What Works

Our friends at We Heart Seattle are doing incredible work transforming lives. The testimonial below features recovering addict Stephen Dowd, who was found living in a tent before We Heart Seattle helped him get into treatment. We Heart Seattle is modeling what actually works to rescue people from homelessness. “Everybody else is focused on getting somebody housed,” says We Heart Seattle’s Tim Emerson. “I’m more focused on getting somebody better and then housed.”

This year I’ve written about what I learned in Colorado Springs at the Springs Rescue Mission. But when I stayed there last year, I also thought of the pioneer who, starting in 1983, built a predecessor of SRM just up the highway in Denver. His name: Bob Coté, a six-foot-three-inch ex-amateur boxer who in his forties changed his life by not drinking his usual half gallon of vodka for lunch. Instead, he poured out the bottle’s contents and became in 1983 one of the original residents of a new program, Step 13. Bob became Director of Operation and then Executive Director, pouring what he had learned as a homeless alcoholic into a program that challenged rather than coddled men seen Read More ›

The city of Colorado Springs does not want people sleeping on the streets and stealing or begging for food. The last IRS report 990 that Springs Rescue Mission (SRM) filed (April 2024) shows $5.6 million in food and shelter costs, with $2.2 million coming from governments and $3.4 million from private sources. Their overall income is a healthy $13.5 million. SRM does not owe its life to government, and it does not give beds and meals only to those who sit through a service or listen to a sermon. Part of the argument for city government supplementing the SRM budget comes down to dollars and cents. Colorado Springs spends about $57,000 annually per chronically homeless adult. SRM sees about 220 Read More ›

A Springs Rescue Mission (SRM) document declares, “Our faith is why we do what we do, but faith is never required of others to receive basic relief services.…We believe it is God’s job to change people, not ours.” Old-style missions often thought they could change people by requiring attendance at chapel services. SRM does not have a campus church or any required service. SRM’s Christian statement emphasizes that God is “the one who transforms. Therefore, when guests make bad choices, it’s up to God to work with them. It’s God’s job to change people. It’s our role to help in the project, not own it.” Last March, though, The Gazette — Colorado Springs’ daily newspaper — reported criticism of SRM Read More ›

In Seattle, the number of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness is on track to double in just the next three years. Robert Marbut appeared on KIRO Newsradio’s John Curley Show to discuss the policies that have exacerbated the crisis and the solutions available to the city and county. Discovery Institute released a report last November detailing our policy recommendations for the city of Seattle to curb their homelessness crisis.

The More We Love While King County Executive Dow Constantine continues to fail Burien, The More We Love is on the ground right now, quietly placing homeless men and women into detox and housing. “Camp Constantine” remains a cesspool of crime, drugs, and chaos. Pray for these outreach workers. The More We Love Does the Heavy Lifting What’s even more perplexing, King County hired REACH to clear out Camp Constantine. But Burien city leaders say this homeless outreach provider contacts The More We Love to do the heavy lifting, and of course Kristine Moreland obliges since her group is just trying to save lives.

Rescued Homeless children are suffering in Burien’s encampments. Two kids were just rescued from Dow Constantine’s drug den near the courthouse. Even though he literally created this problem, the King County Executive is ignoring pleas from city leaders and neighbors to shut it down. King County Lets Treatment Beds Sit Empty Burien Councilmember Linda Akey says there are detox and treatment beds open right now in the area for the people staying in Dow Constantine’s drug camp. But Akey says King County is refusing to move them and won’t tell her why. The More We Love Just a few months ago, Kristine Moreland and The More We Love secured a contract with Burien to do all the homeless outreach in Read More ›