Rescue Leaders Speak Out About Family Ministry

By Phil Rydman

The IUGM conducted the Family Ministries Survey in the fall of 1998 to provide a better understanding of the background and family history of homeless clients served by mission family shelters. More than 60 missions, and 1325 clients, participated in the survey.  ( numerical results of the survey)

But results and percentages are not the purpose of the survey – ministry to people is. So, we asked a few mission leaders to give their opinions on the survey: Dick McMillen, IUGM President and President/CEO of Water Street Rescue Mission in Lancaster, Pennsylvania; Lorraine Minor, IUGM Secretary/Treasurer and Director of Family Ministries, City Union Mission, Kansas City, Missouri, and Patricia Moody, Director of the Women and Children Division of Orlando Union Rescue Mission, Orlando, Florida.

Lorraine – The whole survey is fascinating, but the thing that jumped out to me was how each generation is less stable than the one it came from – today 53% of all homeless parents are single, and only 17% of the families are intact.

Another result that caught my attention were the causes of homelessness among families. People are four times more likely to be homeless because of poor money management (16%) than they were because of the loss of government benefits (4%).

Dick – I’m impressed by the overall stability that the family brings when it is intact and functioning properly. It points to the opportunity that we have to fill the gap for people who have a need. To teach them the value of family and to become a family for them, something they may never have experienced before.

Patricia – I hurt for the number of our people who don’t even know who their daddies are. And those who do, many of those fathers have never spent time in the home. Oh, they may stop by and bring a few diapers or other little things, but they don’t really support the girls who are raising the babies.

Lorraine – Half of the homeless parents grew up in two parent homes. I would have assumed maybe 20%. That’s wonderful! We have something to work with there.

One fifth said that they were homeless because they had moved. We don’t know if that is within the community or from another town. Still that’s only one in five. Are we taking care of someone else’s homeless? No! These are local people.

I’m also afraid that these people are not yet able to be honest in every area. Only one percent listed gambling as a reason why they are homeless. There may be a shame issue involved, but from speaking with folks at our facility, I suspect that number is much higher.

Then I look at the education question, the number of people who have graduated from high school or gone to college is 62 percent. I think that is not typical of what most people would think. It encourages me!

Dick -- I guess I expected more to say that they are homeless because they lost government benefits. We see an increase in the number of women and children on the streets, and that is backed up by the benefits lost – AFDC and food stamps. But they don’t say the loss of benefits is why they are homeless.

Patricia – The number of fathers who have never even lived with their children. One third of the kids in our missions today have never had daddy at home. That is a shame.

Lorraine – I look at the last question, 42 percent have never been homeless before, and 71 percent are fairly new at this game. That tells me the likelihood of having an impact on these people is greater than we thought. In our missions, we tend to look at the long-term homeless, and forget about those are with us for a short time, then we never see them again. I’m going to point that out to my staff. If we do our job right, there is a good chance that we can really make a difference in these people’s lives.

Dick – More missions are taking steps with education, and it is filling a real need. By educating people -- I’m talking about more than classical education, teaching them about life issues -- we are touching the very areas that are causing homelessness.

Patricia – Of course, our hope is always in Jesus, but I can see that when we give people a hand to get back on their feet, they can move on with their lives. We can offer so much that they really need. They have poor money management, bad attitudes and old habits. We can work on those things, give them time to make a real change and then help them get out and find jobs that will pay more than minimum wage, and support their families.

Lorraine – Through a relationship with Jesus, we give people the opportunity for real change and the source of power to make that change. That needs to continue to be our primary focus.

There is a need for education, but also input and follow-up after people have left the mission to make sure they are moving in the right direction.

All of the reasons for homelessness listed in the survey are ministry issues. That points to the need for continuing ministry to people, an organized aftercare ministry.

Dick – I like to focus on the preventative end of ministry. We are called to provide shelter for the homeless and we have built facilities to do so. It is on our shoulders to provide quality programs as well. I continually see the need for youth programs that teach biblical principles that these kids are not getting at home. They need examples and role models to see what a father should be.

I’m also convinced that significant programs for addicted parents need to include a residential program for children and youth. Some people need to allow children to be out of their lives for a while to get their lives back together. If those programs could be part of the mission, parents could have a loving, caring environment for their kids while they deal with their own issues, with the promise that the whole family would be reunited after the addictions were taken care of.

Patricia – The things that are listed as causes of homelessness are not "quick-fix" issues. People need maybe 9-12 months to get healed inside, then they can move on. So many of the people we deal with are going through a depression. We need to heal the depression before we can move to the other life issues. Our ministry needs to be long-term.

Additional information about the IUGM and its surveys are available on this website.