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About City Rescue Mission
Faith-based, solution-based ministry providing a path back to hope for the homeless
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For nearly 60 years, City Rescue Mission has been a beacon of hope to thousands in Oklahoma City and beyond.
We’re here to help. Because sometimes bad things happen in life, leading people to make choices that lead them to a dark place. Without a good support system, people can turn to drugs, alcohol and crime, landing them on the cusp of homelessness.
City Rescue Mission offers a path back to hope. Instead of indefinite shelter, we offer a clean, safe, temporary place to stay and successful programs and services to help people transform their lives for the better.
Through our Bridge to Life recovery program, we help people overcome the problems and issues that prevent them from living their best life. And we support our guests every step of the way, with counseling, job training, educational opportunities and more.
At City Rescue Mission, we are:
Christ-Centered
Jesus is our rock
We’re believers united through Christ to serve God and the poor. Our faith compels us to make our services and programs available to people of all backgrounds. Our arms are open to anybody, regardless of race, class, gender or religious beliefs.
Compassionate
We're dedicated to the wellbeing of others
When people are lost, we help them find their way. We’re as focused on the mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing of others as we are our own.
Hopeful
People can change – and do
We’re optimistic by choice. When times are hard, we’re confident things can get better. The lost can find their way back onto the path toward a better future. Tired souls can find rest. Bitter attitudes can sweeten. We believe everyone is fully capable of changing for the better, to become the person they’re meant to be.
Responsible
We keep our word
We keep our word and expect others to keep theirs. We’re good stewards of our facility and our community. We hold ourselves and our staff accountable. We’re fiscally and operationally responsible.
Statement of Faith
- We believe the Bible to be the inspired and the only infallible, authoritative Word of God and that it is the supreme and final authority in faith and life.
- We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
- We believe in the deity of Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, in His present rule as Head of the Church, and in His personal return in power and glory.
- We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful men, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
- We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit, by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
- We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; that the saved are saved unto the resurrection of life, and that the lost are lost unto the resurrection of damnation.
- We believe in the spiritual unity of believers in our Lord Jesus Christ, with equality across racial, gender, and class difference.
Our History
1960
City Rescue Mission is founded by a group of businessmen concerned about helping the transient population in downtown Oklahoma City. The Mission opens a 20-bed facility serving men only.
1968
City Rescue Mission purchases property at 523 S. Robinson, doubling previous capacity to include space and services for women.
1980
A local church donates property adjacent to City Rescue Mission, giving the Mission the ability to open a dedicated women’s shelter and family shelter as well as a weekly medical clinic and educational facility.
1992
Local businessmen, the Belsky Brothers, donate two properties on the 800 block of West California Avenue.
1994
Mission purchases the remainder of the block from the Oklahoma City School Board, and launches a five-year, $4.5 million capital campaign to include renovation and construction of a new facility.
2000
Current facility located on the 800 block of West California Ave opens in November.
2007
Rev. Tom Jones joins City Rescue Mission as President and CEO. Under Jones’s leadership, City Rescue Mission develops the Bridge to Life recovery program.
Today
City Rescue Mission has expanded its Social Services Coordination by partnering with more than 70 local agencies offering comprehensive care, free of charge, to any client, including those from the community at large.
Executive Staff
Erin Goodin
Interim President
Erin Goodin
Vice President
Kim Combs
Vice President
Adam Jones
Vice President
Directors
Debbie MacDonald
Development Director
Brenda Guisinger
Executive Assistant
Charlie Buchanan
Security Director
Danielle Mayes
BTL Program Administrator
Gus Guisinger
Operations Director
Raymond Rivas
Men’s Center Director
Shanda Glover
Women’s Center Director
Skip Bold
Volunteer Coordinator
Management Staff
Brandie Goins
Accounts Receivable Manager
Carol Sparr
Women’s Center Assistant Director/ Specialized Services Case Manager
Christie Honza
Community Outreach Coordinator
Donna Schlueter
Administrative Assistant
Treina Castleberry
Marketing Director
Ray Dillahunty
Night Security
Makayla Tanquary
Recovery Case Manager
Ron Jensen
Men’s Center Security
Sean West
Recovery Case Manager
Shellie Holt
Events Director
Marilyn Bond
Kitchen Manager
Allen Shaw
Intake Specialist and Short Term Case Manager
Damion Swearingen
Warehouse Supervisor
Samantha Temple
Work and School Case Manager
Jeremy Torres
Men’s Center Assistant Director/ Recovery Case Manager
Abby Smith
Women with Children Case Manager
Greg Mash
Recovery Case Manager
Jannie Coverdale
Volunteer Aid
Paula Clymer
Kitchen Assistant Manager
Jeremy Torres
Men’s Center Assistant Director/ Recovery Case Manager
Craig Smith
Security
Damien Pugh
Security
Board Members
Susan Dakil
Chairman
Dakil Auctioneers, Inc.
Collin Walke
Past Chairman
Legal Services L.L.C.
Stephen Cortes
Secretary of the Board
Cortes Law Firm
Ted Strickland
Treasurer
Griffin Communications, LLC
Jon Cargill
Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.
Tim Newville
Chairman Elect
American Energy Partners
Pastor Rodney Fouts
Pastor, North Church
John Higginbotham
Bank of Oklahoma
Eldon Overstreet
Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency
Zach Martin
Real Estate Development
Alisa Trang-Green
Dress For Success
Rep. Jon Echols
Oklahoma House of Representatives, District 90
Tom Caraway
Insurica
