Martinsburg Union Rescue Mission

The Rescue Mission currently operates a guest shelter and four residential rehabilitation programs. Our current facilities have the capacity to provide shelter for up to 78 men.

Guest Shelter Program: provides emergency and short-term shelter, food and clothing to adult males. Needs evaluation counseling is conducted within three days of a new man's arrival. A TB/Health check is required within seven days. Guest length of stay is limited to seven days per calendar month and a total of twenty-eight days per calendar year. After assessing a new man's needs, he may be referred to an alternative community program or organization. These include, but are not limited to Eastridge Health Systems, Veteran's Administration, Telemon, Department of Health and Human Resources, Congregational Cooperative Action Program, Red Cross, Shalom Resource Center and Salvation Army. During the 7-day period men may receive job search assistance through access to Mission telephones, computers, and the Internet. Resume preparation assistance is available.
 
Residential Programs
 
Support-Rehab Program is the core mission program that new men enter into. It is a Christ-centered approach to recovery, whether suffering from drug or alcohol addiction, mental illness, or any number of other difficulties. Through the daily practice of Christian teachings, prayer, non-denominational chapel services, scripture study, and one-on-one spiritual counseling with staff and senior program participants, individuals begin to transform their lives, turning it over to a power greater than themselves. The core program brings structure and order to the men's lives through required daily routines: prayer, shared meals, personal hygiene, work, and chapel service attendance.
 
This regular structure and required labor helps restore dignity. It boosts self-esteem and self-confidence in participants by building a healthy work ethic, job skills, teamwork, problem solving skills, and leadership skills. A strict, no-tolerance-for-drugs-and-alcohol environment is maintained. Social skills are developed through peer and community interaction. Participation in church, social, and civic groups is strongly encouraged. If needed, involvement with Alcoholics Anonymous and similar groups are encouraged. Participants can avail themselves of life skills training, conducted by partner organizations on topics like household budget preparation and management, meal preparation, grocery shopping, apartment rental, and proper health care. They may also complete GED requirements while in the rehab program if desired.
 
A staff employee provides individualized counseling to help participants obtain qualifying social service benefits, job skill training, permanent housing, GED assistance, and employment opportunities, so participants can return to productive lives in the community.
 
Job assignments for participants in the Support-Rehab Program include warehouse helpers, who assist with the recycling program; cook helpers, who assist with preparing and serving meals; housekeepers, who clean and perform light building maintenance; driver's assistants, who help with community donation pick-ups and store deliveries; and grounds maintenance workers, who care for the mission's grounds.
 
Job-Training Program is available to those who desire to continue their education. These residents are required to participate in the Mission's core recovery program while attending classes at a post secondary educational facility in the community.
 
Community-Employment Program is a halfway program that allows men to reside at the Mission while employed in the community. Employment may be full-time or a combination of part-time in the community and part-time at the Mission. These men are also required to participate in the Mission's core recovery program.
 
Permanent-Supportive-Housing Program is designed to allow men to continue in the Mission's core recovery program while providing avenues for increased responsibility and authority. A participant in this program assumes a residential staff position in administration, food services, housekeeping, transportation, store operations or facilities and grounds maintenance.
 
In return the men are provided room, board, clothing, toiletries, and a small weekly stipend. Participants in this program have found that they need the daily supportive structure of the mission to maintain their sobriety and live productive lives. Many of these men have no family support and are ineligible for social services or health care programs.  The mission is their home and their family support.
 
Non-Residential Programs
 
Clothing, Emergency Food, Emergency Furniture Program: serves the needs of community families and individuals.  It is available to anyone in need. Three meals are served at the mission daily, of which families or individuals may partake without cost. Additionally, families and individuals can receive free monthly vouchers to shop for clothing in the mission's thrift store. Free food boxes and furniture are also available to families or individuals on an emergency basis when referred by churches or local aid-assistance organizations. Hundreds of families are served each year.