By Tim Curtis
Communications Director,
City Gospel Mission in Queensgate kicked off its yearlong Centennial Celebration with an open house on January 24.
City Gospel Mission was founded in 1924 to serve those suffering from homelessness, addiction, hunger, and poverty. James N. Gamble of Procter and Gamble originally funded the organization and was its first chairman of the board.
It operates a homeless shelter, and programs for residential addiction recovery, job training and placement, underresourced youth, and Christmas and Thanksgiving assistance.
Jonathan Brown has been leading City Gospel Mission since January 2023, when he became the first Black president in the organization’s history.
“City Gospel Mission helps people who are homeless and hurting break the cycle of poverty and despair … one life at a time,” said Brown. “We engage, equip, and empower those in need with the spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical skills and resources to achieve long-term life transformation and self-sufficiency. Our proven programs and services are centered on caring, personal relationships.”
A big goal of Brown’s this year is to make a push into the urban core to let people know about City Gospel Mission’s free services and how it might partner with leaders in the business, civic, education, nonprofit, and faith communities.
Other plans for the yearlong Centennial celebration include participation in the Reds Opening Day parade in March, a Gala event in May, and an original ballet to be performed by the girls in its youth program Princesses Ballet at the Aronoff in December.
“City Gospel Mission provides Christ-centered life transformation to people facing hunger, homelessness, poverty, unemployment, and addiction,” said Brown, who is the pastor at Pilgrim Missionary Baptist Church in Walnut Hills. He spent 32 years in education before becoming the organization’s President.
After five mergers, the organization has become a regional presence with the help of 2,500 volunteers and 350 churches and organizations. Its cause areas include:
Food and Shelter
Up to 74 men each night stay at the shelter. More than 42,000 nights of shelter are provided each year, and more than 96,600 meals are served ministry-wide. The public can get a meal to-go every night at 7 p.m.
Additionally, City Gospel Mission offers shelter guests 3 meals a day, life skills classes, personal case management, help getting housing and a job, and faith-based support.
Its Jobs Van offers panhandlers and homeless a day’s paid work cleaning up the city as a means of connecting them to its programs and other community services that can help long-term.
The organization also operates shelters for women and children, and men at Hope House Mission in Middletown.
Recovery
Up to 36 men and 52 women are served in the long-term residential recovery program for addiction and other life-controlling circumstances. A typical stay is 8-12 months, but the program is goal-oriented, not time-oriented. The program includes transitional housing and aftercare.
Key components of the program include goal setting, accountability and support, spiritual development, inner healing, health and wellness, job readiness, personalized case management, and life skills.
There is also a walking/running program called Step Forward. Volunteer runners aid those in recovery by training alongside them for races in the Flying Pig Marathon and Queen Bee Half-Marathon.
Jobs
City Gospel Mission offers a job readiness and placement program for people who have limited work histories as well as people who do not, and those who have legal challenges. It also has programming in 8 area high schools, helping students plan for life after graduation, whether it’s in the workforce, secondary education, or the military.
Youth
The organization impacts more than 3,500 underresourced youth all over Greater Cincinnati with programs that span the cradle to career. Programs include tutoring, mentoring, summer camps, Hispanic Outreach, ballet, an early learning playspace, high school success and college readiness, college scholarships, and teen outreach.
The goal of each program is to pair a child with a caring adult mentor to help foster spiritual, emotional, and educational development.
Holidays
The organization provides more than 450 families with food at its Thanksgiving Exchange and helps 250 low-income families afford to buy gifts for 840 children at its Christmas Store.
City Gospel Mission is faith-based, although anyone can take advantage of its programs. It believes with faith as a foundation that lasting life-change is possible.
If you or someone you know needs help, or you want to volunteer or get your church involved, City Gospel Mission welcomes you to visit citygospelmission.org, email contact@citygospelmission.org or call:
- Administration: 513-621-2873
• Shelter: 513-345-1060
• JobsPlus: 513-241-1800
• Recovery: 513-345-1086
• Youth: 513-345-1021
• Volunteer Questions: 513-345-1025
• Donation Questions: 513-345-1027