BARM has been working very hard in making sure shelter is provided to the community. I really appreciate the detailed explanations on the policies and procedures for shelter and life transformation program folks to ensure they are successful during their stay. Thank you to all of the donors for providing nice decor for the shelter to make it feel more at home. Shout-out to BARM's children's ministry and Community Education Partnership (CEP) team that works directly with the youth living at the shelter in making sure the kids have academic enrichment, fun, and a safe space! Thank you to the children's ministry and CEP for all of the activities and events and school enrollment navigation for our kiddos!
BARM is providing the vast majority of emergency housing for unhoused people in Contra Costa County, CA, despite accepting no governmental assistance. In addition, the Life Transformation program graduates several people per month after they complete extensive counseling, education, training, and other life skills while being resident at BARM. BARM's success at reuniting families and giving people hope for a better future is grounded in Biblical principles and the reality that Jesus Christ can change lives.
Bay Area Rescue Mission changes lives every day - guiding addicts to sobriety, providing shelter and care for those who are living on the streets in severe temperatures, and providing 1.8 million meals for those who were hungry in 2023. I proudly support their amazing mission!
They have helped three people that I know personally recover from drug addiction and become self sufficient! SO that is why I donate to them, because they really help those in need
My name is Alexis Brown and I was without hope before coming to the Bay Area Rescue Mission. They really helped me reconnect with my family back in Indiana as well as give showed love when I felt uncapable of being loved. They also helped me with my relationship with Christ Jesus and I have been off drugs and alcohol for 16 months now. The Bay Area Rescue Mission showed me love without limits.
I thought the Holy Spirit may be alerting me to something not right with with this place after I donated. There is something disturbing me about donating to the SF Bay Area Mission. I checked around and found a witness on this website of what the Holy Spirit wanted me to know. I wanted to affirm a certain greed shining through targeting me as a donor with manipulative marketing materials.
I also feel unsafe giving my personal info to this organization. I’ve been unusually riled up in my spirit like never before and disturbed by this place.
Twice I came to Bay Area Rescue Mission's food pantry (123 Macdonald Avenue) when my family was hit with hard times. With absolutely nothing to feed my children and no money for a few more days, I looked up food banks in my area who offered emergency food boxes. Bay Area Rescue Mission seemed like an ideal choice and was nearby. The first time I asked for food, I was denied a same day emergency basket of food and made to come back a day later on the first of the month (what seemed arbitrarily to me but I tried to keep an open mind). The next time, several months later, it happened to be the first of the month, so after work and with my hungry kids with me, we arrived at BARM just a couple of minutes before they closed for the day. Staff/volunteers, I am unsure, was very fast to wheel over the cart for facilitating donations into the food pantry. However, when I asked for food, anything at all I said, they quickly said no such luck. No food to be had, nada, zilch, nothing. Even just a box of pasta or stale bread or peanut butter, anything would have been dinner for my hungry kids, but no. They said no food was available and quickly headed back to lock up. People bring donations steadily daily to BARM but it isn't given to hungry children when they are in need and ask for help. Please be careful about donating food here, it doesn't make it to the community as the propaganda on their website would like to suggest.
