Dear Friend of the Mission,

Within a month after I came to the Mission in February 1989, a reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer lived as a homeless man on the streets of Philadelphia for five days.  In his subsequent article which was published on June 4, 1989, he wrote: “I spent my third night at the Whosoever Gospel Mission on Chelten Avenue which turned out to be a gem.”  A few years later in December 1992, another reporter from the Philadelphia Inquirer did a very positive and complimentary article on the Mission entitled, “A persistent success with second chances.”  He talked about how for 100 years we have been successful in providing homeless men with a second chance to start over.  A third article also written in the early 1990’s by a reporter from the Daily News highlighted how the Mission provides a fresh start for homeless, disadvantaged men.  I remember well as the Daily News reporter toured the Mission, he was amazed that we did everything we did without government funding and with a relatively small budget compared to other programs for the homeless.  He told me that other non-profits and city-run agencies could take a few lessons from us on how to stretch a dollar.  The reporter was truly impressed.

While the Mission has greatly expanded and improved what we do for homeless men, one thing that remains true today is that we still make every dollar count.  As help provide an vast array of life-giving and life-changing services through your gifts to the Mission, you can be sure that we will continue to work hard to be good stewards of your kind and generous support.   We will work hard to make sure that every dollar counts!

Working together with you,

Robert A. Emberger, D.Min
Executive Director