Share

Colorado Springs, CO (August 18, 2009) – The Association of Gospel Rescue Missions (AGRM), an organization that works with 270 member missions who serve the needy, moved from Kansas City to tap into the broader base of nonprofits and churches headquartered in Colorado Springs. It brings with it a $1.3 million budget and 13 staff members (in offices throughout the country).  

“We’re excited for the opportunities the future holds for us here,” said John Ashmen, AGRM president. “The energy from the nonprofit sector in this town is an engine for us. I know it will benefit our members for us to feed on the excellence created in this community.”

AGRM moved to temporary offices while a permanent location can be identified. The association’s board of directors will meet in Colorado Springs in the fall to determine whether to rent or purchase offices.

For nearly a century, AGRM has worked with member rescue missions across the United States to put a face to the problem of homelessness. Its member rescue missions reach out to the nation’s most broken and battered.

AGRM members include organizations of varying geography and size. From the San Diego Rescue Mission to the New York City Rescue Mission, members get in the trenches with the homeless and hurting. Every year, these missions serve nearly 48 million meals, provide more than 16 million nights of lodging, bandage the emotional wounds of thousands of abuse victims, and graduate 16,000-plus individuals from addiction-recovery programs. The ramification of their work positively influences surrounding communities in countless ways.

AGRM missions provide for millions much-needed help and hope. Consider these facts:

• Approximately 13 percent of America’s sheltered homeless stay at an AGRM-member ministry every night.
• Intact families—father, mother, and child(ren)—make up one quarter of the families served at AGRM member missions.
• One-fifth of the people served at AGRM-member missions were victims of physical violence while homeless in the previous 12 months.
• Four out of five people coming to AGRM-member missions for assistance prefer to receive services from an agency with a spiritual component.
• If combined, AGRM member missions would be among the top 10 charities in America, based on cash donations received.

Founded in 1913, AGRM represents rescue missions in communities across North America. AGRM exists to proclaim the passion of Jesus toward the hungry, homeless, abused and addicted; and to accelerate quality and effectiveness in member missions.

# # #