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by Melanie
I can't remember a time I wanted to live. I never knew my father, and my mother was an alcoholic prostitute who wanted to abort me. For much of my life, there were times I wished I hadn't been born.
When I was a year and a half old, authorities took me from my mother. I was adopted into a large, wealthy family in Hales Corners. Most of my siblings were foster kids or adopted like me. I never felt like I belonged.
I spent my childhood severely depressed. I never fit in anywhere. I had few friends and no emotional bond with anyone. I often thought of suicide.
After high school, I fell in love with a boy I thought cared about me. Then my boyfriend began using crack cocaine and abusing me. I finally escaped him, but I just ended up with a string of abusive men. I stayed with them because I felt like they were all I had. I was so hopeless, I tried suicide many times. I desperately needed emotional help, but there was no one to give it to me. God, however, was beginning to work in my life.
First Steps Toward Joy
Two years ago, after the birth of my son, Elijah, we ended up homeless on the streets. I was scared. One day, a caring woman at a local church directed me to the Milwaukee Rescue Mission's Joy House. Now I've been here since June 2012.
From the moment I arrived, I felt like I was part of a loving family. I felt cared for by people who encouraged me and wanted me to succeed. Slowly, my walls came down. I learned to trust. And I started laughing — something I've rarely done in my life.
Thanks to Joy House and caring people like you, I'm building a firm foundation on my Savior Jesus Christ. Thanks to you, I have mentors and people who pray for me every day. Thanks to you, I have a big smile on my face.
Thanks to you, I have a reason to live.
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If you or someone you know enjoys golfing, please consider joining us for our annual golf outing, "18 Holes for the Homeless," on Monday, September 16th, at Blue Mound Golf and Country Club. This event will help the Milwaukee Rescue Mission reach out with compassion and provide hope to the poor, hungry and homeless of our community by raising awareness and funds to help those who come through our doors for sanctuary.
Find more information at www.milmission.org/events or contact Antonia at
(414) 935-0274 or antonia.shipp@milmission.org.
MRM has been blessed with another wonderful opportunity to provide even more care for our homeless neighbors, and we need your help. A generous group of friends recently contributed a $157,539 Matching Challenge Gift. Gifts we receive in May will be combined with the Match to feed, clothe, shelter and help transform the lives of the hurting in our community.
Please consider sending your contribution right away — it will go twice as far to help care for Milwaukee's homeless!
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Your generous support gives at-risk children the chance to experience summer fun and learning at City Camp!
As children all over Milwaukee come to the end of another school year, most are filled with the excitement of summer vacation. But for many inner-city kids, summers promise more insecurity than excitement, and more fear than fun. Most of these kids live in single-parent homes, and many are homeless or living in poverty. Often when parents are working, kids are home alone. Many of the neighborhoods where these children live are unsafe, and crime increases as the weather gets warmer. Thanks to compassionate people like you who support the Milwaukee Rescue Mission, for six weeks every summer, City Camp offers a safe, positive alternative for more than 100 precious kids. Boys and girls who attend City Camp keep their academic skills sharp through reading and studying math, history and science. They also learn about the Bible, Christian behavior and the love of Jesus.
Thank you for caring for our struggling neighbors this summer!
For over four decades, he has been known by staff and Board members simply as “The Treas,” serving as the Treasurer of the MRM Board of Directors. Bob Jensen lights up a room with his smile, wit and quiet but engaging personality. “He has simply been a pleasure to work with and be with,” said Executive Director Patrick Vanderburgh. Although serving in a key financial role, Bob's greatest concern has been for people. At his retirement luncheon, his voice broke as he recalled the fulfillment of a dream to start Joy House to serve homeless mothers and their children. Every month, Bob could be counted on to join other board members as they led a chapel service for homeless men, sharing a scripture or a word of encouragement with those gathered in MRM's chapel. Although a gifted financial talent, Bob's heart and soul were always with the men, women and children served. So for all of us — and more importantly, for all we serve — Thank you “Treas,” for your decades of service to MRM. You are loved!
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Jesus was clear. “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14) He also made a point of reaching out to hurting women — an accused adulteress ... a hemorrhaging woman ... a grieving mother.
Like Jesus, the Milwaukee Rescue Mission is also committed to serving vulnerable women and children escaping the streets, poverty, violence, gangs and more. These women and children need shelter, safety and practical help to get them back on their feet. More than that, they need love and caring. They need a family. They need Jesus.
That's what the Milwaukee Rescue Mission offers all the hurting people who come to us seeking help. But more than that, that's what your gifts — every one of them, large and small — provide for all our men, women and children. You are leading them into the welcoming arms of a loving family here at the Milwaukee Rescue Mission. And you are leading them into the loving arms of a heavenly father who will care for them for all eternity.
Thank you for being a part of our incredible family!
May God bless you,
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Patrick H. Vanderburgh
Executive Director
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