Resident Stories

Matt Celebrates Hope

City Mission resident, Matt, in front of City Mission

January 12, 2021

Growing up without a father, Matt had no stable role model to guide him. He fell in with the wrong crowd and developed harmful addictions and behaviors that took control of his life. He experienced times of sobriety – even developing a relationship with God, going to ministry school, and preaching the gospel. But over time he relapsed and continued down the same destructive path. Finally, when he permanently lost custody of his precious young daughter because of his drug use, he was heartbroken. And he asked the Lord to help him change his life. “It was the beginning of my surrender to Jesus Christ,” he says. He came to the Mission to continue his journey in our Christ-centered program. “I came here looking to connect with my Father, God, and to renew the relationship with Him that I once had,” he explains. “I wanted to pursue God in prayer… in meditation… and in His Word,” Matt says, “and I have found all that here.” And as he embraces God’s forgiveness for his past, “I’m learning to love myself the way God loves me,” he says. Now, with God guiding his steps, he feels called to return to the mission field. “I’ve figured out that I’m truly God’s son… I’ve discovered what my passion is… and what I was put on this earth to do,” he shares. “I’m truly happy, and I can say that with all my heart.” Thanks to the blessing of your support, Matt has hope as a new creation in Christ. “The Mission gives an individual the opportunity to get right with the Lord and to truly change their life.”

A Life Renewed ... A Family Restored

January 6, 2021

At just 26, Mashae was struggling as a single mother. Her father’s sudden death had saddened her deeply. Her depression eventually led to substance abuse, which made it difficult for her to care for herself and her three children. “I wasn’t eating or taking showers. My kids weren’t going to school. I knew I had a problem, but I didn’t want to admit it.” At first, the drugs helped her to numb the pain of losing her father. They also gave her the energy to get up in the middle of the night with her youngest child and to clean up around the house. But very quickly, everything unraveled, and the drugs took over her life. “I was pretty broken. Very upset, very confused. I was very overwhelmed.” Finally, Mashae’s mother stepped in… and encouraged her to seek help at City Mission. At the Mission, her life is being restored through Christ-centered programs and a newfound trust in the Lord. “I’ve learned He will always be there for you no matter what…He will always forgive you. He’s always on your side. He will never let you down.” Mashae is working to earn her GED and hopes to become a paralegal. She is dedicated to being the mother and godly role model her children need. Today, Mashae says, “I am healthier and happier. I know my worth now.”

At a Crossroads

Steve at the Crabtree Kovacicek Veterans House

December 2, 2020

This past June, Steve, a US Army veteran, was struggling through a marital separation when he lost his job without warning. He had been a welder for a local manufacturing plant for the past ten years. With no idea what to do next, he remembered a former co-worker talking about City Mission’s Crabtree Kovacicek Veterans House, and he decided to give it a try. “It’s been a blessing ever since,” he explained. “I thank this place for providing stability for me. I was at a crossroads, and they helped me find the right road.” Steve grew up in Houston, PA. His mom was a single mother raising eight kids. After he graduated from high school in 1982, he went into the Army for three years of active duty. “I saw combat and jumped out of airplanes,” he said of his military experience. He also trained to be a medic, which was a difficult job, but he thought at least it would transition into a good career after the military. Unfortunately, he was never able to get a job in the medical field. Eventually, after the military, he moved with a friend to Atlanta, pursuing a job opportunity at a liquor warehouse. “It wasn’t a good place to be,” he said. “I was young. Alcohol led to drugs. That’s where my life spiraled.” To get clean, he moved back home. He went to rehab a few times but was never really focused, and he had to fight for his sobriety for decades. He has been clean now for seven years. When he came to City Mission, he was curious but cautious. Everyone turned out to be much friendlier and more helpful than he expected. “I didn’t think guys would listen to my story and be so willing to help,” he said. “Guys were listening and advising but not telling me what to do. I realized my story isn’t the only one. I related with everybody here. I started to relax and open up.” City Mission’s Crabtree Kovacicek Veterans House set him up with counseling through the Vet Center and helped him get funds to go back to school and earn his Commercial Driver’s License. The Mission drove him back and forth to school at Penn Commercial Technical School so he didn’t have to worry about getting a ride. After six weeks, he graduated from the program, and he’s now considering multiple job offers. “The trucking field is so in demand right now,” he explained. “People aren’t shopping in stores. Things are being delivered. I’m looking at so many options.” Recently, Steve was able to land a good job in the trucking industry. He successfully moved out of the Mission and is waiting to begin the next phase of his training out on the road. “I’m proud of myself,” Steve said. “The Mission taught me to stop rushing into everything – to focus on a goal and go for it. They showed me things, but I did it. They led me to water, but I drank on my own. Coming to the Mission is not putting yourself down. It’s an opportunity to better yourself. If you could see how I feel because of what I’ve been able to accomplish, anybody would want to do this.”

“OVERWHELMED WITH JOY”

Kazmiere and her children at the City Mission playground

November 11, 2020

“There are plenty of facilities but none like this one,” says Kazmiere, a resident of City Mission’s Women with Children Shelter. “The compassion of the people in this place is amazing. They want to see you rise up and be successful.” Kazmiere and her three daughters came to City Mission in the spring of 2019. Before that, they were homeless, moving from place to place, staying with family members who would take them in. The moment Kazmiere stepped in the door at City Mission, her anger, fear and anxiety dissolved away. “The burdens of the world just fell off my shoulders,” she explains. “It feels so good not to have to live like that anymore.” During her stay, Kazmiere has solidified her relationship with God, invested more time in her children, and worked on her recovery. She has purchased a vehicle and started nursing school. Now she is looking to move into a place of her own – in time for the holidays – where her children can open presents under the tree.“I can’t wait for Christmas,” she says today. “I’m overwhelmed with joy.” She shares that her experience at the Mission last year gave her a new joy for the holidays.“It was awesome,” she says. “There were so many toys I couldn’t even walk around in my suite. My kids were so happy!”Her newfound joy for Christmas has inspired her to give back: “This year, I’m going to bless a family with gifts, a Christmas meal and some gift cards for Mom,” she says. “I want somebody else to feel how I felt when Christmas came around last year.”This holiday season, Kazmiere will be celebrating Christmas with a renewed spirit and the great joy that comes from a new life.

Jacquie Found Joy at City Mission

October 30, 2020

"City Mission is the Lord's house. If this place can help me, think about all the good things it can do. I am forever attached to this place now," said Jacquie, a current City Mission resident. "Here, I finally began to understand that life isn't totally about me and my needs. When I began to put other people first, I attained peace and joy that I never really had before." Jacquie went into foster care when she was 11, had her first drink at 14, and a year later, ran away from home and started living on the street. She struggled with alcoholism and homelessness for decades. Jacquie drank to numb the pain of her traumatic childhood. “Alcohol was my magic elixir,” she explained. “It seemed to solve all of my problems at first.” Over time, it created even bigger problems for her. One day, during a 24-hour lockdown in jail, she picked up the Bible and started reading. She got down on her knees, and she gave her life to Christ. But she couldn’t quite kick her alcoholism. Not at first. After her release from jail, she went right back to living on the street. She hopped a freight train into Pittsburgh with her friends. “It just became clear to me,” she explained, “that -- because I had gotten saved, you know, I asked Jesus into my heart -- that the life I was living was not what I was supposed to be living. And it got painful. You know, it got spiritually painful to go on the way that I did.” So she went to rehab and has been sober now for over a year! After completing a six-month program at a halfway house, she decided to come to City Mission to continue to strengthen her relationship with Christ. “City Mission provides me with shelter, you know, that needed sanctuary from the world,” she said. “And I just needed that. I can sit here and talk about the things I’ve gained materialistically in sobriety, but the things that mean the most to me are the things you can’t see. And that’s my relationship with God and the joy I have in my heart.” Recently, Jacquie got the highest-paying job she has ever had, working at a distribution warehouse. She was able to save up money and purchase a car. Also, she recently started college to study social work. In the future, she hopes to become a social worker and work to heal those in need. “I want to work in some capacity with alcoholics and addicts. But I would really, really like to help the homeless. Just get into the community and help.”

Life Changing Call

September 10, 2020

Michael always knew he wanted to go to college. It was his best opportunity to live out a calling to help people. He wanted a job he could be passionate about, one that truly made an impact. But he felt stuck. “He was hoping for a future path that included a career in the medical or counseling field,” explained Colleen Riker, City Mission’s Manager of Medical Services, who worked closely with Michael during his time at the Mission. “His desire was to attend college, but he wasn’t sure that was even a viable option since he was living in a homeless shelter and had no income.” Michael had a very difficult few years. In 2016, he lost a close friend to suicide. “We really didn’t know how he was feeling,” he said of his friend. “I want to be able to help prevent that from happening to someone else.” He even volunteers as a Crisis Counselor for the Crisis Text Line to provide support for those who have lost hope. But his opportunities to help people are limited, and he has long dreamed of earning his degree and becoming a nurse or a social worker. When Michael graduated from Wash High, he began the process of completing his college application, but he hit a roadblock completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). He and his family also had a falling out at that time, which resulted in him getting kicked out of the house. For several years, Michael moved around and hopped from job to job. “I was couch-surfing for a while until I ran out of options,” he explained. When he had exhausted all other options, he made a call to his longtime friend, Brianna Kadlecik, who happened to be the Career Training and Education Center Coordinator at City Mission. “Michael and I met in the youth group for West Washington and Jefferson Avenue United Methodist churches,” Kadlecik explained. “We ended up becoming part of a praise band called the Fools for Christ, where we both sang.” It was a life-changing call for Michael. “I don’t like asking for help,” he said. “I always like to do it myself. When I had to reach out, it was a big step for me.” In May of last year, he moved into City Mission. At first, he was not at all sure that City Mission was the right fit for him. “The first day was really scary,” he said. “There are a lot of people in one room. Disagreements are going to pop up. I tried to stay out of it.” Many of the men around him were much older and in drug and alcohol addiction recovery, which was not one of Michael’s struggles. He felt out of place. “When Michael first came to City Mission in May of 2019, he had a lot of anxiety issues,” said Riker. “But he worked with our Medical Clinic and Drug-Free Pain Management Team to establish a doctor and utilize Alpha-Stim technology to manage his anxiety.” And he managed to stick with the program. He had some meaningful conversations with City Mission staff and his fellow residents, and he eventually decided to stay. “The Mission taught me to not be in a rush, to just let the process work.” He started going to the Career Training and Education Center at the Mission, and he used the computers there to work on his college application. Now that he was living at the Mission, he could complete his FAFSA application form as an independent, and that helped him out tremendously. “We were able to help him finish his application,” said Kadlecik. “This was a barrier that I had seen Michael run up against for years with no hope of getting past it, and It was so rewarding to see him finally get past it. Michael was filled with hope where there had been so much disappointment and frustration.” Kadlecik also helped him write a resume, which eventually helped him get hired at Gabe’s in Washington, where he was able to save up money toward the additional costs of college that his loans would not cover. He was even able to save up enough money to purchase his own vehicle. Then, one day, a letter from California University of Pennsylvania came in the mail at the Mission with Michael’s name on it. “The moment when I was accepted into college, that was a fun moment,” he said. “Everyone was excited!” “There were high-fives and tears of joy when he received his acceptance letter,” said Riker. “Michael was excited when he got the acceptance letter,” remembered Kadlecik. “He made the rounds to all the staff that he’d been working with, and we were all so excited for him. His dream was finally going to become a reality.”

Living Proof

August 17, 2020

Family homelessness can be devastating and have a lifelong impact on mothers and children, but lives are being transformed at City Mission’s Women with Children Shelter. Kazmiere and her family are living proof of that. “Without the Mission providing me the opportunity to keep my kids, this journey would have never started for me. It means everything to me. I’m forever grateful--for real.”

Knowledge is Power

City Mission staff Brianna Kadlecik and GED Students

July 24, 2020

City Mission’s Career Training and Education Coordinator, Brianna Kadlecik, and volunteer instructor, Dee Dee Zinn, have been working alongside the residents as they pursue their GED, and it has been very rewarding for them to watch the residents learn and grow as people. “It really builds their confidence,” Kadlecik explained. “When everyone is cheering them on, they start to see that they can really do it.”

City Mission Vets Give Back

2nd Annivesrary Crabtree-Kovacicek Veterans House

July 8, 2020

On July 3, City Mission’s Crabtree Kovacicek Veterans House celebrated two years of life transformation for homeless veterans. “This house is a testament to what can happen when a group of guys trust and believe in each other and work together to accomplish one another’s goals,” said Steve Adams, City Mission’s Manager of Veterans Services. Since opening its doors in 2018, the Crabtree Kovacicek Veterans House has helped restore 27 homeless veterans to independent living and helped 33 residents gain sustainable income. Boasting a 74% overall success rate for housing, employment, income, recovery, and spirituality, the Crabtree House is helping to restore hope and confidence for the 22 veterans they serve. City Mission’s program is about veterans helping veterans. The response from local veterans’ organizations who have donated money, clothes, food, and time to the residents has been overwhelming. “The donors have been so generous to this house,” said Tim, an Air Force veteran who came to the Crabtree Kovacicek Veterans House in October 2018 after breaking his hip. “The amount of donations that come in -- it’s just an overabundance. For me, it’s important to find a good way to give back.” In addition to getting help for our veterans, our residents are also finding ways to give help to other veterans. Every day, they are helping, supporting, and encouraging each other. “Vets are more willing and able to open up to other veterans,” explained Adams. Tim agreed, “It’s a matter of taking an oath and making a commitment. We all held up our end of the bargain for our country. And maybe that’s what sets us apart. An oath really does mean something to each and every one of us.” Veterans helping and supporting each other is key to their recovery. According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, “The most effective programs for homeless and at-risk veterans are community-based, nonprofit, “veterans helping veterans” groups. Programs that seem to work best feature transitional housing with the camaraderie of living in structured, substance-free environments with fellow veterans who are succeeding at bettering themselves.” But the veterans in City Mission’s program are also reaching out to the community and giving back. Wendi Kraemer is the President and founder of Angels Journey Home, a rescue shelter for animals. A few years ago, her organization partnered with the Veterans Administration to create the Angels For Everyday Heroes program, which rescues animals, trains them to be service animals, and then connects them with veterans in need all over the country. “There are so many homeless veterans in need,” she said. “So many suffering every day.” Her organization donates to the Crabtree Kovacicek Veterans House every couple of months. “We’re here for vets,” she said. They were able to donate a nice suit to a resident who said he had never owned one. They even donated special shoes to a resident who suffered with foot pain related to diabetes. Last spring, a small group of residents from the Crabtree Kovacicek Veterans House went over to Kraemer’s 10-acre facility to give back. “They came and picked up trash, laid mulch all around the property,” Kraemer said. “We have a cat sanctuary, and they helped us out with that. It was great watching them laugh and joke around and just disconnect from their problems.” Joe, an Air Force veteran who came to the Crabtree Kovacicek Veterans House in April of last year, was there that day, helping to give back. “It was a lot of fun. I love doing that kind of stuff,” he said. Joe replaced some roof boards on the cat sanctuary. Tim helped Kraemer sort through donated pet supplies. Joe and Tim both agreed it felt good to give back to an organization that is doing good in the world. “It’s good to feel productive,” Tim explained. “That’s rewarding in and of itself.”

Our Residents' Journeys

Our mission is to serve our residents. We continue to be amazed by their strength and courage, and we love to see God working in their lives! Read some of their stories and learn about their journey to the Mission and on to independent living.