Dear Friend of the Mission,
I trust that your summer has been a good one thus far. We do thank the Lord for our air conditioning. When we rebuilt the Mission after the arson fire of 2006, we decided to have our main dormitory building retrofitted with central air conditioning. This was one of the best decisions we made. Our dormitory building has thick stone walls made out of Wissahickon Schist – a kind of stone that used to be quarried in the Wissahickon Valley section of Philadelphia. A lot of buildings in Germantown, Mt. Airy, and Chestnut Hill are made out of Wissahickon Schist. This beautiful stone makes for a strong and sturdy building, but in the summertime after the walls heat up, our four-story dormitory building becomes unbearably hot. Fans blowing hot air around turn our dormitory into a huge convection oven. This is why we are so thankful for our central air conditioning. Our residents are especially grateful. The streets of Philly are dangerously hot in the summertime. Our men are grateful for a refreshingly cool place to live. Your gifts make our dormitory a cool oasis on a hot summer day.
As you know, we have a long-term residential program for homeless men. We typically operate at our 55-bed capacity year-round and often have a waiting list of men seeking to enter the New Life Program. Every week so far this summer, we have turned men away on almost a daily basis. If men call us, we may have to tell them we are full and put them on our waiting list. However, if a homeless man comes to the Mission, and we sadly have to tell him we are full, we give him a few things to help him along. We give him two tokens (we still have a supply of SEPTA tokens we can give out) – one to get to a shelter, and one to bring him back to the Mission when we have an open bed. We also give him a list of shelters he can go to until we have a bed for him. And then with a kind word of hope and encouragement, and usually a prayer, we give him a gift bag filled with hand sanitizer, a snack or two, a pair of socks, and other personal care items. We don’t let him leave empty-handed, and we encourage him to try to keep in touch with us so we can bring him into the New Life Program as quickly as possible.
The Mission is all about change and hope – real change and a true hope rooted in the love and kindness of God. Your generous gifts are used every day to keep the Mission cool in the summer, and to be a beacon of hope and help to all who stop by. Thanks for your support!
Serving with joy and hope,
Robert A. Emberger, D.Min.
Executive Director
