Bridgeport Rescue Mission Inc

Men's and Women's Emergency Shelter, Addiction Recovery and Supportive Housing: Bridgeport Rescue Mission (BRM) demonstrates the love of God to the hungry, homeless, and addicted throughout Fairfield County, CT 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In fiscal year ending 2024 BRM's shelter and recovery program offered 45,645 nights of shelter to homeless men and women, while offering hot meals, clean clothing and showers. BRM's faith-based New Life Program served over 60 men and women in fiscal year ending 2024 through a residential curriculum of counseling, case management, work therapy and 15 hours of classroom education weekly, focused on spiritual formation, addiction recovery and life-skills training. Men and women completing these programs may participate in BRM's Supportive Housing Program, which provided over 50 men and women in fiscal year ending 2024 with transitional housing, case management and educational and employment opportunities prior to their transition to independent living. The COVID pandemic forced the Mission to discontinue traditional emergency shelter services for the homeless, when we relaunched our traditional 25 bed emergency shelter into an 8 bed, COVID protocol, and socially distanced longer term program for chronically homeless men. This pilot program from 2020 has now become a permanent program of services provided to the homeless in coastal Connecticut. We continued our addiction recovery programs within very strict COVID quarantine protocols, throughout fiscal year 2024 and provided a safe space for nearly 91 men and women on the path to recovery amidst the pandemic crisis. We maintained a residential program curriculum of counseling, case management, work therapy and 15 hours of classroom education weekly, focused on spiritual formation, addiction recovery and life-skills training. Men and women completing these programs may participate in BRM's Supportive Housing Program, which provided over 70 men and women in fiscal year ending 2024 with transitional housing, case management and educational and employment opportunities prior to their transition to independent living.

Residential Program for Women and Children in Crisis: BRM's residential program for women and children in crisis provides the essentials of safe lodging, nourishing food, needed clothing, life and job skills and case management for displaced mothers with children, with special attention given to the needs of the participating children. The program welcomed its first families in February of 2023. We are currently housing 12 moms and 22 children.