SUNSHINE RESCUE MISSION

In 2020 our goal is to serve more people in a profoundly transformative way than we did in 2019.

2019 Bed Nights: 47,268 (men, women and children).
2019 Meals Served: 69,015
2019 Food Rescued: 119 Tons - Food close to expiration from grocery stores that would have otherwise landed in city dumpsters.
2019 Lives Transformed: Many of the people we serve in our shelters have been to multiple secular addiction rehabilitation centers or mental health care facilities. We find that many struggle with shame, isolation, fear, an overwhelming lack of hope, and more. These issues can be described as a spiritual crisis or a deep wound. These people are often on the street and do not have the financial resources to pay for counseling or any other support.
Without God, many have a hard time starting over, forgiving themselves for past mistakes, or envisioning any sort of better future. They cannot find the strength and ability within themselves, alone, to evoke change. Yes, we are a faith-based organization but do not require that guests to our facilities be of any faith at all. We turn no one away for any reason. Each year, many do find faith in God to be the catalyst to inner healing and the source of courage to embrace a better life. In 2019, 149 people chose to believe that they were created for a purpose, that their life is valuable, and found the strength to overcome the pain of addiction, abuse and other traumas that plagued them. This dramatic transformation happens through the life-changing reality of The Gospel and the radical love of Jesus Christ. On our best days, our staff tries to follow Christ's simple call to "love one another. By the grace of God and amazing donors, He does the rest.

Our longer-term goal is incredible.

We want to renovate two of our older properties. Once accomplished we will embrace a new endeavor, a new business model that totally ends homeless. We dream of building a sustainable Tiny Home Community Village intermixed with Micro Businesses and Social Enterprises. It will be called Hope Community Village. We will continue to Rescue & Restore men, women, and children at Hope Cottage and The Mission because these are our rescue and recovery centers! The challenge happens when people leave our recovery centers without family or community support. When the village is built, people, “formerly homeless” will find meaningful work, earn a dignified income, and pay a modest rent on a tiny home of their own. This will be permanent supportive housing for people who used to be on the street. Mentors called "Befriender's" will live, serve and work in the tiny home village. These are individuals, (like our current staff), who are called into a life of service alongside neighbors who were formerly homeless. We are committed to this new dream! There are other great non-profits around the country pursuing this model; a permanent path out of homelessness. We need to raise the funds to purchase the property!

We have an incredible donor base that currently works to support all we do, and have been doing for years. Our new CEO has experience in business management and non-profit grant acquisition and oversight. Her expertise has resulted in increased revenue in 2020 and the purchase of a thrift store. Even with the challenges of COVID-19, the thrift store has placed SRM in the black for the first time in years. As retail recovers from the pandemic, the thrift store should only increase in revenue. This will more than sustain our current shelter and recovery goals.

We are in the process of applying for a Federal Home Loan grant to completely renovate our older properties. Hope Cottage (women and children's shelter) is only 10 years old and is an excellent facility. The men's Rescue Mission and our transitional housing facility are in dire need of renovation. We now have approximately $120,000 to contribute as matching funds toward this grant. If this grant is awarded, our current properties will be in like-new condition and our transitional housing facility will bring in additional revenue while meeting it's current program goals.

We are planning to launch a Capital Fundraising Campaign to raise the funds to purchase land. Land and other capital will serve as the match to obtain a very large, multi-million dollar grant to begin construction on Hope Community Village. We plan to challenge our local state university to partner with us. Their Construction Management team is excited about designing sustainable-green tiny homes and the other buildings necessary. Local home builders will be invited to help build tiny homes. One such contractor said, "I could build one of those homes with what I toss in the dumpster while building a regular-sized home".

We know this is a grand new vision. Acquiring land will be what launches this dream.

SRM is debt free.

Eleven years ago we raised a million dollars and wrote to the Federal Home Loan Bank for a matching million. With $2,000,000 Hope Cottage was built. We not only remained debt free through this major capital project but we have remained in stellar compliance with the Federal Home Loan Bank. This grant will be forgiven in four more years, completing our fifteen year requirement. Due to our excellent grant management track record they have shared with SRM that we are a solid candidate for a much larger project. Donors are looking for organizations who have successfully continued to serve the purpose funded. We can certainly demonstrate that!

SRM would hire the same highly successful consultants that supported us with the building of Hope Cottage. These consultants and grant-writing team have helped many faith-based organizations (exactly like ours), with major capital acquisition and construction projects. This consulting team is larger and better equipped (then they were 11 years ago), to acquire the grants and financial resources for a multi-million dollar project. Furthermore, these consultants are already involved in funding a tiny-home community village like the one we dream of building. They fully understand the model and are excited to move forward.

We are currently working on the first three success indicators.

1) We are launching an advertising campaign regarding the thrift store, something we held off on during COVID-19.
To strengthen this important endeavor we have just launched a new website that is very interactive, inviting a greater level of volunteerism at all facilities, including the thrift store. Staff will plan live music, BBQ's and other events at the thrift store to bring in more sellable donations and generate sales.
2) SRM is launching a donor outreach campaign specifically focused on churches in northern Arizona that do not seem to know about SRM. SRM has been invited to be a regular guest on a local radio show which is already raising awareness. Last but not least we are continuing to look for granting sources never utilized before. We hope these endeavors and more will help raise the $100,000 in matching funds needed for our current property renovation project.
3) We have already entered into a $1,250,000 grant writing contract with our consultants who are already working on the Federal Home Loan grant application for submission. This will be the grant that renovates our two older properties The deadline for submission has not yet been determined so we are racing for an early 2021 submission.
4) We have hired a renowned videographer who is creating a moving video to support the launching of the Capital Fundraising Campaign that will be working toward property acquisition. Some of our current shelter residents are excited about sharing their recovery story to help energize the Capital Fundraising Campaign.