No. 8
The News Herald is publishing its annual countdown of the top 10 stories of the year. These were the stories reporters and editors felt were the most important in Bay County in 2013. The series will end on New Year’s Eve, with the top story of the year. Also on that day, The News Herald will list the top 10 stories as ranked by readers in an online poll. To cast your ballot, click here.
NEWS HERALD TOP 10 STORIES COUNTDOWN
10. Sunday: Florida State University Panama City opens to freshmen, sophomores
9. Monday: Arrival of F-22s, Air Force personnel delayed for a year
8. Today: Big changes at The Panama City Rescue Mission
PANAMA CITY — The seismic shifts undertaken by the homeless shelter this year have resulted in the use of less police resources and are not expected to stop there, according to shelter officials.
The Panama City Rescue Mission adopted new policies, relocated its women’s shelter and replaced its long-time leadership this year. Depending on the results of each of the moves, and funding, the Mission could be looking to expand in the coming year.
A week before Christmas, the Rescue Mission’s board of directors were appointing members to a “strategic planning committee.” Recently appointed Mission Director Thurman Chambers said the goal of the committee will be to look at recovery program results and determine where, or if, the Rescue Mission needs to relocate to meet increased demand.
“I can see progress, and that will continue into next year,” Chambers said. “… There comes a time when you need larger facilities to meet those needs.”
The new emphasis of the Rescue Mission, rebranded as Pathways Christian Recovery Ministries earlier this year, included a stronger focus on addiction recovery.
Beginning in January of this year the Rescue Mission reduced meals offered to transients to one per day and shelter stays to five days for every 60-day period. The mission also created seven programs for extending the stay of people willing and able to follow the directions of the agencies in the support center, drastically decreasing the volume of people. The change in clientele resulted in a drop-off in police calls from three times a day to three times a month, officials said.
New policies were also reflected at the new site of Bethel Village, 1313 E. 11th Street — the former site of the Restoration House — which opened in October. Bethel Village now only offers recovery programs for women while the downtown restructured to only cater to males seeking addiction assistance.
The Rev. Henry Hazard, pastor of Heritage Bible Church and former president of the Rescue Mission’s board of directors, said operations of rescue missions throughout the country changed from housing transients to providing programs to homeless women with children, veterans and young people who made bad choices — often caused by substance addiction.
Hazard was replaced as president of the mission’s board after four years by Charles Buchikos, owner of Plumb Better, in December.
Separating men and women to the respective camps downtown and at the Bethel Village was a dream had by Rev. Billy Fox, the former executive director of the mission.
Fox and the Rescue Mission parted ways in September, neither party ever offered a clear reason for Fox’s departure.
“In an attempt to serve the hurting people in our community better, the Rescue Mission is changing,” Hazard told the News Herald at the time. “This change includes a change in leadership and its emphasis.”
Fox said he could not comment because of an agreement with the Rescue Mission’s board of directors.
Hazard said the policies initiated under Fox’s direction brought the mission to this point and “we are building on that foundation,” he said.
Bethel Village expects to hold a formal opening in January when renovations will be completed to provide more room for women and children in need. Funding issues will play a large role in how much or how little the mission evolves in the coming year. For the moment, the Rescue Mission is living check to check, Chambers said.
“We’re getting a lot of volunteers and that’s the key to this whole thing,” he said. “We still don’t know if this fall has pulled us out of our financial struggle. We seem to have done some better. We’re just trying to get a group going to where we’re focused instead of flying by the seat of our pants.”