We rejoice with those who rejoice, and we weep with those who weep.

Dear Friend of the Mission,

We care deeply about the 50 broken and hurting homeless men living at the Mission at any given time.  We celebrate with them their achievements, their birthdays and their successes.  Just the other day one of our residents who is working for a retail store came and told me that he has been promoted to train new employees since he does his job so well.  In our dining room, a banner wishing one of our residents, John, a happy birthday is prominently posted so that we can celebrate John’s birthday and life.  Another one of our residents whose name is also John just graduated from school to be a certified nursing assistant.  His first interview for a job in his field went extremely well, and he told me that they have already scheduled him for a second interview.  These celebrations are our celebrations – we truly do rejoice with those who rejoice.  Please read the post in the Real Stories section entitled “Heading in a New Direction ~ Ira’s Story” to celebrate with Ira Dean, one of our staff members and New Life Program graduates, all that God is doing in his life.

But we also weep with those who weep.  A number of our residents get word while they are living at the Mission that their mother, father, brother, sister, wife or child has died.  Our heart goes out to our men when they lose a loved one.  We always try to send one of our staff to the funeral to show our love and support.  Some of our residents are diagnosed with a serious health problem while they are living at the Mission.  Right now we have a man hospitalized with what appears to be congestive heart failure.  We’ve had men

diagnosed with cancer, undergo open heart surgery, knock on death’s door with pneumonia, break bones and struggle with both chronic and acute health problems while living at the Mission.  We pray for them and seek to support them in their time of trouble.  As much as possible, we help them get well.

Thank you in advance for your kind and generous gift.  You will be investing in the lives of homeless men, and you also will be standing with our men as they rejoice and as they weep.

Working together with you,

Robert A. Emberger, D.Min.
Executive Director

In Ira’s own words:

When I entered the New Life Job Readiness Program at the Whosoever Gospel Mission, my level of certainty was minimal at best.  I would only commit to coming in and completing the first fourteen days of the program.

Fortunately for me, Jesus Christ had a different plan and something started happening.  Decision making time had come and there were only two choices: either continue on a path of sin and destruction, or ask Jesus Christ into my life.  My decision was and is to kneel before God and pray for guidance and the courage to stand up and work toward becoming the man, father, son and brother that God would have me to be.

Through God’s grace and mercy, the Mission and everyone on staff have assisted me with different aspects of my life.  Most importantly, they encouraged me to build a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

I am blessed in ways that have no explanation apart from God’s grace and mercy.  One blessing is this – I have become a member of the Whosoever Gospel Mission staff.

Also, I’m currently enrolled at night in All State Career School to obtain a Class A commercial driver’s license. Working hard during the day and taking classes at night in the Mission’s New Life Program taught me that this is possible – I could do it.  Gradually things are getting better.  I now trust that all things are possible through Christ my Lord and Savior, and I accept that I’m a work in progress.

In Christ we stand,
Ira Dean

Get a first-hand tour of daily life around the Mission.

During the last three weeks, we had more than 20 volunteer college and high school groups serve at the Mission during their spring break from school.  We had groups from New York, Missouri, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, Michigan, Indiana and Illinois.  These young people helped out in our kitchen, in our thrift stores, and in our clothing sorting room.  In addition to getting a lot of good work done for the Mission, they also put names and faces to homelessness and witnessed firsthand how God is transforming our men from the inside out.  In the midst of all their hard work, they also had fun and enjoyed getting to know our men.

The Lord is truly blessing the Mission in so many ways.  In the midst of these many blessings, though, we do have some significant challenges.  About 1/6 ($200,000 a year) of our budgeted income comes from foundation grants.  Foundations are telling us that they are now getting from non-profits two to three times the applications for grants they normally receive.  Even though the Whosoever Gospel Mission does not ask for or receive any government funding, many non-profits do receive significant funding from the government.  With all of the government cut-backs, these other non-profits are beginning to apply for foundation grants to make up for their funding cut-backs.  As a result, the competition for foundation grants is greater than ever before.  First and foremost, please pray for the Mission.  Secondly, if you know of any foundations that we could apply to, please let me know via my email address at the top of this letter.  And thirdly, please support the Mission as generously as possible.  Our beds are filled, and homeless men are seeking our help.  Thank you for investing in their lives for good!

Working together with you,

Robert A. Emberger, D.Min.
Executive Director

“I think the food here is nutritious with a nice balance (not too much of one food group).  Plus the cooks take pride in what they prepare.”

Malik Hinton
New Life Program Resident
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“The Whosoever Gospel Mission offers the residents here three wholesome meals per day.  The meals are always prepared by residents in the job readiness program who have culinary skills.  Overall, the food is tasty and nutritious and of excellent quality.”

Ron Fields
New Life Program Resident
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Mission Food Facts

Number of meals served each year:
Over 73,000 (includes 3 meals a day & a snack)

Our cost per meal: 25 cents (FREE for the men)

What we serve:
Every meal at the Mission is nutritious and well-rounded with plenty of fruits and vegetables.  For men coming in from a life on the streets, this is an essential step toward rebuilding health and wholeness.  From eggs and grits to French toast and sausage, from soup and toasted cheese sandwiches to spaghetti, from baked ham to roast turkey, from apples and bananas to chocolate chip cookies, you could say that we eat well!

How can we provide such good meals for just 25 cents?
Our meals are so inexpensive because of wonderful friends who donate tons of canned & nonperishable food items and gift cards to local supermarkets.  In addition, we get a lot of staple food items at low cost from the Philabundance Food Bank.  All of this combines to help create wonderful, balanced and plentiful meals for the amazingly low cost of about a quarter per meal!