Rescue Mission work enlightens student

The student has worked in several jobs at the Rescue Mission.
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
YOUNGSTOWN -- Sometimes, performing a certain amount of work online, combined with a bit of persistence, can take you places -- literally.
Just ask Jessica Haggstrom.
"I've always wanted to come to the USA," said Haggstrom, 22, of Jakobstad, Finland, who made her first trip last month en route to the Rescue Mission of Mahoning Valley, and a new chapter in her life.
Haggstrom, a student at the Sydvast Polytechnics School in Finland, plans to graduate in December with a bachelor's degree in social work. She wanted to do more than receive a degree and land a job in her field, however.
Seeking opportunities
So last fall, Haggstrom went to the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions' Web site www.agrm.org to look for opportunities to perform outreach services related to her major and concentrated her search in locations on and near the East Coast.
After researching information on shelters in Boston and other large cities, she focused on smaller areas and came across the Rescue Mission on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
About seven months after making the necessary contacts, Haggstrom found herself on a 12-hour flight to Pittsburgh before being driven to Youngstown. For about six weeks, she has worked in several capacities at the Rescue Mission.
"That was exactly what I wanted, a Christian organization," she said of the facility. "I could trust them and know that they know what they're doing."
For the first 10 days of her stay, Haggstrom lived at the Rescue Mission before spending about the same amount of time living in a church in Howland.
Now, Haggstrom is staying at the Austintown home of Lynn M. Whetson, the Rescue Mission's development coordinator, before returning to Finland on June 25.
Haggstrom noted that there's "very little homelessness" in Finland, a socialist country with about 5.2 million residents, and that the state takes care of those less fortunate by trying to get them housing and paying for most of that and other essential needs.
Like America, she said her country provides foster care for children as well as shelters for victims of domestic violence.
Her goals
Haggstrom explained that her degree will allow her to be a socionom, someone who's qualified to work as an assistant in group homes, schools, churches and other facilities, but not perform administrative duties.
To become a licensed social worker, Haggstrom continued, she would have to attend a university and take separate course work, a process that could take up to four years.
The student said her ambition is to become a deacon through a Lutheran church in Finland, something she will be able to do with her degree. Haggstrom also is working in a Finish group home for those with mental retardation, a position she plans to keep through the summer.
Haggstrom added that despite seeing many abandoned homes in the city, she's noticed growth and progress being made in downtown Youngstown, and that the region "has wonderful suburban areas."
Jim Echement, the Rescue Mission's director of development, said that after receiving Haggstrom's e-mail last fall it was an easy decision to get her on board. The facility made flight, housing, sight-seeing and other arrangements, he said.
"It was a God thing; God delivered Jessica," he said.
Activities on visit
Whetson said that she and Haggstrom have been doing "typical family things" such as attending relatives' birthday parties, seeing Mill Creek Park, going to a Memorial Day parade in Columbiana and attending church. Haggstrom also went to a Cleveland Indians game, Whetson added.
Whetson said that she considers Haggstrom to be part of the family, and that the two quickly adjusted to each other.
Haggstrom said she's grateful for the chance to come to the Valley and to work with the staff and those staying at the Rescue Mission.
"The experience is positive mostly because of the family feeling all over the place," she explained.
"I was never afraid to live [at the Rescue Mission]; people look after each other. I'm learning every day something new and appreciate the small things."