Passages Transitional Living has certainly had a busy and eventful summer! On July 1, we were blessed to host a groundbreaking ceremony for Passages Place, and construction has begun at the corner of First Street and Denver Street in Rapid City!
Rapid City Mayor Steve Allender was one of the speakers. He stressed the importance of Passages in the community and the significance of the land that Passages Place is being built on. The land had many years ago been a site of poverty and despair in the community. Soon, it will have a 6,200-square-foot home that will house women who are working to make positive, sustainable changes in their lives.
It is with praise and thanksgiving to God and a sincere gratitude to all who have worked so hard to bring us to this moment. We are all excited about recommitting ourselves to this great project that will serve this community for years to come.
Passages has been blessed by the faithfulness of donors, and we need them now more than ever. With Passages Place becoming a reality sooner than later, we are busy with getting ourselves ready to double our services. We are excited that we are able to provide twice the number of beds soon; however, we want to make sure that we are able to provide quality services to each woman that resides at Passages Place.
We will need to increase our staff, training and recruit more volunteers. To help us achieve our goals, we are planning our fall Pies Plus fundraiser, which will be held on October 30 at 7 pm at Open Bible Church on St Patrick Street. The main speaker will be Annie Goebel who was one of the original women to work on opening Passages. She has an amazing story of overcoming the same type of circumstances as many of the Passages’ women. You will also hear testimonies from those who have stayed at Passages. We look forward to seeing the familiar faces of our loyal supporters and hope to see many new faces in the room as well. Please bring a friend so we can spread the word about Passages and its successes to someone who may not yet know about us.
The Passages house has been at capacity more often in the last few months. Women are doing well, gaining employment and reaching goals. They are definitely focused. We will soon have more graduates from the six-month section of the program.
God is moving in mighty ways! One of our favorite Bible verses at Passages is 2 Cor 5:17-21:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: the old is gone, the new has come! God made him who had no sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
If you have not yet had the opportunity to partner with Passages in some way, please consider doing so. Take this opportunity to introduce a woman to God and watch your relationship with Him grow closer as well. Be an example of His love to someone who is hungry and desperate to truly know His love for her. You will be blessed as much as you bless her.