by Rev. Richard Trickel, CEO of The City Mission

One of my first acts as The City Mission’s CEO was to travel to the Western Reserve Historical Society and sift through nearly 95 years of TCM archives. That experience profoundly affected me. Two things were apparent: first, TCM’s resolute dedication to its founder’s original intentions to maintain a spiritual center in Cleveland and secondly, the Mission’s strategic role for nearly a century in fulfilling its original purpose as “the downtown arm of the church”. I left that day deeply humbled and grateful to be a part of this organization.

I can’t begin to recount the number of people who have approached me to tell me how the Mission has impacted their families. Grateful parents have told of their children, struggling with life, finding new hope and stability at the Mission. An elderly gentleman told me of his family coming to the Mission during The Great Depression and receiving the food they so desperately needed. And my favorite, the young mother who ran in front of the Mission bus as it drove through her neighborhood. She flagged it down and put her children on it because she wanted them involved in TCM’s youth program. Her son, after spending his formative years at the Mission, went on to college and graduated – partially financed by TCM.

One Sunday my pastor, talking about Cleveland and the need for Christians to engage in service to the poor, commented, “You can’t be involved in Cleveland for very long without at some point interfacing with The City Mission”. I think that statement sums up the effectiveness of the Mission. With its broad array of programming reaching countless numbers of men, women, and children; considering its numerous collaborations with churches, nonprofits and agencies; and taking into account the hundreds of faithful volunteers who serve, you just can’t work in central city Cleveland without interfacing with The City Mission!

Psalms 82:3-4 says, “Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; and deliver them”. For 100 years The City Mission has been doing exactly that. I invite all of you to join us in a time of worship and celebration on October 2, 2010 at the Wolstein Center in downtown Cleveland. As we gather together to celebrate God’s faithfulness to an incredible organization!