“I started using weed when I was 16,” Jesse remembers. “My dad hurt his back and was taking OxyContin. He shared them with me and my addiction kind of...

“Dorrine grew up in an extremely abusive home in Baltimore. “My mom started abusing me at the age of six,” she remembers. “I was different. I didn’t look like...

“There was a lot of physical and mental abuse,” Anthony remembers of his early years. “I thought that’s how life was.” “From the age of 7, my life was...

DeMarco grew up in a single-parent home here in KC. Although he was exposed to church and religion “it didn’t take root.” Instead, he spent his time in “the...

Liz swore she would never be like her father, a violent alcoholic and drug addict at whose hands she suffered every kind of abuse. Her escape was alcohol. “I liked the...

Eric doesn’t remember much about the horrific accident that put him in the hospital, just that he collided with a jackknifed semi. “I hit him in the wheels and not...

What leads people to become addicted to drugs or alcohol? In Willi’s case, it may have been watching his father, who was an alcoholic. Or being introduced to marijuana...

Marilyn grew up in a very strict religious home. “We weren’t exposed to alcohol...we weren’t supposed to drink or dance. I was the oldest and a preacher’s kid, so...

Shelter KC offers a 9-month discipleship & recovery program called C-COR (Christian Community of Recovery). Frank is a military veteran who's suffered from a long-term, unhealthy relationship with alcohol. He's...

Tommie grew up in a good family but rebelled at a young age against the strict rules his father had set.  “I didn’t like rules,” he remembers. “My dad...

Not having the love she needed at home, Shalise ran away at 13. As she grew older, her life just “spiraled out of control.” “I was introduced to drugs...

Tommie grew up in a good family with a strict father. But because “everybody was doing it,” he started using drugs when he was just 12. At 16, he...

Ivan lost everything he had and became homeless. But with his faith restored and life rebuilt, he plans to finish his college education and become a drug and alcohol...

Randy overcame abandonment as a child and an addiction to alcohol. But Shelter KC was there with the support he needed. Randy’s mom died when he was just seven....

Raised in a Christian home with a grandfather who pastored a church, Ursula’s life was going well until her mother died of breast cancer just a month before Ursula’s...

Tom has been a guest here at Shelter KC off and on for 18 years. His journey began in 1998 when he lost his mother, his brother and his...

“Joy, confidence, and empowerment… that’s what Shelter KC means to me,” Tina says. When she arrived at our door, Tina was lacking in all three of these areas. That...

My name is Sandy and life for me has felt like a series of earthquakes. Every time I feel like I’m steady, everything shakes apart. The turmoil started early...

TREVA SAW THE SIGN as she walked down Prospect Avenue, anxious about her future. “I had just completed a stay at a nearby recovery ministry. Their program only allowed...

CHRISTMAS HAPPENS A LOT at Kansas City Rescue Mission. You see, Christmas marks the moment in time when God stepped into the confusion of a dark and dying world...

“I WAS STANDING BEHIND THIS BIG GUY, waiting to check out with the cashier and I caught a glimpse of a tattoo on his forearm quoting Psalm 27:1,” Rob...

THE CHILLING TEMPERATURES in December 2018 and January 2019 tested the strength of our Center staff as they provided warm, safe shelter for over-capacity crowds night after night! “We...

At Shelter KC we see God's vision come to light every day in big and small ways. This is the story of Eugene and God's sign to him through...