Union Rescue Mission of Wichita, KS

History of the Union Rescue Mission

A Brief History of a Growing Ministry
Serving the homeless & poor for 59 years & counting!
(abbreviated for this Web Site)

In the late 1940’s a woman known only as Miss Ledoux, working with merchants on East Douglas in Wichita, saw a great need for a mission for the homeless on the streets. She approached the Christian Business Men’s Committee in the summer of 1950, and the men, feeling a burden for these needy men decided to establish a mission. Several other members of the CMBC members with little faith felt they had lost their minds.

1950
With modest beginnings & a lot of hard work, the Gospel Service Center was started on Sept. 6, 1950 at 603 East Douglas in downtown Wichita. Martin Moody, one of the founders, noted, “[when the Mission opened up">, the first night, there wasn’t standing room and we all knew that God had raised up this mission.” Moody served as the first president of the Board with services held nightly and food provided each night from local churches. The 1st Superintendent was John F. Parkes, hired from Montreal, Canada.

1952
In the early stages of the Mission, a ladies auxiliary was formed, a daily radio program was aired, and bible studies were begun. Showers and a change of clothes were offered to the men who stayed overnight with nine beds available each night. The name Gospel Service Center was changed to the Union Rescue Mission, Inc.

1954
After being influenced by local business owners, the Mission’s landlord decided to not renew the lease. A building search was begun, but again, protests from local businesses was cause for concern. Citing complaints that their health was being impaired, sales were dropping off, too many transients were coming into the area, and the noise from the Mission amplifier was too loud, business owners could not prove their case and the case was dismissed. However, as a result of the trial, the city required off street parking, which effectively ruined any chances of construction. A new search led to a new location at
130-132 North St. Francis in Wichita.

1955
During the time from 1953 to 1955, the Mission saw several superintendents come and go and it seemed to have been a time of great instability. But the Lord saw them through this period.

1956
In 1956, Frank Classen, a board member, became the Mission’s leader, and it became a time of tremendous growth. The Mission became debt-free and remains debt-free to this day.

1964
In 1964 a medical and dental clinic was opened at the Mission and operated one day a week. A year later, in 1965 a thrift store was started inside the facility, which enabled the Mission to give out free clothing to needy people.

1966
In 1966, Glenn Thomi accepted the superintendent’s position. During this period many of the programs, including the medical clinic, ceased to exist. However, Thomi carried on the daily duties of the mission for the next twenty years, with many people being saved in the nightly services.

1986
Again, the Mission went through a period of turmoil and strained funding, but the Mission held together as a search for a new director was again started.

1987
In late 1987, Gene Price was named the new Director, and the Mission once again flourished. Funding for the ministry increased over 400% in the 1st six years of his directorship. Expansion of the ministry began in 1989, with the purchase of an adjoining building next to the Mission downtown. Renovations were begun to expand the thrift store, laundry facility, and office space. Public awareness of the Mission’s activities grew rapidly, as did the ministry itself.

1992
In May of 1992, a New Life Program was begun for men who desired to change their lives. Many men found help through the Lord in gaining victory over their addictive behaviors.

1993
In 1993, an abandoned nursing home was purchased at 2800 North Hillside and renovations begun. Slowly remodeling the facility, while continuing to remain debt-free, the Board made the decision to use the facility to house women and children.

1998
In 1998, the North Hillside facility, called Haven of Hope, was opened as a life-change program for single women and women with children, for those wanting to get their life back in control.

2001
Following the retirement of Gene Price in 1999, the Mission was held together for two years through the efforts of board president Gilbert Loewen as an interim director. In the summer of 2001, the Board hired Marsha Stanyer as the 1st female director of the Union Rescue Mission, after having served on the Board of Directors for nearly five years.

In the next two and a half years, the ministry continued to grow and remained active serving the homeless on the streets of Wichita, housing homeless men at the Downtown facility on North St. Francis, and housing homeless women and children at the North Hillside facility.

2003
After attempting for nearly five years to establish a viable Women’s Life-Change Program, the Board made the decision in early Fall of 2003 to close the Women’s Program due to a shortage of women participants and an enormous program cost to house women and children. At the time the women’s shelter, Haven of Hope, closed in September, 2003, the shelter was home to only 10 women and 8 children.

The remaining ministries and programs of the Union Rescue Mission continued to grow, including 14 men enrolled in the New Beginnings Program, a men’s six-month Life Change Discipleship Program.

The original Thrift Store still located in its original location downtown, continued to thrive, along with the Community Outreach Ministry which provided free food boxes and free clothing vouchers several days each week, for anyone in need in the community.

2004
Two months prior to the start of 2004, after renovating the North Hillside facility to fit the needs of homeless men, the men’s overnight shelter was re-located from the facility downtown to the North Hillside location. Within two weeks of moving the men’s shelter, the number of overnight guests jumped from a capacity of 38 men downtown to an overwhelming increase of 75 men per night!

The men were transported from the downtown area, by buses twice daily, morning and evening, and the 1st week of operation in the new facility was enjoying record crowds every night. By the end of 2004, the men’s ministry grew from housing 38 men each night in 2001 to housing over 126 homeless men on most nights, year around.

2005
By the end of 2005, the Union Rescue Mission saw a total of 527 homeless men receive Salvations for Christ while staying at the Mission, for an average of 44 salvations per month for the year!

While many other ministries were seeing a decline in giving (by as much as 25%) the donations to the Union Rescue Mission continued to show increases, ending the year with an incredible increase of 16% from 2004.

The URM remained the only Social Service agency serving the homeless in Wichita, that provided a Christian Chapel Service nightly, as well as a life-change Discipleship Program for the homeless. The New Beginnings Program graduated a total of 21 men who had successfully completed the program.

As the various ministries of the Union Rescue continued to serve the homeless and needy in the community at the larger facility on North Hillside, lives continued to be touched and changed by God every day, with the hope of reaching even more people for Christ in years to come.

2006
The Year 2006 was a period of great accomplishments for the Lord. By the end of 2006, the Mission averaged 49 Salvations for Christ per month of the homeless clients being served.
By the end of 2006, the Mission had reached an all-time record high of revenue in the Mission’s history, although it was still not keeping pace with the incredible increases of homeless clients who were being served.

At the same time, the Mission had reached an all-time record high of averaging 152 homeless men staying at the URM every night, with a few nights of numbers actually reaching 210 men per night during the winter months!

The URM was selected as the Grand Prize Winner of the “Excellence in Service” Award, by the Servant Christian Community Foundation.

2007
The Union Rescue Mission continues to average 156 homeless men each and every night, as well as serving over 380 hot meals every day. The New Beginnings Life-Change Program has reached all-time highs of 28-30 students per session.

As the numbers being served continues to increase for the sixth year in a row, men’s lives are being touched and changed by God every day. And for every day the Union Rescue Mission opens its doors to serve, the Mission will never cease in proclaiming the Gospel Message of Salvation and Hope through Jesus Christ.

2008
We're still making 2008 History. Come back soon to see how we did!

Union Rescue Mission | 2800 N. Hillside | Wichita, KS 67219 | Phone: 316-687-4673 | Fax: 316-686-2101

contact@urmwichita.org