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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 job training, educational opportunities, access to Service Coordination through Case Management Services and more.
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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.
Board Members
Stephen Cortes – Chair
Cortes Law Firm
Susan Dakil – Past Chairman
Dakil Auctioneers, Inc.
John Higginbotham –
Chairman Elect
Bank of Oklahoma
Eldon Overstreet – Secretary
Oklahoma Housing
Finance Agency
Ted Strickland – Treasurer
Griffin Capital, LLC
Tom Caraway
Insurica
Jon Cargill
Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.
Lt. Wayland Cubit
Oklahoma City
Police Department
Shelly Douglas
Central Region for
Community Health Charities
Preston Stinson
Stinson Development
Pastor Rodney Fouts
Pastor, North.Church
Capt. Terrence “Clint” Teel
Oklahoma City
Police Department
Aimee Majoue
Crowe and Dunlevy
Alisa Trang-Green
Dress for Success
Zach Martin
Real Estate Development
Collin Walke
Oklahoma House of Representatives, District 87 | Legal Services L.L.C.
Executive Staff
Erin Goodin
President CEO
Kim Combs
Vice President
Nikki Wiseman
CFO
Debbie MacDonald
VP of Development
Staff
Brenda Guisinger
Office Manager and Development Assistant
Charlie Buchanan
Director of Operations and Security
Charles Kernan
Maintenance Assistant
Christian Thompson
Kitchen Assistant
Craig Smith
Recovery Case Manager
Crystal Henry
Screening Specialist/Case Manager
Donnamarie Pellom
Intake Specialist
Greg Mash
Recovery Case Manager
Horaz Qasim
Security
Jamille Hawkins-Reid
Vocational Case Mananger
Jim Cox
Security
Katie Sanders
Kitchen Assistant
Makayla Tanquary
Recovery Case Manager
Marilyn Bond
Kitchen Manager
Ray Dillahunty
Night Security
Raymond Rivas
Men’s Center Director and Short Term Case Manager
Robert Gaulden
Security
Robert Green
Email & Camera Support
Salem Gullo
Community Outreach Coordinator
Samantha Jett
Donor Development Coordinator
Sean West
IT Specialist
Shanda Glover
Women’s Center Director and Short Term Case Manager
Shellie Holt
Events Director
Shelly Sheaffer
Director of Programs and Quality Assurance
Sicily Whatley
Intake Specialist
Stefanie Baird
Work Therapy Manager
Treina Castleberry
Marketing Director
