PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WMBB)– The Panama City Mission Rescue reopened in early December but cannot open up its shelter area yet.
For almost 50 years, the Panama City Rescue Mission has been changing lives with warm beds and hot meals for those in need.
When the Rescue Mission reopened its kitchen to feed people in December, they couldn’t reopen the shelter.
“There’s no men’s shelter open right now between Pensacola and Tallahassee,” said Stephen Fett, CEO, and President of Panama City Rescue Mission. “So ultimately, we would really like to get this going again. But we need funding.”
The Rescue Mission spent 700,000 dollars to restore the shelter after Hurricane Michael.
” We need funding to hire staff and to operate this 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Fett.
Currently, the Rescue Mission is only open for dinner in the afternoon from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
“We want to get these folks out of the elements and be able to fully reopen and just offer them the amazing program services,” said Fett.
Fett said they want people to use the shelter to get back on their feet and turn their lives around.
“They just have to indicate that they want to change their life,” said Fett. “Many people say that they want to change, but are they prepared to take the necessary actions to change, so we provide accountability. We give them a roadmap. It’s a blueprint for success. “
Fett said over 40 percent of the population in the Panama City area is on or below the poverty line.
“There is a lot of need for a place like this,” said Tom West, a person currently struggling and needing the Rescue Mission Help” I’m not kidding. I would support it with all my everything I got”
Fett said the Rescue Mission needs about 30 thousand dollars a month to hire staff, which is required by insurance to open up the shelter.
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