Sean M. Carew has served as executive director of the Providence Rescue Mission, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting the homeless and needy in Rhode Island’s urban centers through the Christian gospel, for the 15 past years. He founded the mission in 1999. Here he discusses the role of the nonprofit in helping those in need.
PBN: Do you find the nonprofit mainly serves Christians, and how does this affect your outreach?
CAREW: When it comes to serving the poor and homeless of our community, we don’t look to define what a person believes. We see people of all beliefs come to our doors looking for food, safe shelter, clothing and other essential services, and all are welcome. Christianity is just a vehicle that we provide our services through. No matter if you’re a Christian or not, the universal truth of loving your neighbor as yourself and caring for the poor and homeless of our community can be agreed upon by all. I believe that is why so many of our community chose to help.
PBN: You have a prison ministry. Tell us about how effective that is and how many you have helped.
CAREW: Our prison ministry “Learning to Live” has had a positive effect on the inmates at the Adult Correctional Institutions of Rhode Island. The program is a series of life-skill classes that are conducted in the prison by volunteers. We teach inmates how to handle life issues from a biblical perspective. We have different workbooks that offer practical solutions.
Since its inception in 2010, more than 4,770 inmates have participated in the program. Those inmates earned 3,976 certificates for each work book that was successfully completed. Of those, 1,191 inmates completed all seven 12-week courses. This has been in partnership with about 30 volunteers. So, when looking at those statistics I believe we have a very successful outreach.
PBN: How many people annually does your education center help and what kind of services do you provide?
CAREW: The Providence Rescue Mission Academic and Career Center provides service to individuals admitted to the men or women’s one-year program. We approach learning holistically and maintain an environment of individualized, self-motivated achievement. Men and women are provided academic and work skill enhancement through our up-to-date computer center. Students are presented with the opportunity to learn, research and plan their academic programming and future career.
Annually, we assist 20 to 30 students in getting back on the right track to higher education and career opportunities. Such numbers may seem low; however, recovery from total loss due substance abuse and emotional trauma does not prove to be a simple task for anyone, and especially those with families that have ceased supporting them.
We also assist our students in achieving a high school diploma through our computer center and partnership with the National Education Diploma Program as opposed to a general equivalency diploma. Our learning center provides the opportunity for our students to become competent in the English language, proficient in computer skills, obtain legal status in this country, and gain self-esteem while still achieving their individualized goals.
PBN: How many people in need do the overnight accommodations and dinners accommodate and is your funding adequate to maintain these services?
CAREW: Each night we accommodate and feed an average of 90 to 110 men, women and children throughout our facilities in addition to those that come from the community to eat but don’t stay with us.
We’re 100 percent privately funded by individuals, churches and businesses. And God provides for all of these needs. We are always looking to do more to effect change in our community. More funding would allow us to add staff that could work more on a one-to-one basis with our guests to be able to help them identify the challenges that are keeping them homeless and offer solutions to help them become independent and free from poverty and addiction.
The reality is: essential services are not enough. We also help at-risk individuals realize that God has a plan to help them achieve so much more than they currently have.
PBN: You have a summer appeal going on to raise funds. How else do you attract funding to support your cause?
CAREW: Each month we communicate to our active partners our current needs and ask them to help us meet those needs. We do not name our partners: individuals are our largest group of donors and they require privacy. We do have a number of businesses that donate food, including Capital Grille Restaurant, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and others.
The mission gives presentations at churches and businesses to share what we do so new individuals can become partners with us. We also do a number of fund raising events throughout the year, with our banquet in October being the largest.
