The Downtown Rescue Mission is a nonprofit organization serving the homeless living throughout northern Alabama and southern Tennessee. For more than 30 years, we have saved numerous lives and have had a profound impact on thousands of others by providing Christ-filled, enriched and compassionate services to those in desperate need.

From the President/CEO: Blooming into Life

Some years it almost seems as though the leaves on the trees and the flowers on the ground burst out over night as we go from winter to spring. This year it seemed to have happened that way and earlier in the season than most years. I uncovered my pool and was mowing my lawn by the end of March and that is definitely early.

Here at the Mission, Spring reminds me of new life especially for the men and women in our programs. Many who come to the Mission have received a new life as they accept Christ as their Savior. Sometimes this happens over night, but most of the time it takes months and even years of teaching and counseling for our folks to accept this wonderful free gift.

It can be difficult for my staff and I who see many successes, but also see many who never truly change their heart and life for God. Often we see men and women who come and go in and out of the Mission just using our programs and services and then leaving and coming back to do it all over again a few months later. I remind my staff that we will always be here as a place of not just second chances, but third chances, forth chances, fifth chances and so on.

It reminds me of a gentleman named Moe who came to the Mission and entered our Bible based program five times before, in his words, “it clicked” in his life. Thank God we didn’t tell Moe he only had one chance! Moe went on to working full time and ended up being the head of security. He had also found a good church and was mending his relationships with his family and friends. Moe truly bloomed into a new person once he gave his life over to God.

II Corinthians 5:14-17 is truly emblematic of what happens every day in men, women and children’s lives at the Downtown Rescue Mission… “For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things are passed away; behold, new things have come.”

Keith Overholt, MBA
President/CEO