January 2024 Newsletter

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60 Years of Hope

Legacy has been handed down, a foundation built upon, outreach expanded, and success achieved.

60 years ago, Norman Williams, the Founding Director, started this Mission. He was a combat veteran of WWII. The atrocities of war hardened his heart toward life and humanity, causing him to become an alcoholic. Then, he had a dramatic conversion, accepting the Lord at an evangelistic crusade at the Douglas County Fairgrounds in the early 1960’s.

He attended Full Gospel Temple in Winston and was baptized in the South Umpqua River. He owned Winston Shoe Repair. Norman put feet on his new found faith, taking the same Gospel of salvation and hope, that had given him new life, to others that were still hurting. He moved his shoe repair business to downtown Roseburg across the street from the train depot and rail yard. Norman rented the building on the northeast corner of SE Sheridan St. and SE Lane Ave. in 1964. He bought that building in 1975. There, he ran his shoe repair shop at 516 SE Lane Ave., as well as provided food, clothing, beds, and chapel services to homeless men around the corner of the same building on SE Sheridan St. This ministry was an extension of his private business. He trained some of the men to repair shoes, others worked in the shop and shelter. As they learned a trade, they were counseled and encouraged. A work therapy program was a founding principle of this Mission to restore personal value. He moved to this new location just five years after the Blast Of 1959 and only two blocks from the explosion. (The Blast was an accidental detonation of a dynamite truck that devastated downtown Roseburg). Property values had declined, and Norman had the financial, volunteering, and prayer support of his parents and sisters.

It was mostly a family run mission in those early years. He played the guitar, sang, and preached in chapel and the park. His sister Juanita went to Bible college and held chapel services. His sister Charlotte played the piano and was the bookkeeper. Then 1977, the Mission was incorporated under the Oregon Nonprofit Corporations Act and registered under the US tax code section 501(c)3. A board of directors was selected from the local community. The Constitution and Bylaws state the purpose of this organization as evangelizing homeless people, the very reason Norman started this ministry. The fficial name of this organization was recorded as Lighthouse of God Mission, thus the lighthouse logo. To avoid confusion with other operations, in 1980 the Mission began doing business as (dba) Roseburg Rescue Mission. Also in 1980, Norman Williams retired as the Founding Director.

In 2011, the eighth adjacent property to the original one was purchased, resulting in the Mission owning a full block-and-a- half of downtown Roseburg. The train depot has become a restaurant, and the rail yard has been moved north of town. However, the location remains a hub of activity for homeless men. Now in 2024, the Men’s Shelter has 113 beds in three programs: Transient, Program, and Transitional Housing. Also on the downtown campus are the administration offices, two thrift stores, and a warehouse.

In 1985, the Mission opened Samaritan Inn for homeless women and children in a residential house. After growing to three houses, in 2015 they were traded for a down payment on a commercial complex. Since then, two additional properties have been purchased. Samaritan Inn now has 110 beds, including Transient, Program, Mothers and Children, and Transitional Housing. Now in 2024, the women and children at the Mission would outnumber the men, except for the two single room occupancy hotels for men’s transitional housing. And the number of homeless women and children are growing faster than the men.

In the past 60 years, the face of homelessness has both changed and increased. The evangelistic purpose of the Mission remains, and the outreach has expanded to meet the social need. The era of middle-aged, alcoholic, train tramping men, that was much of the original clientele, is over. The family unit is not the safety network, that it used to be. Drug use, mental illness, and domestic violence have increased and affect all ages. A shift from just the rehabilitation of men to the prevention of the next generation of children becoming homeless has happened in this ministry.

The Mission has never built a new building. Every purchase has been depressed property at bargain prices. No government funding is received here. The primary source of income is from individual people in our community. Other income is from thrift store sales, transitional housing rent, foundations, churches, and recycling, in that order. The ministry is an interdenominational, parachurch organization, not affiliated with any particular church or denomination.

The core values of chapel and sobriety remain. The fundamental change of the heart to the Lord is still the only solution to the emptiness inside each person. Social services alone cannot end homelessness for individuals. As the history of Roseburg Rescue Mission continues to unfold, may it never forget the roots of its purpose to preach with boldness, unashamed of the Lord of our salvation.