Reality of the Run

Yesterday, Cynthia and I visited the Durham Rescue Mission for a tour of the their two campuses.  When one thinks of the word campus, a beautiful sprawling college campus or a glorious corporate campus comes to mind.  In this case, campus refers to a place of safety where one can get the help so desperately needed.  Both the men's and women's divisions though do have a campus feel.  The women's division is in an old hotel renovated to house single women, single women with children and a few families.  Nearly everything in the renovated hotel was donated including the beautiful garden area that won best urban garden in the U.S. a few years back.  The men's division is comprised of a church building, a newer addition and surrounding houses.  In each case, those that the DRM is helping have all their housing and food expenses paid for but also work 40 hours a week in return at the mission.  All funding is through private donations - no government help.

Tony Gooch, Director of Development Operations gave us an amazing tour of both facilities providing us with the history of how the DRM was founded as well as the vision of the organization for the future.  It would do the DRM an injustice for me to try and summarize everything.  Much of the information can be found on their website.  However, I would encourage everyone to visit any charity that they are supporting to learn more and see first hand how your money is being used and the difference these organizations are making in the lives of people.  The DRM is a faith-based organization and there were scriptures on doors and walls that brought meaning and life to helping those in need.  Quite frankly, this is what Christian faith is all about and we saw it first hand yesterday.  The good news of Jesus isn't just about the words of the gospel, its about the actions taken based on the words of the gospel.  By the way, just like in the gospel, these doors are not just open to Christians, they are open to everyone in need - accepting all - believers and non-believers alike.  But, once in the DRM program the program includes biblical teachings among all the other life skills training.

I know that my description here did not do justice to what we saw yesterday.  However, what we did see yesterday reaffirms my commitment to the organization.  It's the reality of the run. We also hope to volunteer at various community events.

Today Day 21: 4 miles; 2014: 131 miles