Growing Wings In a New Home
Jackson Conrad, pictured, stands in the Eugene Mission chapel before a Bible study he leads for guests in the Rescue Shelter.
He left his home here when he graduated from the men’s Life Change program, but a new calling brought him back.
For some, “home” is a safe haven where loving family bonds are fostered and children grow up knowing support and hope for their futures. For others, home may be a place of conflict, trauma or abuse, and safety is a dream that never comes true.
Regardless of where they’re coming from, our unsheltered neighbors find a secure temporary home at the Eugene Mission where they can begin to unravel the pain and insecurity of the past amid solid relationships, nurturing and structure. After they graduate from our programs, some guests come back to share their growth and wisdom from a place of victory.
Jackson Conrad, who graduated from the men’s Life Change program in 2021, is now leading a Wednesday evening Chapel service that is open to guests in the Rescue Shelter. In response to a chapel leadership transition this summer, Jackson stepped in.
“I just wanted to make sure the doors were open and the lights in the chapel were on every Wednesday at 6 p.m.,” Jackson said. “The Eugene Mission really saved my life and really turned me around through the Life Change program and I relate to and sympathize with the people who are living here and who are new.”
About an hour before the service, Jackson and his fellow volunteer, Val Adams, begin by sharing a meal with guests in the cafeteria. Then they walk through the Rescue Shelter and invite the guests to receive a different kind of food and nurturing through Bible study.
“We’re not perfect. We’re not the biggest theologians, but for me, the biggest thing is that people are here, reading the Bible together,” Jackson said. “That was my goal and my vision.”
Jackson’s vision has been dramatically transformed. When he entered the program, he saw himself as an alcoholic who had relapsed after completing four separate rehabilitation programs. He had multiple DUI’s and the potential for prison time.
Now Jackson’s life is a testimony of encouragement, restoration and of a Father’s love that meets us in tough places and leaves the home light burning.
Jackson’s co-lead Val, said “it only takes a spark to get a fire going, and he’s a good sparker.”
Navigator Ben McCoy stands in the Rescue Shelter with guest Denis.
Ben McCoy, a Navigator at the Eugene Mission, began his relationship with the Mission 15 years ago as a guest. He landed in the Rescue Shelter after his parents asked him to leave their home and he had nowhere else to go. He lacked purpose and direction, but he said he found support at the Mission and that was the first step on his path forward.
“I met a group of people here and I still talk to four or five of them,” he said. “All of them are in a better place in life because of this place.”
After about four years developing relationships and building skills in the kitchen, he left to attend culinary school. More than a decade later, he decided it was time to give back in some capacity and volunteer, and he came back to the Mission for a tour.
“The whole place was really different,” Ben recalled. “The changes blew my mind.” Gone was the old day room and the guests who would transition in and out of the Mission in a cycle. Previously, guests could leave and come back without enrolling in a particular program. Now, after they spend up to two weeks in the Rescue Shelter, they can choose either the Life Change relapse prevention program or the R3 program, which both address the root causes of homelessness through services that lead to the wellness of our guests and their ability to reintegrate into healthy community.
The Eugene Mission has gone through its own changes as it has adapted to a new generation of needs in our community. As the Mission has grown, so too has the hope it provides. The hope, Ben said, is palpable. “I love this place,” he said. “I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
Jackson and Val feel that God invited them into their chapel ministry, and now, they invite others into a story that is always building on the service of those who have gone before.
On a recent Wednesday in the chapel, guests gathered in a circle and opened their Bibles. They read Scripture and then shared their own stories of courage in leaving the past behind, including old ways of thinking and old relationships that no longer served them. They found support among one another and hope for a new day.
Not every home is a place we can return to, but at the Eugene Mission, home is the place where you grow wings and then return to feed a new generation.
“As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord” Joshua 24:15
“For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything.” Hebrews 3:4