Fleet Readiness Center Southeast Sailors shred roasted pork in the kitchen of the City Rescue Mission in downtown Jacksonville June 11. They are (from left) AT3 Alicia Mitchell, AT2 Disi Shen, AM3 Robert Larrabee and PR3 Jennifer Sanchez. The mission provides food, housing and other services to hundreds of the city’s homeless population daily. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)
FRCSE Sailors visit homeless shelter, donate items/service
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – About 20 Sailors from Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) visited a non-profit, homeless shelter in downtown Jacksonville June 11 to deliver donated items and visit with people, including military veterans who are rebuilding their lives through faith.
Command Master Chief Leonard Gage with the support of the FRCSE Chief Petty Officers’ Mess and the First and Second Class Petty Officers associations organized a clothing drive and a visit to the City Rescue Mission (CRM), a faith-based organization that has served the homeless and needy since 1946.
The Sailors delivered more than two tons of clothing, linens and toiletries donated by the workforce at the military aviation maintenance depot.
"I truly believe the CRM clothing drive is in our wheelhouse of providing support to the local community,” said Gage. “As for our visit to the shelter, our support will continue. It was eye opening for our Sailors. The need is there, and those who visited the mission will be forever changed. It was evident that our Sailors enjoyed talking with the residents who are dealing with various addictions and trying to rebuild their lives. I also believe the residents enjoyed seeing our men and women in uniform supporting their recovery efforts. I couldn’t be more proud!”
The LifeBuilders Recovery Program helps people off the streets and back on their feet with an 18-month recovery track. Students enrolled in the program go from living in the shelter full-time to completing educational opportunities and living on their own.
The mission, although rarely at capacity, can accommodate 165 students. There are no televisions or games to play, and telephone use is restricted to once weekly. Students are encouraged to focus on getting their lives back together without outside distractions.
Leading the CRM tour was Dwight Anderson, a senior residential assistant who credits his relationship with Christ as the turning point in his life. It allowed him to kick his crack cocaine habit and eventually find peace during the last eight years of a 13-year stint in prison.
“I had my dope, a pillow, and I would have stayed in that tunnel for the rest of my life,” said Anderson of his life prior to his conviction and incarceration. “I found something greater than dope. It was Jesus Christ. A woman introduced me to some literature in prison and within 30 days I found myself on my knee. The last eight years in prison I was at peace. I got born again!”
After his release from prison in 2005, Anderson found it difficult to land a job, but his life experiences made him ideally suited for a job at CRM where he started working in 2007. He says the residents call him the “warden” or the “drill sergeant” because he runs a tight ship.
During a tour through the bunkrooms, Anderson told the Sailors that CRM provides the best facilities for a free overnight stay. There are shower facilities for men and women at the shelter. Toiletries are provided, along with a clean change of clothing. Guests receive a free meal and attend a mandatory chapel service before bed. They are up at 4:30 a.m., eat breakfast at 5 and are “out the door to do it all again.”
He said some homeless people prefer to stay on the streets sleeping in the bushes, under a bridge, or in a tunnel as he did.
Anderson said the shelter also offers a work program for men who have a job but “who have hit hard times.” For a small weekly fee, they are provided room and board until they can get their life back on track and transition out.
The mission has allowed the City of Jacksonville to use an annex on CRM property to create a Day Center at the State Street location, where clients will have access to computers, information about available services, or find shelter from extreme weather. CRM has two other locations: the McDuff Avenue shelter and a thrift store at 5343 Normandy Blvd.
During lunch service June 11 at the City Rescue Mission, a non-profit mission in downtown Jacksonville, AM2 Stephanie Dorval (from left) handles the fruit cocktail station as LSSN Carrena Butler serves salad to students enrolled in the CRM LifeBuilders Recovery Program designed to get homeless off the streets and back on track. The menu varies based on the food donations received at the mission. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)
Anthony Sanderson (from left), a student enrolled in the City Rescue Mission LifeBuilders Recovery Program, accepts a plate of fried rice prepared by Stephen Manning, the lead line cook, from AT3 Derrick Mynster on the serving line also staffed by Fleet Readiness Center Southeast Command Master Chief Leonard Gage and AM3 Steven Lorenz June 11. (U.S. Navy photos/Released)
About 20 Sailors from Fleet Readiness Center Southeast visit the City Rescue Mission June 11 for a tour led by Dwight Anderson (left, standing), a senior residential assistant who kicked his crack addiction during a 13-year stint in prison. The faith-based, non-profit mission has served the homeless and needy in Jacksonville since 1946. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)
On June 11, Sailors from Fleet Readiness Center Southeast unload a 5-ton truck filled with donated clothing, bedding and other useful items for the homeless and needy who use the services of the City Rescue Mission in downtown Jacksonville. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)
ATAN Matthew Ross assigned to the Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) Avionics (600) Division loads a box of donated items heading for the City Rescue Mission in Jacksonville June 11. The FRCSE workforce collected two tons of clothing, bed linens, towels and toiletries for the non-profit shelter that provides services to the city's homeless population. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)
On June 11, Sailors at Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) pose before a 5-ton truck loaded with donations destined for the homeless and needy in Jacksonville. The FRCSE Chief Petty Officers' Mess and the First and Second Class Petty Officers associations sponsored the clothing drive and purchased toiletries, such as soap, shampoo, toothbrushes and razors for the City Rescue Mission, a non-profit homeless shelter. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)
Dwight Anderson (center), a senior residential assistant at the City Rescue Mission on State Street in downtown Jacksonville explains to Sailors from Fleet Readiness Center Southeast during a visit June 11 how the city’s homeless can eat, shower and sleep for free at the shelter. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)
AT3 Derrick Mynster (from left), Command Master Chief Leonard Gage and AM3 Steven Lorenz prepare for lunch service for students enrolled in the LifeBuilders Recovery Program at the City Rescue Mission in downtown Jacksonville during a visit to the shelter June 11. About 20 Sailors from Fleet Readiness Center Southeast visited the facility to gain a better understanding of the needs of the city's homeless population. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)
Neatly made beds line the walls in the student dormitory at the City Rescue Mission, a faith-based shelter for men in downtown Jacksonville. They are enrolled in the 18-month LifeBuilders Recover Program designed to help homeless people who are recovering from alcohol and drug addictions get their lives back on track. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)
During a visit June 11, Sailors from Fleet Readiness Center Southeast (FRCSE) learn from Dwight Anderson (center), a supervisor at the City Rescue Mission, how the shelter is permitting the City of Jacksonville to use a CRM annex building to create a Day Center where the homeless will have computer access and a safe haven from extreme weather during the day. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)
Fleet Readiness Center Southeast Sailors take a break from food preparation and line service to pose in the kitchen of the City Rescue Mission in downtown Jacksonville June 11. They are (from left) AT3 Alicia Mitchell, AT2 Disi Shen, FRCSE Command Master Chief Leonard Gage, AM3 Robert Larrabee, AM3 Steven Lorenz, PR3 Joe Jackson and PR3 Jennifer Sanchez. (U.S. Navy photo/Released)