Resident Stories

Ride Like the Wind

August 4, 2023

“The people here at City Mission cared about me when I couldn’t even care about myself,” Greg said of his experience at the Mission. “They showed me love and understanding when I couldn’t even love and understand myself.” Greg grew up in Turtle Creek, the youngest of five kids. “I was a spoiled little brat,” he said. He always had nice clothes and cool stuff. He got away with everything. He was the baby of the family. But he also experienced more than his share of trauma when he was young. “My story is full of the deaths of loved ones,” he explained. Greg’s childhood idol, Roger, rode motorcycles. “Roger would pick me up and put me on his bike and ride me up the hill,” Greg explained. “Whenever I heard the engine of that bike, no matter where I was or what I was doing, I dropped everything and came running.” When Greg was just six years old, Roger wrecked his bike and was killed. It was devastating for Greg to lose his boyhood idol at such a young age, but it didn’t diminish his lifelong love of motorcycles. When Greg was 12, his dad died on Christmas. “That’s when my addiction really took off,” he said. “I hated God. I was angry all the time. I worried about everything. I started having nightmares. I would sleepwalk and wake up shouting, ‘Jesus doesn’t love me. He never loved me.’” Drugs and alcohol momentarily took his anger and his worry away, so he started chasing after them so he could stay in that feeling of numbness as often as possible. But he never learned to deal with his problems or his pain, so everything just continued to get worse. He did receive some social security benefits after his father’s death. His mom had a job and didn’t need the money for the household, so he spent it all on cool sneakers, nice clothes, and alcohol. He bought himself a dirtbike and learned to ride. In high school, he was a star athlete, but he dropped out of school so he could party. He was getting into fistfights all the time. “I was never really fighting anyone else. I was just fighting what was inside of me,” he explained. “I was fighting my own demons.” When he was 19, he got his first DUI, but the charges were dropped. When he was 21, he went away to state prison for four years. He ended up spending most of the 1990’s in prison. While he was in prison, his Mom passed away. He never really got to say goodbye. He tried to turn his life around, and he got clean for a while in his 20’s and was even engaged to be married to a good, stable young woman who was studying to work in the medical field. On July 4th, she died suddenly of a brain aneurysm, and his life spiraled again. When he was 29, he had his first operation. Arthritis was wreaking havoc on the whole left side of body, and between ages 29 and 47, he would have 13 total operations, including an ACL replacement in his left knee, a reconstruction of his left ankle, reconstructive surgery on his jaw, shoulder reconstruction, and five total hernia surgeries. After one of his hernia surgeries, his body had a bad reaction to the surgical mesh used in the operation, and he was in constant pain for the next eight years. “I went to the emergency room 52 times in eight years,” he explained. During that time, he started doing heavier drugs to help deal with the constant pain he was enduring. “I was angry all the time,” he said. “Angry at myself. I would lash out, get into fights. For me, frustration and depression always turned into anger, because I didn’t know how to handle it.” When the surgical mesh was finally removed and the previous surgery corrected, he started feeling better physically, and he started to put together some clean time. He got a good job in a manufacturing plant in Lancaster County. “I was running my own department,” he said. “I’d be a superviser there now if I had stayed.” But he relapsed. He moved back to Pittsburgh and stayed clean for a while. Only to relapse again. And he had his first experiences with fentanyl. “It got really weird,” he explained. “I was yelling out the windows and talking to dead people. I broke everything in my house. I broke the tv. I had obituaries of strangers just spread out all over the house. I was losing my mind.” In a short period of time, Greg overdosed 24 times. “Eight of those times were really serious,” he said. “I woke up in the hospital. But sometimes, I’d come to on the floor, soaked in sweat. Every three times I would do drugs, I would OD. I was slowly dying. I had no desire to live anymore, but I was too scared to blow my own head off.” Greg believed that suicide was a mortal sin and that he wouldn’t see his loved ones in the afterlife if he killed himself. So he just kept killing the pain with drugs. “They gave me energy and took away all my pain,” he explained. “I didn’t feel nothing. No physical pain. No mental anguish. Addiction is a disease of feelings. I just didn’t want to feel anything anymore.” His body deteriorated to 150 pounds. He was simply withering away, waiting to die, until one day, his biker friends all came over to his house for an intervention. Each one of them poured out their hearts and let him know how much he meant to them. He went to rehab that night. While in rehab, he met City Mission Chaplain and Housing Coordinator, Doug Bush. And Greg knew that if he was really going to change, he needed to get right with God. After rehab, he came to City Mission to get his life back on track. “After eight months at the Mission, I accomplished so much,” he said. “I’m not at all the angry person I was not that long ago. I got my social security benefits. My resentments are pretty much all gone. Even my resentments against myself. Now, when I start to worry or when I feel the anger starting up, I just pray to God. I pray for strength. I pray prayers of gratitude. I pray for the anger to get pulled away from me. And it always does. And mostly, I pray for others.” “City Mission has given me a place to sit still,” he added. “They taught me patience. They taught me how to trust people again. They gave me something to believe in and taught me that there is something bigger than myself. They taught me how to pray and how to deal with my anxieties.” “You know, if anybody else would have done the things to me that I did to myself, I would’ve beat them up. Instead, I just beat myself up. And I just always thought that I deserved all the pain in my life and all the problems. But the Mission taught me that I’m not a bad person. They taught me how to be able to deal with myself.” “You can’t worry about yesterday,” Greg added. “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery, so you gotta live in the present. When you look in your rearview mirror, you only see a small picture, a limited view. Doing that kept me in my addiction for a long time.” Recently, Greg moved out of the Mission. He moved in with his stepson, while he looks for a place of his own. Today, he is looking forward to his future. “Today, I have no desire to put that junk in me ever again. I have no desire to die. I want to live. I want to have happiness.” And even with all his pain and physical ailments, he still wants to ride his motorcycle. “I’m going to ride my motorcycle for as long as I can. That’s my passion. To me, it’s freedom. It’s the best therapy I’ve ever had. When I get on a bike, all my pains are gone. I can ride for miles.” Greg has been given a second chance. Every day, more people just like Greg, come through our doors in need of healing and restoration. Please consider donating to City Mission HERE to help them turn their lives around.

"A Living Ministry"

July 21, 2023

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for human masters.” Colossians 3:23 “The City Mission Maintenance Department is about more than just accomplishing tasks,” said Director of Supportive Services, Jason Johnson. “It’s an organic, living ministry that God provides through Paul.” He was speaking about Paul Boardley, City Mission’s Maintenance Manager for the past 8 years, and the small team of City Mission residents he leads to maintain the buildings and the grounds around campus. Boardley worked for 36 years in the coal mine before retiring in 2011. He was ready to relax and play golf and enjoy his retirement, but God had a different plan for his life. Once he reluctantly accepted the position as Maintenance Manager at City Mission, he realized immediately that it was not just a job. It was a ministry! “Every day, God gives me the opportunity to come alongside the guys I work with,” said Boardly. “It’s really a blessing. The most important thing I do at the Mission every day is to let these guys know how much I love and care about them. And to let them know that we’re a team – a brotherhood. I’m so thankful every day for these guys.” Last month, Boardley’s maintenance crew fulfilled 78 work orders all over campus, with jobs ranging from changing a light bulb, to hanging blinds, to painting – anything that is needed. “The number’s not important,” Boardley explained. “It’s about getting done what the Mission needs to keep going.” But the Mission Maintenance crew saves City Mission thousands and thousands of dollars on jobs that would have otherwise had to be contracted out to vendors. This past week, Boardley and his team of three residents, Adam, Drew, and Eric, worked in our Women’s Shelter. They fixed a leaky toilet and replaced the damaged floor around it as well as part of the ceiling in the room below it. They also installed a brand-new sink in the bathroom and replaced a rotted-out window. Additionally, they serviced all of the window air-conditioning units in the Women’s Shelter. Before coming to City Mission from the Washington County Jail two months ago, Adam owned his own plumbing and construction business, so he has all the skills needed to do professional work all over campus. “I lost everything prior to coming here,” Adam explained. “I lost my business and all of my equipment, but now none of that really matters. This place has changed my life. God really changed me for the better, and I’m getting it all back tenfold.” At first, Adam was reluctant to come to a homeless shelter. “But this place is more like a home than a homeless shelter,” he said. “It’s a powerful place. Everybody here is so compassionate and open to listening to my thoughts and feelings and opinions. That’s pretty awesome. I used to keep everything bottled up. Being here has really helped me to open up.” Adam is grateful for the opportunity to give back to the Mission by using his construction skills to take care of the building and the grounds around campus. “It’s really satisfying to be able to give back,” he said. “This place has helped us. The least we can do is to do a good job and do things right.” And today, his future looks bright. “Anything I do for the rest of my life is going to be centered around Christ.” Drew came to City Mission 3 months ago. After living in California for 20 years, he moved back to the area recently to help care for his mom, who is struggling with dementia. When she moved into a nursing home, he started drinking heavily and realized that he couldn’t stop on his own, so he went to rehab in Aliquippa. But that proved to be too far from his mom, so as soon as he could, he came to City Mission. And he visits her every chance he gets. “I’m really impressed with Drew’s dedication to visiting his mom,” said Boardley. Twenty-some years ago, Drew moved out to California to help get away from the influences that were leading him down the road to addiction. “It was a sort of geographical cure,” he explained. For the most part, it worked. He had some bumps along the way, but he was able to work and develop years of experience in construction while living in California. With a degree in Aeronautics and decades of experience in construction, Drew brings a well-rounded skills and knowledge base to the Maintenance crew. On June 25, Drew and Adam were both baptized at the Porter Pillow and Peggie Beaver-Pillow Chapel on City Mission campus. It was a life-changing moment for both of them. Eric, the third member of the Maintenance crew, has been at City Mission for just over three months. This is his second stay at the Mission. “I was successful when I left here the first time,” he said. “It wasn’t that it was unsuccessful. How many times to Peter deny Him? We all have faults. We all have setbacks.” After he left the Mission a few years ago, Eric ended up back in the Washington County Jail. While he was there, he attended every Bible study he could. “In jail,” he added, “the whole time I just felt this yearning to come back to the Mission and to be closer to God.” “It’s hard to even put into words how I feel about this place,” he said. “The Mission has helped me in the process of completely getting out of my own way. It’s given me an opportunity to figure out how to love other people. To take the focus off of myself and put it on others in a truthful way. Mercy is love in action. If I can show mercy to others, then I’ll receive mercy in return. I’m just trying to figure out how to do it on a daily basis. And whenever I’m here at the Mission, it’s not about me.” “Every job is important,” explained Boardley, “when you do it for the Lord. God has us all here at the Mission for a reason. It’s not a coincedence. This is our chance to honor God with our lives. And God is doing tremendous work here at the Mission – changing lives, reuniting families, and saving souls.” You can help further the ministry at City Mission. We need your help to do what we do every day. Visit citymission.org to find out how you can help. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for human masters.” Colossians 3:23 “The City Mission Maintenance Department is about more than just accomplishing tasks,” said Director of Supportive Services, Jason Johnson. “It’s an organic, living ministry that God provides through Paul.” He was speaking about Paul Boardley, City Mission’s Maintenance Manager for the past 8 years, and the small team of City Mission residents he leads to maintain the buildings and the grounds around campus. Boardley worked for 36 years in the coal mine before retiring in 2011. He was ready to relax and play golf and enjoy his retirement, but God had a different plan for his life. Once he reluctantly accepted the position as Maintenance Manager at City Mission, he realized immediately that it was not just a job. It was a ministry! “Every day, God gives me the opportunity to come alongside the guys I work with,” said Boardly. “It’s really a blessing. The most important thing I do at the Mission every day is to let these guys know how much I love and care about them. And to let them know that we’re a team – a brotherhood. I’m so thankful every day for these guys.” Last month, Boardley’s maintenance crew fulfilled 78 work orders all over campus, with jobs ranging from changing a light bulb, to hanging blinds, to painting – anything that is needed. “The number’s not important,” Boardley explained. “It’s about getting done what the Mission needs to keep going.” But the Mission Maintenance crew saves City Mission thousands and thousands of dollars on jobs that would have otherwise had to be contracted out to vendors. This past week, Boardley and his team of three residents, Adam, Drew, and Eric, worked in our Women’s Shelter. They fixed a leaky toilet and replaced the damaged floor around it as well as part of the ceiling in the room below it. They also installed a brand-new sink in the bathroom and replaced a rotted-out window. Additionally, they serviced all of the window air-conditioning units in the Women’s Shelter. Before coming to City Mission from the Washington County Jail two months ago, Adam owned his own plumbing and construction business, so he has all the skills needed to do professional work all over campus. “I lost everything prior to coming here,” Adam explained. “I lost my business and all of my equipment, but now none of that really matters. This place has changed my life. God really changed me for the better, and I’m getting it all back tenfold.” At first, Adam was reluctant to come to a homeless shelter. “But this place is more like a home than a homeless shelter,” he said. “It’s a powerful place. Everybody here is so compassionate and open to listening to my thoughts and feelings and opinions. That’s pretty awesome. I used to keep everything bottled up. Being here has really helped me to open up.” Adam is grateful for the opportunity to give back to the Mission by using his construction skills to take care of the building and the grounds around campus. “It’s really satisfying to be able to give back,” he said. “This place has helped us. The least we can do is to do a good job and do things right.” And today, his future looks bright. “Anything I do for the rest of my life is going to be centered around Christ.” Drew came to City Mission 3 months ago. After living in California for 20 years, he moved back to the area recently to help care for his mom, who is struggling with dementia. When she moved into a nursing home, he started drinking heavily and realized that he couldn’t stop on his own, so he went to rehab in Aliquippa. But that proved to be too far from his mom, so as soon as he could, he came to City Mission. And he visits her every chance he gets. “I’m really impressed with Drew’s dedication to visiting his mom,” said Boardley. Twenty-some years ago, Drew moved out to California to help get away from the influences that were leading him down the road to addiction. “It was a sort of geographical cure,” he explained. For the most part, it worked. He had some bumps along the way, but he was able to work and develop years of experience in construction while living in California. With a degree in Aeronautics and decades of experience in construction, Drew brings a well-rounded skills and knowledge base to the Maintenance crew. On June 25, Drew and Adam were both baptized at the Porter Pillow and Peggie Beaver-Pillow Chapel on City Mission campus. It was a life-changing moment for both of them. Eric, the third member of the Maintenance crew, has been at City Mission for just over three months. This is his second stay at the Mission. “I was successful when I left here the first time,” he said. “It wasn’t that it was unsuccessful. How many times to Peter deny Him? We all have faults. We all have setbacks.” After he left the Mission a few years ago, Eric ended up back in the Washington County Jail. While he was there, he attended every Bible study he could. “In jail,” he added, “the whole time I just felt this yearning to come back to the Mission and to be closer to God.” “It’s hard to even put into words how I feel about this place,” he said. “The Mission has helped me in the process of completely getting out of my own way. It’s given me an opportunity to figure out how to love other people. To take the focus off of myself and put it on others in a truthful way. Mercy is love in action. If I can show mercy to others, then I’ll receive mercy in return. I’m just trying to figure out how to do it on a daily basis. And whenever I’m here at the Mission, it’s not about me.” “Every job is important,” explained Boardley, “when you do it for the Lord. God has us all here at the Mission for a reason. It’s not a coincedence. This is our chance to honor God with our lives. And God is doing tremendous work here at the Mission – changing lives, reuniting families, and saving souls.” You can help further the ministry at City Mission. We need your help to do what we do every day. Visit citymission.org to find out how you can help.

"A Story of Love and Redemption"

June 29, 2023

A few months ago, Johnny, a former City Mission resident, traveled to Washington D.C., as an advocate for the homeless and low-income families, and spoke with a United States Senator about continued funding to help those in need. “It’s an honor to serve the homeless in this way,” Johnny said. He is the only advocate from Washington County who is a member of the National Low-Income Housing Coalition and the Pennsylvania Housing Alliance. “Four years ago, when I was sitting in a jail cell, I never thought I’d be in a US Senators’ office one day talking about the federal budget.” People can change. Johnny is living proof of that. Five years ago, his truck careened down the highway as he led police on a 63-mile car chase. His vehicle suddenly flipped over and crashed into the Ohio River Spillway. “God pulled me out of that truck,” Johnny said, recalling the terrifying moment. “That’s what saved my life. I know that may sound strange to some people. But it’s the only reason I’m still alive.” After he was captured by police, they took him to jail, and he was immediately drawn to the Bibles on the jail pod. He joined a Bible study group, and even when all the other guys fell away, he continued to wake up at 4:30 every morning to pray, read the Bible, and worship. “It just gave me this overwhelming peace that I’ve never known,” he explained. “It was really the first time I ever had a relationship with Christ.” The experience changed him. “I started to think for myself. I decided, no more drugs or gangs on the inside. And I just started changing. I started writing sermons and worship songs.” When he got out on parole in January of 2020, he came to City Mission, and he became a new person. Johnny was born and raised in and around Washington, PA, but he moved around a lot as a kid. “I’ve never lived in any one place more than two years, except for jail cells,” he explained. He and his brother were raised by a single mom. “She worked three jobs. She did the best she knew how to do,” he said. At age 6, he suffered childhood abuse, and he kept it a secret for 20 years. “I had a good life in some respects. I was never hungry. I always had clothes, but I had this secret,” he explained. “I never told anybody. I was too scared. One day, somebody asked me if I wanted to get high. I said sure. They were huffing gas. For a split second, I didn’t feel anything. All that fear was gone, and all I wanted was to be without fear.” He was eight years old. His life of addiction had already begun. He started huffing inhalants and abusing over-the-counter drugs. When he was just 10 years old, he went away to a mental hospital. He committed his first felony at 14. When he was 16, he dropped out of high school and moved into his own apartment near Washington & Jefferson College. He got a job and paid his rent and lived on his own. His life actually started to normalize a bit. Then, he met a girl and started drinking again. “I just thought I was normal. I was drinking, but everybody around me was drinking,” he said. “And I had a full-time job, so I didn’t think there was a problem. I didn’t understand addiction yet.” Then, when he was 18, he was in a horrific car wreck that left his entire lower body broken. He couldn’t work or even walk without assistance, so he moved back in with his mom. His then-girlfriend introduced him to some new drugs that helped him at the time to deal with the pain of his injuries, but his drug use created conflict with his mom. She kicked him out of the house as soon as he could walk again. “I deserved it,” he recalled. With nowhere to live, he moved in with his grandparents. When his grandmother, who had worked as a nurse at City Mission, passed away in 2006, Johnny moved to Florida. “I was just trying to run away from my problems,” he explained. He moved in with a cousin in Florida, but eventually, he wound up homeless. And in 2009, his addiction landed him in prison. He got out for 10 months and then went back to prison for another five years. In 2016, he got married and then moved to Florida with his family in 2018. He landed a great job. But it wasn’t long before he abandoned his wife, his two daughters, and his job to go get high. Once again, he ended up in prison. When he was finally paroled in 2020, he came to City Mission. It was early on in the Covid pandemic, and we were locked down to protect our residents. It was a difficult and isolating time for everybody, but for people in recovery, it was downright dangerous. When Johnny arrived, he poured himself into helping other people. “It was a rough on everybody,” he remembered. “I couldn’t see my kids. But I made sure we always had AA meetings running and that Zoom was always setup so people could join remotely. I made sure the women always had services on Wednesdays.” During that time, he also built a beautiful fountain behind the women’s shelter and planted rose bushes to help beautify the City Mission campus. The Mission turned out to be the perfect place for his recovery. The morning devotions, chapel services, and Bible studies stoked the fires of his newfound faith. The on-site recovery meetings helped him stabilize his addiction and find meaning and purpose in helping others. The Mission also connected him with a local therapist to address his childhood trauma and mental health issues. Since 2020, he has continued to stay clean, go to therapy, and take his medication. Additionally, the Mission provided a safe place for him to rebuild relationships with his wife and two daughters. And over time, he was able to reunify with his family. Today, they all live together, pray together, and worship together. Johnny has learned how to be the husband and father that they need. In September, Johnny and his wife will be renewing their vows. “My wife has endured,” he said. “Our story is a story of love and redemption, and together, that’s what we’re trying to give back to the world. God is guiding our family. All people are God’s people. So we just love everybody. All love, all ways—that’s our family motto.” When Johnny was preparing to move out of City Mission, he needed a job, so he connected with our Career Training and Education Center. He filled out 116 job applications before he finally got a job. “All people saw was who I was on paper. They couldn’t see beyond my past,” he explained. “But who I was when I was using and out on the street was completely different from who I ever was clean. I’ve never been violent. I was more of a coward than anything. Being at the Mission taught me how to be a man.” When he finally got his first job, there was much rejoicing at the Mission. At last, an employer saw who he was instead of who he used to be, and they gave him a chance to prove himself. It was a retail job, an industry he had zero experience in, but he worked there for just under a year before landing a job for an oil and gas company, where he worked there for one year, starting out as a shop hand and working his way up to valve technician, responsible for millions of dollars worth of inventory. Recently, City Mission hired Johnny as our new Work Readiness Coordinator. “I needed more fulfilment in my life,” he explained of his move to this new job at the Mission. “I love working in treatment. I love having the opportunity to just love people unconditionally until they can love themselves. God didn’t save my life and carry me through all these situations in my life for me to not give back and help others.” Johnny is a new man. He has a new life. He rebuilt relationships with his familiy. He surrounded himself with good people. He worked hard to make himself a better man, a better husband, a better father, a better son, a better friend to those in need. “City Mission saved my life,” Johnny said. “It taught me how to be a man so that I could in turn be the man for my family that they deserve. It taught me how to value myself and love myself and in turn helped me to love other people. City Mission not only saved my life, but they helped me put my family back together.” Give today to City Mission, and help residents like Johnny turn their lives around. Visit www.citymission.org

"Eternally Grateful"

May 17, 2023

Four years ago, Joe almost died. He was rushed by ambulance to the hospital. His pancreas was on the verge of exploding. The emergency room doctor told him if he had waited another day, he would be dead. “That was an eye opener for me to say the least,” Joe said. A week earlier, he got into a heated argument with the woman he was living with, so he left his home with nothing but the clothes on his back and all the cash he could carry. For the next week, he holed up in a hotel and nearly drank himself to death. “I probably would have, if I had more money,” he admitted. But he wasn’t exactly drinking liquor or beer. He was drinking mouthwash. The woman he was living with before he moved out had introduced him to drinking mouthwash, because it was so inexpensive and easy to access. “That was the beginning of my rock bottom,” Joe explained. After a weeklong bender at the hotel, he started feeling sick. The manager of the hotel took one look at him and called 9-1-1. “At the hospital, they took every fluid out of my body and tested it,” Joe recalled. Eventually, he was diagnosed with acute alcoholic pancreatitis and stayed in the hospital for seven days. After that, he checked into rehab…on his birthday. Ironically, it was on his eighteenth birthday, forty years earlier, when he took his first drink. He never had much adult supervision growing up. His parents were in their forties when he was born, so for the first three years of his life, he was raised by his older sister, who was only sixteen. His siblings were both grown and out of the house by the time he was in kindergarten, so he was raised for most of his life as an only child. “I was on my own for most of my life when I was growing up,” he explained. “It made me become very resourceful for myself. My parents didn’t want to be bothered, so I found my own way. And I found ways to entertain myself.” He worked hard at school and was a good kid, but when he turned eighteen, he had no idea what he wanted to do with his life. He couldn’t afford college. So when his best friend showed up on the night of his birthday with a bottle of whiskey, he went along for the ride. They spent the night in a cave in the woods and got completely drunk. “That was my first step down the road to alcoholism,” he said. After graduation, Joe joined the Air Force and served a full term of active duty working in electronic communications, maintaining cryptographic equipment that scrambled and descrambled highly-confidential print messages and voice communications. To do this work, he had to gain top secret security clearances. “I could have walked into the White House and shook hands with the President if I wanted to,” Joe said. After the military, Joe floated through a host of other jobs including security at a college campus, being a mechanic at a quick oil change shop, a fabricator at a steel manufacturing plant, and a salesman for an insurance company. He also got married at one point. Tragically, his wife passed away from ovarian cancer only a few years into their marriage. All the while, Joe was using alcohol to escape the everyday problems and stressors of life. “I was basically killing myself for forty years,” he said of his alcoholism. “I felt like the alcohol helped me function, but in reality, it was hurting my functionality. I felt like I could do things better, but really it made things worse. It was hiding emotional pain – from my upbringing, from life in general, but it’s the aftermath of drinking where you pay for a few hours of feeling good. The problems you are trying to hide from are still there. The best way to deal with problems is to hit them head on.” After rehab, Joe finally decided to hit his problems head on. With nowhere else to go, he came to City Mission and lived for nearly four years at our Crabtree Kovacicek Veterans House. During that time, he transformed his life. He got himself sober and connected to veterans’ services. “City Mission gave me an opportunity to take a step back from the world, to concentrate on myself and get my life back together,” he said. “Get the mental health treatments I needed. Go to meetings. An opportunity to refect on myself and stop beating myself up like I was 40 years.” At our Veterans House, Joe was surrounded by men he could talk to who understood his struggles and could relate to his problems in ways he had never really experienced before. “I can discuss veteran problems with the guys here that other people just don’t understand,” he said. “And I feel a lot better about being a veteran now than I did before I got here.” In additional to case management, recovery services, and emotional and psychological support, City Mission helped him with the fundamentals of independent living, like getting his Driver’s License back. “That was a big step for me to independence,” he said. “I didn’t like having to count on other people to take me everywhere. Tomorrow, I’m even going to look for a car of my own.” The Mission also helped him get a job that he loves at a local manufacturing plant. “It’s the kind of work I was born to do,” he explained. “They like me, and I like them, and I like the work I’m doing.” Now, Joe is working on moving out on his own, but he will never forget what the Mission has done for him to turn his life around. “I am eternally grateful to the Mission for giving me the time and resources to get myself back together again,” he said. I’m not stuck in my past anymore. Now, I just focus on what I have to do next.” Joe is not alone. Nearly seven percent of Pennsylvania’s veterans live in poverty, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development estimates there are nearly 1,000 homeless veterans in Pennsylvania alone – though the number is likely much higher, since veteran homelessness is complex and difficult to track. City Mission is proud to provide food, shelter, resources, and hope to those who served our country. They served us. Let’s serve them. If you are or know a veteran who is homeless or in need, please call City Mission at 724-222-8530. If you would like to donate to our ministry, please visit https://give.citymission.org/for/citmis/info/preheader

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.

Ride Like the Wind

"A Living Ministry"

"A Story of Love and Redemption"

"Eternally Grateful"

Your Support Meets Needs & Transforms Lives