To many passers by, the Milwaukee Rescue Mission at the southeast corner of Wells at 19th streets carries little significance. But closer examination of the Mission’s history reveals a significant relationship to Milwaukee’s homeless.
The idea for the Mission originated in May 1893 during the passionate speeches of B. Faye Mills at the Grand Avenue United Methodist Church. Mills challenged local Christian businessmen to begin a Mission for the less fortunate, said Pat Vanderburgh, executive director of the Mission.
Mills started a collection amounting to $5,000 to rent rooms for the homeless on Wells Street, between Second and Third streets. In 1910, a building was erected at Fifth and State streets to serve as the Mission’s first shelter. This building lasted roughly 76 years until the Bradley Center, home of the Marquette Golden Eagles, was built.
Part of the structure on Wells, where the Mission currently stands, was originally built to be used as a teachers’ college in 1885. In the 1880s, the state authorized an initiative to build many teacher colleges in the area, Vanderburgh said.
The teacher’s college was incorporated into University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee several years later and moved to its downtown campus. The Mission’s building was slightly expanded, and Girl’s Tech, a vocational high school for women, moved in.
Today, carvings and statues on the building can be seen from the parking lot on Kilbourne Avenue. They were added when the girl’s school opened.
This institution did not last very long either, and in the 1970s, Wells Junior High School opened in its place. Like the institutions before it, it soon closed, and the Rescue Mission was able to finally acquire its current home.
For about six years, the Rescue Mission ran youth programs in the Wells Street structure until it finally moved in 1986, Vanderbaugh said. It has survived and thrived there ever since, finding a home on the edge of Marquette’s campus.
The portion housing Safe Harbor, a men’s shelter, is the oldest part of the building, and the rest easily fits into the block that the Mission owns, creating a safe refuge for men, women and children.
The sizeable four building structure for which the Rescue Mission is known and recognized today allows its staff to serve the Milwaukee community and reach out to those in need.
The Rescue Mission found a permanent home in the Wells St. building, as the needy are able to find a home within it. The building finally has a permanent purpose, and the Mission finally has a permanent place.
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