As the detailed fabrication of a handmade quilt, so is the history of the United Gospel Rescue Mission. The stories are its pieces, each resembling one another, yet varying ever so slightly. In the end, they fit together to create a lasting patchwork that is the Poplar Bluff Rescue Mission's first 50 years.
It can be said the UGRM began in the hearts and minds of a group of concerned Christians who recognized the need to venture beyond the doors of their churches. Their unified goal was to minister to the poor and socially disadvantaged members of the community in an effort to reach them for Christ.
George Howell was present during the initial planning stages of the Mission in 1968. Howell currently pastors New Life Baptist Church in Wappapello, Mo. He was 28 years old at the time.
Howell said a successful revival spurred Collins Chapel General Baptist Church Pastor Melvin Keena to take action.
"They'd had something like 100 professions of faith and it was through that he got the idea to ease the burden for downtown Poplar Bluff," Howell said. "So he took $40 from his own pocket and paid rent at 201 South Broadway, which was right across from the Tijuana Lounge, of all places."
Howell said he attended the Mission's first service, along with Keena, Rich Hamlin, Mike Pogue, Lyle and Joanne Jett, who played piano.
"Mel preached the message and if I recall, there were three or four people who came in off the street," he said. "It was enough. We really didn't know what to expect but it was enough to encourage us."
Howell said after the Mission's inaugural service, Keena reached out to area churches. He said First Baptist Church became heavily involved and were great supporters.
The apartment across from the Tijuana Lounge remained the Rescue Mission's home for the next few years, Howell said.
"It had an upstairs, but basically was pretty sparse, even in those days," he said. "It was a dining room and two individual bedrooms. The downstairs was the chapel and that's basically all we had at that time."
During the same year, local historian John Stanard said a man named Rev. William P. Brigden of the First United Methodist Church was working to provide aide to those in need.
Brigden is listed in the 1968 City Directory as the Director of the Human Service Center, which was part of his home at 905 North Fifth Street, which is now a parking lot of the FUMC.
"Mr. Brigden ran a little operation called the Human Resource Center and he helped poor people in various ways," said Stanard, who worked as a reporter at the Daily American Republic from 1965-75. "He helped them find jobs, helped with all kinds of social issues and to navigate the bureaucracy. That was his focus."
Stanard said the FUMC heavily supported Brigden's humanitarian values. In time, Stanard said he believes Brigden's work merged with the efforts of the UGRM and added an additional piece of patchwork to the Rescue Mission's history.
According to a UGRM newsletter from Oct. 1981, its first director was John Agee. By 1970, Agee resigned to pursue a role on the staff of the Kansas City Union Mission in Kansas City, Mo.
Due to limited funds, the Mission was unable to pay its new director a salary, the newsletter stated. But in 1970, Rev. Gus Parrish agreed to work without pay. He previously led the McAuley Water Street Mission in New York City. On Oct. 1, Parrish and his family arrived in Poplar Bluff and remained for eight years.
Current UGRM Director Greg Kirk said Gus Parrish is well-known in the Rescue Mission community.
The newsletter stated that in 1971, the Board of Directors upheld the recommendation of Parrish to search for an adequate site to house the Rescue Mission and its thrift store under the same roof.
In Feb. 1972, the UGRM Board of Directors stepped out in faith and purchased property at the corner of Fifth and Cherry Streets, which would serve the Mission for years to come.
Parrish resigned in 1978 when he accepted a position in Huntington, W. Va. He was replaced by Jim Dunn, who would lead the UGRM for the next 25 years.
Stanard said Dunn did "a great job with the nuts and bolts of the mission."
"He took a pastoral approach to helping people," Stanard added.
Dunn said he most enjoyed working with the men engaged in the Mission's program.
"My favorite thing was working with the guys and seeing them progress," Dunn said. "We got up at 6 (a.m.) every day. We had breakfast and then we went to the chapel at 6:30 (a.m.) I think and had devotions. Then we all went to work."
Dunn, who retired in 2006, said when he began working at the UGRM, its budget was a fraction of what it is today.
"We started with a budget of $6,000 and when we wound up, we had a $450,000 budget -- just about half a million dollars," he said. "The Lord was good to us and the community."
Despite the charitable work of Dunn and the organization's many volunteers, making ends meet was tough. By the late 1980s, the Christian organization had incurred thousands of dollars in debt.
Dunn said he focused on a phrase his father used when times were tough: "Keep looking up. The Lord will bless you just as much as you let him."
In 1988, Dunn went in search of a new leader for the Mission's Board of Directors. He found Joe Scott.
"Joe Scott coming on that board when he did was the salvation of the Mission," Stanard said.
When he arrived, Scott said, the UGRM was a financial disaster.
"We set up committees and the first thing we did was start on the debt," Scott said. "We figured out a way to get everything paid and tighten it up."
Scott said his initial goal was to create a strong executive board of individuals who were experts in various fields, including bankers, lawyers and contractors.
Twenty-nine years later the Mission regularly operates debt-free on an annual basis, according to current director Rev. Greg Kirk.
Upon Dunn's retirement, Kirk was hired. He moved to Poplar Bluff from Sacramento, Calif. in September 2006.
Scott said Kirk has been a great addition to the UGRM. He said aside from his one-on-one efforts with the men, Kirk's vast knowledge of directing rescue missions has been a positive asset. Through grant applications, he has secured more than half a million dollars since his arrival.
Kirk's initial grant, along with a donation from Kay Porter, allowed the UGRM to move its services to a renovated building a few blocks away from its Cherry Street home. It is now located on Broadway, next to the Poplar Bluff Fire Department. The thrift store is on Pine, in a former Dr. Pepper bottling facility.
Under Kirk's leadership, the UGRM has also expanded its services within the community.
The number of meals served on Thanksgiving and Christmas has nearly doubled in the last 12 years. The Rescue Mission has also become an integral part of disaster relief, providing food to those who are displaced during natural disasters since the ice storm of 2008.
"We're more than a drunk tank," Scott said. "We had the money and the food and the clothing to take care of that. We're ready and have proven that we're here to take care of our community."
Howell said he has reconnected with the UGRM after spending many years "tied up with work." He developed a friendship with Kirk and even volunteered on Friday evenings for two years delivering his message.
"The facilities they have now, if you would have told me back in 1968 at that first meeting that it would turn into something like this, I would have thought you were out of your mind," Howell said.
"The United Gospel Rescue Mission far exceeds any vision that we had."