THE RESCUE MISSION NEW LIFE PROGRAM DRIVER

Joseph said he is understanding now that he went through some of the tribulations he did so that he could help others. “And you know when I’m traveling I’m sharing the word. I’m driving state to state on a truck, not the gray goose,” said Joseph, using the slang term for the prison bus that transports prisoners. Joseph graduated from the Mission’s program in 2010.

THE RESCUE MISSION NEW LIFE PROGRAM DRIVER

Joseph worked in landscaping after he graduated, but has now been a truck driver for four years. I haven’t been in the program for 10 years, and I’m still growing. I can’t step forward in life without accepting the responsibilities and consequences of my mistakes. I don’t blame the government, schools-anyone but myself. “I didn’t know it at the time, but I was being given a choice-life or death- and I was choosing death. “You know what Pastor John told me once? He said, ‘You know why you go to prison all the time? Why you drink all the time? Because you want to.’ He was right. John Schmidt, who runs the Life Recovery Program at the Mission, had a major impact on Joseph’s life. You can’t hold on to your evil past-it will make you live back there. All that weight on my shoulders has been taken off. A loving relationship takes time to build. How did I turn into a Jesus-loving Christian? God loved me into obedience. “You can’t beat obedience into a human being. I was always getting into trouble in the house, but (they) didn’t give up on me. “I had that prison mentality that I couldn’t get rid of. “I had been in jail for so long,” he said. He had trouble adapting, and doesn’t sugarcoat the fact that he didn’t have the easiest time. Joseph entered the program more than a decade ago. When he was released, he came to the Mission. But after a major shooting incident, in which Joseph was in a home, shooting outside with the police surrounding the neighborhood, he ended up serving 10 years. Joseph had been in and out of jail mostly for stealing. It was really just a red flag of me needing help.” In my mind, that was me telling my dad I could hate myself more than he could. “I’d go to the park and pay two or three people to beat me bloody. In my 20s, like anyone, I went through up and downs, but those words would come into my head and it would be worse. He would say I was no good, a waste of time, not his child. “When he died, the physical part faded way, but the mental part-what he said while he was beating me-stuck. I was in and out of jail and then graduated to the prison system, on up to the psych ward at the state hospital.”ĭespite his father’s death, the abuse took a toll on Joseph’s mental health long after he was gone. I hated him so much, this evil, tortuous, violent man, that I kept him alive in my heart.

Joseph’s abuser, his own father, died when Joseph was 12. When I was crying and asking for help at that little age, they wouldn’t help me. “From kindergarten on up, I’d come in with black eyes, fat lips, bruises, and they turned their backs on me. Neighbors, schools, principals, they didn’t care. Many alumnae return to offer encouragement to our new students.Joseph grew up in Victorville in a turbulent and violent household. More than 90% of our graduates have continued their living wage jobs and remain part of the New Life Mission family. New Life Mission moms have earned their GEDs, some have been licensed in the fields of Cosmetology, EKG/Phlebotomy, Medical Coding & Billing, Massage Therapy, Insurance, Child Care, Medical Assistance, Certified Nursing Assistance, and other careers. Our families are offered all the physical, spiritual, intellectual tools and resources needed to get out of poverty, off government assistance, and create a better future for themselves and their children.

Classes are geared toward strengthening families and include instruction on: We are a back-to-work transitional program, committed to helping homeless moms become self-sufficient. Each family works with a Case Manager to create an individualized care plan for life skills training.

The rescue mission new life program