Victory Mission + Ministry

Victory Mission seeks to understand the causes of homelessness, addiction, hunger, and poverty, so they can design interventions that alleviate the problem. Causes that we have identified include:

- Men not available to support their families and single mothers struggling to get by on an individual income and/or welfare assistance,
- A skills gap for those men and women seeking living-wage employment,
- A childhood history of trauma that leads to self-medicating and eventual substance abuse addiction,
- A cycle of criminal behavior associated with high levels of recidivism and blacklisting from employment,
- A local culture of generational poverty, where children in poverty grow up to be adults in poverty. This generational cycle includes Ruby Payne’s “hidden rules of class” and inexperience budgeting or maximizing resources.

The primary goal of the project is to create an intentional pipeline of services that empowers men and women dealing with addiction issues for living wage employment.

Victory Mission focuses on the local causes of poverty by serving participants in the outreach, workforce development, and restoration service delivery systems. Outreach includes 30 days of free consecutive emergency shelter stay, a mobile food pantry, and street outreach.

Workforce Development addresses cycles of unemployment. Men and women are able to attend classes, complete internships, or participate in apprenticeships to develop skills and learn about long-term employment. Emergency Shelter guests can participate in a WorkReady BootCamp. This prepares them to re-enter or enter for the first time. This is a week-long intensive program focusing on resumes, interviewing, anger management, and tools to work with a team.

The Restoration Program is for men and women looking for holistic transformation. This is a long-term program where individuals receive case management, licensed mental health care, certified substance abuse counseling, evidence based soft skills training, reliable shelter, and paid employment in social enterprise (coffee, warehouse). Individuals graduate Victory with an increase in capacity to; serve their children through modeling positive behaviors, their employer by producing more as an employee, and their community as a tax-paying citizen that is engaged in the life around him/her.

Springfield Victory Mission plans to generate $2,500,000 in revenue in 2023 to cover the projected expenses of $2,500,000. Victory is focused on work-ready participants.

In 2022 ten of the individuals who entered the restoration program completed the intake process and received support for all 12 months. This includes the first woman to complete the restoration program. All ten have living wage jobs at employers like Springfield Manufacturing Company. Victory Mission will continue to expand the intake process to increase the number of graduates from phase three of the restoration program with living wage jobs with women and men.