Today's Leader Post Article

Ken Porter (left) and Donovan Carroll, both of the Souls Harbour Rescue Mission, stand in front of the Sacred Heart Church, which was sold to the Souls Harbour Rescue Mission and will be partly used as the Life Change Campus for Women. The Regina Rescue Mission and Souls Harbour merged together to form Souls Harbour Rescue Mission.

Photograph by : Don Healy, The Leader-Post

The Leader-Post

Merger creates 'dynamic Christian charity'
Maria Cootauco

The Regina Rescue and Souls Harbour missions announced their merger into what one official called "one dynamic Christian charity" on Tuesday.

From now on, they will be known as Souls Harbour RESCUE Mission.

The Regina Rescue Mission brings to the table a "life-change program" facility that has been running for eight years. The program facilitates a year-long recovery program for such problems as alcoholism, drug abuse, homelessness, and mental illness.

Souls Harbour is a 19-year-old effort to provide Regina's most needy with the basics for survival. It has been engaged in a clothing outreach program for women and children, a soup kitchen that feeds an inner-city school, a supper-meal program which feeds up to 350 people a day, and transitional housing.

"By joining together, not only can we continue with our services, but we can expand and grow and become more effective," said Donovan Carroll, the joint mission's chief operations officer.

Also announced at the media conference was the mission's acquisition of the church across from the 3535 8th Ave. facility.

Formerly the Sacred Heart Church, the building will serve as the new Women's Home and Good News Chapel, providing nine extra beds.

A beneficiary of the "life-change program" is 36-year-old Debbie.

Debbie, who declined to give her last name, came to the mission six month ago, after she came out of a coma brought on by heavy drinking.

The wait list for admission into the mission is sometimes six months long; it was four months before Debbie was admitted.

"There is no safer place," she said.

Ken Porter, the new mission's chief executive officer, said the main goal of the merger is to simply help people. And with the doubling of resources, more people can be assisted.

"That's the reason both ministries started," Porter said. "We don't want to get very far from our roots. Expansion is always good but it's got to be in the proper direction and the kind of things that we believe the needy in Regina need."

Michelle Porter, the new mission's chief administrative officer, articulated that the merging is a cumulative effort "to bring homeless, addicted, and hurting people into a Souls Harbour of love, faith, and a new life."

Lois, 51, came to the mission after a stay at the psychiatric unit at Regina General Hospital.

"It's changing my life," she said.

Lois, who has been at the mission for three months, has been in several government treatment programs for alcholism, some for as long as a month, but said that they were not effective.

"I believe that this program works because of the way it's structured and because of the length of time (for which it runs)," Lois said.

"That's a big one; being able to change your life over a period of time," Debbie added. "Have a look around this city. How long do you think you would last if you had an addiction and had to turn around and walk back into all of that? You can't.

"This place is pretty good. I know it's kind of a cocoon and it's kind of scary that some day we're gonna have to leave and not have all this support. But it's not tomorrow. We don't leave til we're ready."

Debbie has been so transformed by her experience at the mission that upon completion of her program, she intends to work at the mission in a capacity that will help her reach out to women like her previous self.

"Just pass on the love," she smiled.



© The Leader-Post (Regina) 2007