Tacoma
Rescue Mission

celena’s story

Volunteering with Jeannine & Diane

How were your first times volunteering with Search & Rescue?

Jeannine: I’d been wanting to do Search & Rescue for a long time. I think about the homeless not being seen, so going and being present where they’re at is something I felt called to do. What I didn’t expect was how I encountered Christ in the people. I knew from reading scripture that you can find Jesus in the suffering, in the hungry, and the homeless. But on Search & Rescue is where I saw it clearly. It was unsettling because there’s not much I have to offer people that are suffering other than food, water and just being present. But, I feel I need to be out there. And the other thing I wasn’t expecting was the love I had for the other volunteers in the van. They have the most beautiful hearts.

Diane: It felt like such an honor to serve with the Search & Rescue team who goes out week after week, day after day. It felt like an honor to sit beside them in the van and be able to just walk alongside what they do.

celena’s story

Celena’s Story: A New Beginning this Easter

Before we got to the Mission, we were on our last leg. We needed a place to go and hadn’t found a housing opportunity yet. I called the number that I found online. I was on the fence. I was researching shelters because, having the kids, I knew there were some things in certain places that were not good.

I was just worried. And so I talked to Sydney. She was the first staff person at the Mission I talked to. She told me all the things that we can expect at the shelter and what daily life looks like. She told me I can call her anytime and even invited me to come take a tour so I could make sure it was safe and ok for my kids. I went on a tour and I felt happy being there, as soon as I walked in. Everyone was really awesome. So we made that plunge. That’s how I came to be at the Mission.

PATRICE’S story

Patrice’s Story: The Power of Belief

When I got here, I felt loved by the staff. They kept telling me, ‘You can do this.’ ‘I see the strength in you.’ ‘We’re not giving up on you.’ They saw something in me I didn’t see in myself. And it pushed me to do better. I started working on my coping skills. I took a digital typing class. Once I saw I could pass that class, I went and got my high school diploma. Now, I am a certified peer counselor.

When I took that step of faith and believed the words that the staff was speaking over me, everything started falling in line. Now, I want to be a blessing to people who felt like I did. Like they aren’t good enough, not worthy enough, not educated enough. I want to be able to say to them, ‘I see in you what you don’t.’ ‘I’ll believe in you until you believe in yourself.’