The Path to Stability - Fort Collins Rescue Mission

After facing the harsh realities of life on the streets, DeWayne came to Fort Collins Rescue Mission. Here, he found not just a bed and meals, but a path toward stability and transformation for his future.

Wandering Lost

Imagine being without a home, a family, money, and direction for your future. You have to sleep on the streets with scarcely any food or water. The food you do find, you get from dumpsters.

No human should have to live that way, and yet for DeWayne, this was his reality.

“I ate that way for two years in Pueblo,” he said. “There are also no showers in Pueblo for the homeless. They got one bathroom and it’s not open at night. I went about a year without a shower.”

When DeWayne left Pueblo, he didn’t know where he was going and walked for what seemed like weeks. He was wandering a rocky road, until his path became clear and led him to Fort Collins Rescue Mission.

On the Right Path

DeWayne has a permanent bed at the Mission, which gives him the needed stability to take care of his legal and mental health obligations, as well as focus on his next steps into housing.

“This place gets me off the streets; it’s open year-round and they have permanent bed options for people who have a goal to better themselves,” he said. “It is nice not to take my food out of a dumpster. They give me the stability to try to get things accomplished to get out of this situation.”

At the Mission, a bed means so much more than just a place of rest; it ensures that our guests have a secure place to reset and reevaluate their next steps alongside people who care. In the same way, a hot meal does so much more than satisfy hunger; it gives hope to those who have so often been hopeless.

The Mission is also a place that offers resources that can be taken for granted, like electricity. For our neighbors experiencing homelessness, electricity is a rarity, making it difficult to accomplish things that require the use of a phone or computer.

“If I wasn’t here, I’d just be roaming and roaming and roaming, probably not getting my obligations done or it would be really hard to get them done,” DeWayne explained. “You have to have electricity for your phone. I have to conserve the battery to call into my probation every day. This place gives me a bed, I can keep my phone charged and the staff is really great.”

Moving Forward

With support from the staff, DeWayne is now on the Section 8 housing voucher list and looking forward to getting into a place of his own. He has also found a lot of support in the understanding and respect the staff has shown him, especially from those who have been in similar situations to him.

“They’ve all got pasts too and they show you how the past can be turned around to something positive,” he said. “For example, one staff member has been to prison, and he turned his life over to God and quit doing all that kind of stuff. He started volunteering and turned his life around to help other people.”

Seeing how others have transformed their lives gives DeWayne hope that he can do the same. The pathway out of homelessness is one that no one should have to venture alone, and for DeWayne, the Mission coming alongside him on that journey has meant so much.

“The staff have genuine hearts,” he said. “A lot of them understand the situation you’re in because they’ve been there. This place is just really helpful to me.”

“The staff have genuine hearts. A lot of them understand the situation you’re in because they’ve been there. This place is just really helpful to me.”

Thank You for Changing Lives

This Christmas, DeWayne is grateful for the stability and hope he found at the Mission. You can extend that hope to countless others by giving today!

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“The staff have genuine hearts. A lot of them understand the situation you’re in because they’ve been there. This place is just really helpful to me.”