Clark Talks About Roanoke's Rescue Mission

As the director of development and administration for The Rescue Mission in Roanoke, Lee Clark gets to see the interworking of non-profit agency each day that he goes into work.

A volunteer turned staffer; Clark says that he believes in the work that is being done at the mission. The Roanoke Rescue Mission is a non-profit organization in Roanoke that consists of many different services to help those in crisis.

The mission has a family shelter, a single men’s shelter, a single women’s shelter and a respite care shelter within its program.

Clark highlighted this mission by explaining a typical night at the emergency shelter. A normal night at the shelter would begin at 4:30 p.m., when the people are checked into the shelter. Afterwards they are served dinner. Next, each person staying in the shelter goes to chapel where one of the Christian churches in the area holds a service.

Clark pointed out that the Rescue Mission is one of the only shelters that he knows of that holds a chapel service every night.

After chapel, the Mission's overnight guests are allowed a shower and a clean bed. The shelters guests wake early in the morning to remake their beds with clean linens provided by the shelter. They then leave the sleeping area so that the shelter can be cleaned and prepared for another night.

According to Clark, the emergency shelter does not turn people away even during a time when there may not be enough beds for every person.

Aside from the emergency shelter, the mission offers several other services to those in crisis. One of these other services is providing food for the hungry. Approximately 350,000 meals are fed to people who visit the mission each year.

This service is not limited to those people staying in the shelter; anyone who is hungry is welcome to find food and relief at the mission. The mission also offers recovery programs, a women and children’s center, a learning center and a free clinic along with many more programs.

Although the mission receives no government funding, donations from individuals and companies have made all of these services possible. This growth is especially highlighted in the mission’s newest expansion, which is its new free clinic. With a new building and new equipment, Clark is hopeful that many people in crisis will be able to receive health care. For Clark the mission statement summarizes the rescue mission’s work. “Helping hurting people in Jesus’ name is our mission.” What follows is a selection of questions asked in an interview with Lee Clark, the director of development and administration for the Roanoke Rescue Mission.

Q: What does your job entail?

Clark: “I do marketing and fundraising work. We have a volunteer coordinator and she reports to me. We have a receptionist team that reports to me, and then I work with our accounting functions and things like that.”

Q: How did you first get involved with the rescue mission?

Clark: “As a volunteer.”

Q: How long have you been involved with the rescue mission?

Clark: “Nine years.”

Q: What are some ways that people in the community can get involved?

Clark: “There are numerous volunteer opportunities here at the mission. A good example is that we have volunteers that read to the children that stay at the mission. There is also an opportunity for those persons with a medical background to help in our free clinic.”… “We also receive donations to our thrift store from people in the community and things like that.”

Q: What does the mission need the most right now?

Clark: “The mission has put out a wish list for 2010 with items that we use everyday. For example on average we use 110 rolls of toilet paper per day… for the month of March the wish list is asking for laundry detergent and BIZ…April has deodorant and disposable razors listed.”

Q: I read on the website about how the mission got started and how it seems to have continuously grown over the years, to what do you attribute the missions success?

Clark: “I think that it is a number of factors. I think that we have always grown in order to meet a real need and when you think of someone not having a place to stay that is safe or food to eat or not having clothes or medical care; very basic human needs. I think that people have wanted to get involved and be a part of that. I think we have also done a good job of telling our story and by doing tours we allow people to see what we are doing and once they see they usually want to get involved.”

Q: How many people find shelter in the rescue mission?

Clark: “Right now we are averaging about 340 people a night in the shelter and in all of our areas we have a total of 398 beds so what that means is you have a men’s shelter area, you have a women’s shelter area, plus our recovery program. Usually in one of those areas the beds are all full and somebody is sleeping on the floor.”

Q: How have these strenuous economic times affected the rescue mission?

Clark: “The last two years the numbers have gone up pretty rapidly. People that are working have lost their housing for a variety of reasons and end up here in shelter. People that never thought they would be in an emergency shelter but ended up here. “

Q: How does the family shelter operate?

Clark: “For a family that is here that is homeless their average stay is going to be two to three months. This is until they get into permanent housing. We employ a case manager who is working with the families to help them save their money, help them find resources, get IDs, and to eventually move into permanent housing.

Q: In what ways are children accommodated in the mission?

Clark: “We have activities on pretty much an every weeknight basis where we have volunteers who come in and work with the kids that are in shelter and they do things with them that are just really fun. It can be just reading to the kids or doing a craft with the kids or have a movie night with the children. We also partner with the science museum the art museum and they’ll provide free admission and we’ll provide transportation and get the kids to the places to go experience that and get to do some things they may not get to do otherwise. Also it gives the parents some ideas of what to do with their kids…we can show them how much value there is in reading to the kids. They can learn and grow from that and hopefully incorporate that when they leave shelter.”

Q: Could you give me some of the highlights about the new free clinic that you are opening?

Clark: “Well, we are the only free clinic in Virginia that is on sight for the homeless at a shelter… the free clinic will provide medical, dental, and psychiatric care… it should open any day now.”