I’m so grateful friends like you were able to provide help by supporting the Milwaukee Rescue Mission.

But Jalissa and her children aren’t alone. Over the next 12 months of 2017, thousands of men, women and children will find shelter here. This winter, up to 400 people a night will find a warm, safe bed. Thanks to compassionate people like you, so many vulnerable people will find refuge from the bitter cold.

And, I’m grateful for your support that can help provide them with so much more. You see, the Milwaukee Rescue Mission isn’t just a shelter. Every day as men, women and children begin to experience counseling, education and job training, lives are changing. Most important of all, however, we have the privilege of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, because that’s where transformation truly begins.

I believe that, through your generosity and God’s grace, 2017 is going to be a great year! We will work together to continue to improve our programs to help even more men and women put their broken lives back together. And we will also further expand Cross Trainers Academy, our K4-10th grade school, to provide education that can be the key to improving the lives of families in our community.

As we begin 2017, on behalf of those we serve, thank you for journeying with us in this new year!

I thank God for you,

Patrick H. Vanderburgh, D.Min.

President

Dear Friend,

I hope the stories of Jack and Jasmine, in this issue of Soup for Your Soul, encourage you. Theirs are just two of the lives you’ve helped transform this year.

Like most men and women who seek help at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission, they were both deeply hurt in childhood by people in their lives who neglected, abused or even abandoned them. The emotional wounds most of our guests have experienced in their lives can follow them for a lifetime, often crippling them with bitterness, anger, self-loathing, drugs, alcohol and even more hurtful relationships. They never felt seen, known, loved, or valued. All they wanted was for something — or someone — to take their pain away. They just want a new life. A new life story.

And thanks to a Child born in a manger, we know there’s a Bigger Story that makes that new life possible, for all of us. At the Incarnation, Jesus clothed Himself in our flesh, pain, and weakness. Then he embraced us, as if to say, “I see you. I know you and love you. I will redeem you and never abandon you.”

Just like our guests — just like Jack and Jasmine — Jesus experienced pain, struggle, loneliness and poverty. And He died to set us free from all of that. That’s the story, and that’s the message, that makes healing possible for every hurting man, woman and child at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission.

And thanks to generous and caring people like you, even more struggling people will hear that story this Christmas. Of course, our human gifts to each other could never compare to God’s gift of His Son. But, like Jesus, your gifts tell our guests, “I see you. I know and love you. And I will not abandon you.” You offer them real gifts of hope and new life.

So as we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior this holiday season, thank you for your caring partnership.

I thank God for you,

Patrick H. Vanderburgh, D.Min.

President

Dear Friend,
It’s been quite a year since we opened our new North Campus in the Lindsay Heights neighborhood of Milwaukee, where we moved Cross Trainers Academy last September. Lindsay Heights is one of the most challenged, violent and traumatized communities in Milwaukee.

At our new North Campus, we’ve expanded Cross Trainers Academy to enroll 250 students and opened a state-licensed day care, the Child Enrichment Center. In addition, new community outreach programs provide resources to strengthen neighborhood families.

At our North Campus, hundreds of children receive life-changing, quality Christian education. The move places MRM where many of our students live, in a community suffering from the cycle of poverty that many of their families have experienced for generations. An education is one of the keys to breaking that cycle.

Transforming lives is what the Milwaukee Rescue Mission is all about — not just for students, but also for all the struggling men and women seeking our help. And education is vital to that transformation — education that starts with the life-changing power of Jesus Christ and keeps going as we help improve educational skills and addiction recovery and provide valuable life-skills that will change the direction of their lives.

None of this is possible without your support. God is using you: Your gifts give adults in our programs the resources they need to succeed, and they equip students with a quality Christian education that opens the way to a brighter future. You are providing more than just food and shelter for people in need: you are helping to enable them to be all that God has made them to be and to fulfill His calling in their lives.

Thank you for your partnership, loyalty and compassion as we work together in the name of Jesus Christ!

Sincerely,
Patrick H. Vanderburgh, D.Min.

Dear Friend,
1 Thessalonians 5:14 perfectly describes what happens here at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission, thanks to your support. To admonish, to encourage, to help people in their weakness and to show patience — it’s really everything we do for those we are called to serve. It’s the very heart of the gospel, and the essence of what family and community are all about.

It’s unconditional love. When you’re struggling and hurt, it’s impossible to measure just how important it is to be surrounded by people who love and value you simply for who you are. It’s life-changing.

Yes, we first take care of people’s essential human needs: food, shelter and clothing. But the human need for loving, caring, supportive relationships is no less important. No one can thrive outside of relationships and community. In fact, almost every man and woman here at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission will tell you how important the relationships they experience here have been for their recovery.

Just as God loved us while we were yet sinners, we try to model that same love with one another. But it’s not just us. It’s YOU. This is what your support and prayers really mean to the hurting men, women and children at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. It means a loving, caring community, a community where no one gets left behind.

We all fall down at some point in our lives. Hopefully, someone will be there to pick us up when we do. Thank you for being the kind of person who is there when someone falls. Your loving compassion transforms lives.

Sincerely,
Patrick H. Vanderburgh, D.Min.

President

Walmart and the Walmart Foundation Invest in Wisconsin Communities with More Than $805,000 in Donations

14 nonprofits recognized by Walmart and the Walmart Foundation for their commitment to state

Applications currently being accepted for the Walmart Foundation State Giving Program. Deadline is Friday, April 15, 2016 at 11:59 pm CT.

• 2016 Fight Hunger. Spark Change. campaign underway in Walmart stores. Program concludes April 25, 2016.

MILWAUKEE – April 14, 2016 – Walmart and the Walmart Foundation awarded more than $805,000 to 14 nonprofit organizations over the last year for their dedication to the state of Wisconsin. Through its State Giving program, the Walmart Foundation awarded grants to 14 nonprofits dedicated to serving residents through its core areas of giving including hunger relief and healthy eating, sustainability, career opportunity and women’s economic empowerment. Two of the nonprofit organizations also received donations as a result of their participation in the company’s 2015 “Fight Hunger. Spark Change.” Campaign. The 2016 Fight Hunger. Spark Change. campaign is currently underway and runs through April 25.

“Year after year, each of these organizations continue to provide necessary programs that aid in the well-being and improvement of the communities we serve,” said Todd Peterson, Walmart regional general manager. “We’re honored to support the nonprofits and look forward to seeing how they continue to assist Wisconsin residents with their State Giving grant.”

Walmart Foundation State Giving Program

Twice a year, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation look for organizations that address the needs of the communities they serve and make a significant social impact on a local and state level. The following 14 nonprofits received a Walmart Foundation Wisconsin State Giving grant to fund vital local programs:

• Boys & Girls Clubs of the Fox Valley received a $40,000 grant to purchase food supplies that will provide more than 60,000 nutritious meals to Club members at nine locations in the Fox Valley.
• Boys & Girls Club of Green Bay received a $40,000 grant to support its Summer Snack program, which provides hunger relief and healthy lifestyle education programs to more than 1,000 local children.
• Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh received a $40,000 grant to fund meals and nutritional education classes for the organization’s Healthy Habits nutrition education program, Unmet Needs meal program and Family Nights program.
• Boys & Girls Club of the Greater Chippewa Valley received a $40,000 grant to enhance and grow its Health & Nutrition Program, which provides nutrition education, healthy snacks and dinner to local youth.
• Boys & Girls Club of Portage County received a $40,000 grant to provide local children with more than 40,000 healthy snacks both after school and during the summer through its Healthy Snack and Meals program.
• Church Health Services received a $60,000 grant to support its dental clinic expansion, increasing the availability of preventative and restorative dental care to low-income, uninsured or underinsured community members.
• Family Health Center of Marshfield received a $30,000 grant to fund oral health screening clinics for individuals with developmental disabilities at more than 20 sites in Wisconsin.
• Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin received a $50,000 grant to fund 20 mobile pantries to ensure thousands of individuals and families who are experiencing hunger will have access to healthy, nutritious food.
• Feeding Wisconsin received a $50,000 grant to partner with Wisconsin Innovation Kitchen (WINK) to freeze and sauce donated fresh fruits and vegetables for distribution to their member food banks and affiliated pantries.
• Milwaukee Rescue Mission received a $40,000 grant to provide approximately 20,000 meals to homeless men, women, and children in Milwaukee.
• NorthLakes Community Clinic received a $70,000 grant  to provide a regular source of fresh fruits and vegetables, nutrition education classes and administrative assistance to high-risk patients through their Rx for Wellness program.
• Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin received a $30,000 grant to fund its FoodShare Outreach Program, which creates and implements effective outreach strategies to help Wisconsinites enroll and access FoodShare Wisconsin (SNAP) benefits.
• The BRICK Ministries received a $55,000 grant to support its Food Shelf Program with the purchase of food and a full-sized van that will be used to pick-up donations from local grocers and make deliveries to satellite pantries in rural areas of Wisconsin.
• Vernon Economic Development Association received a $50,000 grant to fund its efforts to combat the abandonment of quality produce in Wisconsin.

Milwaukee Rescue Mission President, Patrick Vanderburgh said, “We are so thankful for the generosity Walmart has shown to those who come to MRM for meals, shelter and more.  This grant from Walmart provided a month’s worth of meals to hungry and homeless men, women and children in Milwaukee who might otherwise have had to go without.  Thank you Walmart and Walmart Foundation!”

To be considered for support, prospective grantee organizations must submit applications through the Walmart Foundation State Giving Program’s online grant application. Applicants must have a current 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status in order to meet the program’s minimum eligibility criteria. For more information, visit https://foundation.walmart.com/apply-for-grants/state-giving. Applications are currently being accepted through Friday, April 15, 2016 at 11:59 CT.

Fight Hunger. Spark Change. Campaign

Launching in 2015, the nationwide Fight Hunger. Spark Change. initiative encouraged customers, suppliers and associates to get involved in hunger relief efforts. Wisconsin food banks that were participants in the inaugural campaign and received donations included:

• Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin received a $128,449 donation
• Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin received a $42,378 donation

“I am proud of our partnership with Walmart to reach people in different ways,” said Dan Stein, president and CEO of Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin. “Walmart’s engagement of their customers in hunger-relief through social media, donating at the register and product purchases resulted in raising a tremendous amount of meals for those in need in southwestern Wisconsin.”

Dear Friend,

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). Life “to the full.” It’s a choice we all have to make — and It’s a choice Ken and Doris, whose stories you’ll read in this issue of Soup for your Soul had to make.

In a way, choosing the abundant life that Jesus promises seems like such an easy choice. But ask many of our guests what they want their lives to look like in 10 years, and often they can’t look past today to see what their life could be. They’ve never thought in terms of a better future because their today is hard enough. How could their future be any different?

At the Milwaukee Rescue Mission, however, they begin to see what a life “to the full” might look like. We help them work through the traumas of their past, face the realities of their present and equip them — in the power of Jesus — to choose life “to the full.”

And thankfully, they have friends like you to make sure they have the resources they need to choose the abundant life that Jesus offers. Without friends like you, without the Milwaukee Rescue Mission, they may never experience that life.

The choice you make every day, to pray for our guests, to volunteer or to send a gift of $10 or $100, may very well change someone’s life by enabling him or her to choose life “to the full” and avoid the clutches of “the thief.” The stories in this newsletter are possible with God’s help and because of the choices people like you made. And these stories may not have been possible without YOU.

On behalf of all our guests at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission, thank you for giving men, women and children the opportunity to choose life “to the full.”

Sincerely,

Patrick H. Vanderburgh, D.Min.

Dear Friend,

Every winter night, before I go to bed, I think of the hundreds of men, women and children who are sleeping warm and safe at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission — precious people who otherwise might have to spend the night in cars, garages, abandoned buildings or worse.

I know I don’t have to tell you that winters are cold in Milwaukee. It’s miserable for people like you and me. But for our homeless neighbors, it’s more than miserable: it can be life threatening. It seems like every winter we read about a poor soul who’s died in the cold. Thanks to you, however, thousands find safe refuge at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. It’s no stretch to say that your gifts really do save lives, especially in winter.

But winter cold is not the only threat men, women and children struggling with poverty and homelessness face. Many have been devastated by a lifetime of abuse. They’ve been subjected to dysfunctional families, crime, poor education, inadequate job skills, drugs and alcohol. Spiritually, the cold, weight of sin and hopelessness keep them in darkness.

Next month, however, we will remember and celebrate their — and our — one true hope: Easter. Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection promises hope and new, transformed life for all of us. So all year-round, thanks to you, we have the privilege of leading all our guests to an empty tomb and the only One who can save their lives today and for eternity.

So today, I invite you remember all the precious men, women and children at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission who are safely off the streets, and who are sheltered in the arms of Jesus, because you cared. Thank you! Christ the Lord is risen today, alleluia!

I thank God for you!

Patrick H. Vanderburgh, President