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Our Mission Statement states this; "Offering, encouraging modeling and teaching community in Christ as a Gateway to meet the holistic needs and develop the gifts of adults in our community." Our goals go on to say this; "We will be The Hand of God in the Heart of the City and look for the following 2 results: 1. To watch people who come in without hope, leave with hope. 2. To feed the hungry, cloth the naked, help the sick, welcome the stranger, and visit the prisoner. (Matthew 25:31)"

Just to unpack this Mission and goal statement, I want to point out some things that it doesn't say. It does not say that we will ask people to leave once they have been with us longer than we originally thought they should have been here. It does not say that we are an emergency shelter that exists only to keep people warm at night. It does not say that we are a warehouse for humanity.

What it does say is that we want to walk alongside people as they are on their life's journey. It says that we recognize that people have many different needs that cannot be addressed in a seven-day period. It says that we believe that all people have gifts that need to explored and used. It says that we believe that everyone has a reason to exist, and that we want to convince very broken people that this is true in their own lives. It says that we believe community and relationships to be the only way to affect any change amongst our people. It says that we believe that all of us are equals, and that no one is better than anyone else. It says that not only can we (as a staff) affect change in the lives of others, but also that others can affect change in us.

Our most recent addition to our mission statement is that we will attempt to 'develop the gifts of adults in our midst.' This is a crucial addition to the mission. We feel that as a care giving organization, it is not fair to our people if we only address their needs. If people are only asked what their needs are, they begin to only think of themselves as needy. But if we begin to ask what they can offer through their gifts, they begin to realize they have value and that they are worth something. Jesus said 'it is more blessed to give then receive'. (Acts 20:35) In many ways, caregivers have made people needy so that they could receive the blessing of giving. However, we need to turn the tables and provide opportunities for our residents to give so that they too can receive that blessing.

Our name represents all that we are about. We are a Gateway to many different goals such as community, belonging, dignity, respect, recovery, reconciliation, friendship, and God. We are a counter-cultural movement that believes that, through faith in God, we can change the world one person at a time. We can create a ripple effect that can form into a tidal wave. This is the model that Christ has set for us. We do not believe that there is anyone that comes here that has no hope.

For more information about our philosophy, please visit From the Inside Out.