It’s mid-morning and we just returned from ministry to the homeless camps. A young lady emerged from a camp in sock feet and I wondered how she made it through a night when the temps dropped into the twenties. A homeless man was found dead somewhere in Jackson early this morning. He apparently froze to
In the heart of Jackson, Mississippi, homelessness and addiction continue to cast long shadows over our community. The Central Mississippi Continuum of Care’s 2024 Point-in-Time Count identified 273 individuals experiencing homelessness in the region — down from 315 the previous year. But local providers like Gateway Rescue Mission encounter far higher numbers on a daily
Being the Volunteer Coordinator at Gateway Rescue Mission has been an eye-opening experience for me. Homelessness is often misunderstood, and I’ve learned that many of the stereotypes’ people have about it are wrong. It’s easy to think that homelessness happens because of laziness or poor decisions, but the reality is much more complicated. During my time at Gateway, I’ve met
In our fast-paced world, it’s all too easy to overlook those who seem invisible—especially individuals experiencing homelessness. They often bear the weight of societal judgment and stigma, reducing them to mere statistics or stereotypes. Yet, when we pause to reflect on their stories, we find that each person is like an abandoned house, waiting for
