Give a Meal.
Change a Life.
Each $4.11 feeds one person this holiday season.
Your Gift Will Make a Difference
Neighbors in our community are hurting and more people are coming to the Tacoma Rescue Mission this time of year than any other. We need your help to make sure that everyone who comes through our doors receives the food, shelter and care they deserve. I see lives changed here every day—and it most often starts with a meal.
Change Another Life Today!
A Shattered Family, Restored
Mandi was married for 13 years, 10 of which she suffered physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her husband.
“The way I was raised was to hold onto a marriage. You don’t divorce. I didn’t want to hurt my kids, but in the end it just got bad,” Mandi says. “I ended up joining him in his addiction instead of leaving because I thought it might save my marriage. I thought, ‘If I can’t beat him, join him.’”
Mandi’s addiction quickly got out of control, and she ended up in prison. It was horrible, but at least Mandi was safe from her husband. The distance helped her see how unhealthy their marriage was. She filed the divorce paperwork from jail and Mandi’s kids went into foster care.
Mandi’s parents became her only support system. But as they got older, their health deteriorated. They died six months apart. Without a support system, Mandi felt more alone than ever. She turned to drugs to try to cope and fell back into the trap of addiction. She ended up hungry, homeless and alone.
“Thank God for the Mission. I came here for a hot meal and found out about the New Life Recovery Program,” she says. “I mean, just the love and the support in that community is tremendous.”
That community feeling gave Mandi the strength to keep going. Today she is sober, attending college and has restored relationships with her kids. This will be the first time they celebrate Christmas together as a safe, healthy family and friends like you made it possible!
Will you make that kind of transformation possible for someone else by providing another meal?
A Meal is the First Step
The desperate need for food often brings men, women, and children to the Mission for the first time. After they eat, they discover everything they need to change their lives is right here, including resources such as:
Daily Meals
Daily Meals
“I thought there was no love for me out there anymore, but I was wrong. There is, and I found that in a meal.” – James
Shelter
Shelter
“If this place did not exist, our baby would have died. That’s a hard, medical fact.” – Dave
Job Readiness
Job Readiness
“The staff at the Mission gave me a voice . . . they kept encouraging me and more.” – Jason
Education
Education
“The Mission helped me be more than I was. Without the confidence I now have with my GED, I wouldn’t be where I am.” – Paul
Addiction Recovery
Addiction Recovery
“This program is what made the difference. It’s not a clean and sober program, it’s discipleship.” – Morgan
Faith Formation
Faith Formation
“I felt like there were chains holding me down. I didn’t know I could ask Jesus to release me. I can breathe now. Before, I felt dead.” – Kathleen
Mental Health
Mental Health
“I learned where my behaviors came from. Why I was so angry and defensive. It helped me have goals and achieve them.” – Amanda
Veteran Services
Veteran Services
“My life was getting bleaker. Being here gave me hope. You can really see the staff’s dedication to helping veterans like me.” – Justin
Youth Services
Youth Services
“Without the Mission, I wouldn’t be graduating.” – Tre’von, Age 17
We’re All In This Together
The Mission is
Changing our City
“I enthusiastically support the Tacoma Rescue Mission in its work to meet the essential needs of our Tacoma citizens that struggle with homelessness. As Tacoma’s mayor, I believe that our community is only as strong as our ability to care for our most vulnerable residents. Through their efforts, the Tacoma Rescue Mission is creating durable pathways out of homelessness and poverty, extending real hope and ultimately helping build a more thriving city.”
Victoria Woodards | City of Tacoma Mayor
Meals are a basic need
“The meal services at TRM are so important for our community members experiencing homeless. It is the connection we make with each person we serve a meal to. Everyone deserves warm healthy food and Tacoma Rescue Mission does a great job of making each person they feed feel loved and respected.”
Alan & Rondi Miller
Lives Changed
Because of Friends Like You
“Now I have 16 months clean, I have a relationship with my children and grandchildren, I’ve overcome co-dependency, I have and apartment, a license and a car. It’s changed my whole life. And it’s just crazy to think it all started with coming to the Mission for dinner.”
Stephanie
“I thought there was no love for me out there anymore, but I was wrong. There is, and I found that in a meal.”
James
“When you have good food in your belly then the whole day is so much better. You start to have a future when you start feeling good”
Trevor
“That Thanksgiving meal showed me there was still hope.”
Kenneth
“When you’re hungry and dehydrated you start to lose grip on what’s going on. Just being able to get something to eat can center you again.”
Carol
“To see meals being handed out, I was so thankful for whoever was behind it. Like I was in tears, it meant so much.”
Dustin
“I was giving myself a slow death out there on the streets. I started coming here for dinner. The Mission saved my life.”
Sofia
“When you’re starving, you feel so weak. You can barely move, much less walk around. That first meal I had at the Mission turned everything around.”
Melissa
“Without this place, I would’ve been hopeless myself. I wouldn’t have known what to do.”
Willie
“I kind of gave up out on the streets because I didn’t think there were really any good people in the world. But when I came here and got a meal, everybody here was so nice and genuinely cared. It was a bright spot.”
Robert
“If someone cares enough to give me a hot meal, then maybe I can actually change.”
James
“I saw that it wasn’t just an act . . . the meals that staff and volunteers were serving showed me they cared. And wanted to help everyone coming through the doors anyway they could.”
Paul
“I thought I was actually going to dinner with my family jut because of the way they served us.”
Cameron
“The Mission is where most homeless people go to eat because they know that eating is different for someone who’s homeless. It’s not just eating, it’s that for a few hours you’re warm, you can use the bathroom, you can talk to the person you need to talk to so you can get help.”
Maria
“Feeding people is a big part of just opening the door. We do more than serve the homeless. We give people hope, security and motivation.”
Andrew, Mission Staff
“We love because he first loved us.”
1 John 4:19 (NIV)
It Starts with YOU
Give a Meal.
Change a Life.
Each $4.11 helps provide one life-changing meal this holiday season.
