Rescue Mission needs rescuing itself

By: Ilin Chen

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FAYETTEVILLE -- The City Rescue Mission has been operating out of its nearby women’s shelter since a fire in September gutted the main men’s shelter.

Tom Lambeth suffered heat burns and had two surgeries after the blaze, but now he’s back at work as the shelter’s house manager.

The women’s shelter on Adams Street is much smaller than the men’s, but the lack of space and heat is not keeping the group from completing its mission.

"We have not stopped doing anything that the mission has been doing for 34 years, except housing our men," Lambeth said.

The women’s shelter on Adams Street is much smaller than the men’s, but the lack of space and heat is not keeping the group from completing its mission.

Lambeth says the group still hands out more than 300 meals a day to the homeless. The operations have been hampered due to a lack of space. The Food Bank has been holding onto its meat because the Rescue Mission has placed its refrigerators and freezers in storage.

Other food items need to be brought to them every day. The Mission also holds a clothing drive three days a week and gives out hygiene kits.

The mission has been looking for a new facility because executive director Gladys Thompson wants to find a central place to house both men and women. She also said moving back to the old home on Cool Spring Street was not an option because repairing the place would cost between $200,000 and $300,000.

Thompson said there is a location she would like to use, but they would have to raise about $600,000. Since the fire in September, they’ve only raised $2,000, but they hope the community steps up.

"We need a bigger facility because there are not enough homeless shelters in Fayetteville,” Thompson said. “Everybody has a soup kitchen or a clothes closet, but they don't have anywhere for them to stay."

With the weather turning colder, Lambeth said the needs are growing greater because men are still coming to him every day, looking for a place to stay. Their former shelter used to house 16 men, and now they have to be dispersed to other places throughout the city. Lambeth added that some places charge a fee, so the Rescue Mission is paying those, as well.

“Until we get up and running full force again with a full facility, I have nowhere to put them," he added.