With no place to go or a warm bed to sleep in, the Blue Water Area Rescue Mission goes beyond providing food, shelter, and clothing to individuals in need of those resources. In addition to this, they encourage people to do something with their lives and better themselves by asking for 10 job applications within the week or gifting their time to community service if they are not able to get a job.
Arnold “Arnie” Koontz, executive Director, explained to ebw.tv in an interview that the most successful program is Inside Out, where they assist incarcerated individuals back into the community. Dante Ferrazza, former Inside Out mentor, told ebw.tv in an interview that he grew up in violence and at the age of 18 he went to prison and spent the next 53 years in and out of it. However, over the last 25 years Ferrazza was in prison, he became a Christian and started looking for a church. After one of his friends invited him to River of Life Christian Fellowship, he is now a senior deacon at the church. With all his needs met, he does not find a need in the extra stuff.
The Blue Water Rescue Mission is currently working on a new expansion of their facility after graduating 53 men and putting $1.6 million back into the community. Find out more on how the Blue Water Rescue Mission is going to continue changing lives in the New Year in this feature.
