The Rescue Mission of Trenton

The history of the Rescue Mission is filled with examples of tough times and small victories. Since its humble beginnings, the Mission has always reached out to those least equipped to cope with the hardships of life. The City Rescue Mission was founded in 1915 by Mr. and Mrs. William Anderson at a time when rescue missions were springing up in urban areas throughout the United States as Evangelical Christians sought to bring the Gospel to growing urban centers. While ministering to the spiritual needs of the homeless, it became painfully clear that there were also many material needs the Mission had to address. In response, the Board decided to purchase beds and provide more meal accommodations so that these men could be housed for weeks at a time until they were able to get back on their feet. It is recorded that as early as 1918, the Rescue Mission was a place of "refuge" for over 100 people per night.

Increased demand for services and rising costs of maintaining the facility put great financial pressure on the Rescue Mission. To make matters worse, as a result of the stock market crash in 1929 the number of men seeking shelter rose at an alarming rate, taxing the facility to its limits. During the first nine months of 1931, 12,483 men slept at the Rescue Mission. The efforts of Superintendent Joseph Keating, Jr. (1929-1947) and other leaders at the time, helped to pull the Rescue Mission out of its dire financial predicament. Keating had long felt that the men staying at the Mission should be engaged in some form of work that could help offset the cost of their food and shelter, so he gave the men jobs to do. Even one-nighters were expected to put in time at the woodpile, sawing and chopping wood into lengths suitable for sale as firewood. This was the early beginning of industrial salvage operations at the Rescue Mission that has been developed over the years into a comprehensive Work Therapy/Life Skills program that today produces approximately 30% of the Rescue Mission's operating budget each year.