Work Begins on New Home for Rescue Mission

Four years after the Ventura County Rescue Mission burned to the ground in a predawn fire, a groundbreaking ceremony on Friday marked the beginning of construction for a bigger and better shelter for the homeless.

Since the fire, homeless clients have been living in Desert Storm tents, and the drug and alcohol rehabilitation center was based out of a local motel.

About 70 people turned out to celebrate the first step in construction of the 20,000-square-foot facility on East 6th Street that will house more than 100 men.

“We are so excited,” said Carol Roberg, executive director of the rescue mission. “We do not just see it as a building. We see it as lives being changed.”

Former client Joe Thomas knows firsthand how the rescue mission’s alcohol and drug recovery programs can turn lives around.

Five years ago, Thomas was carried into the rescue mission, unable to walk due to the massive amounts of tranquilizers he had taken to combat painful heroin withdrawal symptoms. Today, after graduating from the rescue mission’s rehab program and participating in its Bible study, Thomas is the industrial manager for the rescue mission’s thrift shop.

“I have heard people say God doesn’t grant miracles, but about five years ago . . . I couldn’t get to the bathroom because I was so drunk,” Thomas said. “Today, I manage 40 employees. It just blows me away.”

Roberg said that although the groundbreaking ceremony is an important first step toward building the rescue mission, the mission needs to raise more than half of the $1.2 million to cover the costs.

The new rescue mission will have a kitchen with all the latest appliances and room necessary to feed 300 to 400 men, Roberg said.

Although many rescue mission clients attended the groundbreaking ceremony, Thomas couldn’t go. After all, he has a job to do. “They wanted me over there but business has to go on,” he said.