3 generations of family share mission of helping


By SEAN BARRON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

YOUNGSTOWN — For Rosie Aikens, Rose D. Brown and Johnny Pixley, working at the Rescue Mission of Mahoning Valley is truly a multigenerational family affair.

They represent three generations of the same family for whom the mission is both their employer and a source of inspiration.

“I fell in love with it; the staff is wonderful to work with,” said Aikens, who is a receptionist with the Rescue Mission’s Glenwood Avenue facility on Youngstown’s South Side.

She’s also Brown’s mother and Pixley’s grandmother.

In December 1994, Aikens began as a volunteer before being hired in mid-1998. Her main volunteer duties included keeping a warehouse in order, stuffing envelopes, folding donated clothing, unloading donated items from a truck and, on occasion, bringing in food she prepared, Aikens recalled.

Now, Aikens gives people receipts after they donate merchandise, answers the phones and performs other necessary functions.

Undoubtedly, many children who stayed at the mission were happy to see Brown, who also started volunteering in 1994 at the facility, and who served three or four days a week. For two years, her jobs included making sure toy donations were set up for the youngsters, as well as preparing food baskets and distributing mail to residents.

Detour

Afterward, Brown worked as a corrections officer at the private prison on Hubbard Road on the city’s East Side, until the institution closed in July 2001. That situation, however, took her job search in a different direction.

“I wanted my next job with God in the midst of it,” said Brown, who’s coordinator of family services at the Rescue Mission, 962 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. “I believe God sent me here because I was tough enough to deal with issues.”

Initially, Brown said, she was a client adviser, a position that saw her working every shift, including midnights.

“It was crazy hours at first,” she added with a chuckle.

Also with a background as a corrections officer at the private prison on Hubbard Road was Pixley, who’s been the Rescue Mission’s client adviser for men’s services since February 2005.

With a little encouragement from his mother, he got on board at the mission after attending the University of Akron, where he majored in criminal justice.

“I intended to stay with [the major], but being here, I’ve met some of my best friends, whether clients or staff. A lot of clients have touched me deep,” Pixley said.

He’s in charge of handling client intakes, overseeing activities and coordinating programs. Working at the mission also changed Pixley’s direction and allowed him to “appreciate things a whole lot more than before,” he added.

Misconceptions

Pixley and Brown said that some people still carry certain misconceptions about the Rescue Mission, such as thinking it’s just for men and that all the clients have drug and alcohol addictions.

Though some have substance-abuse problems, many families with young children and financial hardships come to the mission for temporary assistance.

Other residents are professionals who made poor choices and are there to get their lives in order, Pixley noted.

The number of clients at the Rescue Mission fluctuates, with most seeking food and temporary shelter, noted the Rev. David Sherrard, executive director. Last year, the mission served about 130,000 meals, and it usually receives 60 percent to 70 percent of its donations between October and January, the Rev. Mr. Sherrard added.

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