Wilmington’s Sunday Breakfast Mission is celebrating a new lease on life for a handful of formerly homeless individuals.
The Christian-based non-profit’s Discipleship Program graduates three men and three women at a ceremony at the Mission’s downtown headquarters Sunday.
CEO and President Reverend Tom Laymon says the multi-level program involves intensive training to reconnect participants with family, work and the community.
“The vast majority of the folks that come to us an go through our programs have numerous major life issues. Addiction is usually top on the list of what affects them, but there’s some minor mental illness, there’s just relationship problems, some personality issues probably, and just a lot of different things that have broken relationships.”
Laymon describes homelessness as a series of broken relationships within the scope of life - family, landlords, and government for instance - and that rehabilitation comes when those relationships find healing. Laymon believes that healing is possible through God.
“We’re a Christian based organization; we think that God orders relationships,” Laymon said. “So we don’t force someone to become a Christian, but we teach them what the Bible says about these relationships and then it’s their choice to either follow it or not to follow it.”
Once they’ve graduated from the program, participants may continue to receive help from the Mission to reintegrate back into society. The Mission helps graduates save money to rent housing or to purchase a vehicle. However, some move on to continue their lives without further assistance from the Mission at all.
The mission tries to keep track of the graduates for up to three years, and in some cases longer. Of the graduates they have followed, 75-80 percent have not returned to a life of drugs, alcohol, jail or homelessness.
The program averages about 10-15 graduates a year, and over 100 people have completed it since 2004. More are on track to finish before the end of the year.
Typically, participants take anywhere from 11 to 14 months to advance through the program. The three men and three women graduating this weekend represent a move forward for the Mission; this is the second graduation that included women.
Laymon says that even though the program’s had an impact, there’s more to do. The program has both men and women on a waiting list to participate.
“We know we want to move more men and more women through these programs,” said Laymon. “The success rate of those who graduate is good. Now let’s increase the numbers of those who graduate.”
In order to maintain their autonomy, the Sunday Breakfast Mission does not avail itself to government assistance. So as a non-profit that depends entirely on donations, the Mission could always benefit from additional support.
“Doing it this way is difficult,” Laymon said. “You don’t have a great infusion of that regular cash that you know is going to come from the government on a regular basis. But we really enjoy it and we love to see the victories. And we do need to expand it because the need is dramatic.”