Rescue Mission announces campaign to raise funds for new South Side facility

YOUNGSTOWN

Not long ago, Doug Gough found himself in St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital’s trauma center after having been in a head-on collision with a cement truck in Lordstown.

As if that weren’t enough, he also was struggling with a drug addiction and had nowhere to go.

Fast-forward six years, though, and the Newton Falls man isn’t shy about sharing the major transformations that have occurred in his life – nearly all of which he attributes to a strong faith in God and help he received during his stay at the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley.

“They loved me right where I was. They gave me hope,” said Gough, who went from being a client down on his luck and in physical pain to a staff member – serving as client adviser, supervisor of men’s services and the discipleship coordinator.

Now he is hoping another transformation will take place – that enough funds will be raised to build a new mission on the South Side.

Gough shared part of his story of struggle and triumph during Thursday morning’s “Move Our Mission” capital campaign news conference at the mission, 962 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., near downtown.

The campaign is to help fund a $9.5 million, 50,000-square-foot facility that will be on a 17.5-acre parcel in the former South Side Park near East Delason and East Warren avenues, which the city deeded to the mission in 2010.

The building will replace the current 85-year-old, 27,000-square-foot facility – the former home of the West Federal Street YMCA Branch – and more effectively meet clients’ needs, noted Jim Echement, executive director.

So far, about two-thirds of the cost has been raised.

Read more about the plans in Friday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.