BILLINGS — At the Montana Rescue Mission, a new campus opening Monday leans heavily on the symbolism of movement, using trains as a metaphor for the people it serves — individuals on the move, striving toward a destination on the horizon.
“The theme here is really the railroad. Obviously, because of Mr. (Dennis) Washington (founder of Montana Rail Link) and his generosity, but also, this is steps on the journey,” said Matt Lundgren, executive director of the mission. “This is not the destination, the homeless shelter. No one stays here long term. People come, they heal, they work on their lives, and then they move on to their next stop on the train line, so to speak.”
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The organization, which has been planning and building the new facility for four years, celebrated the opening of its second campus Monday with a ribbon cutting scheduled for 5 p.m. The expansion brings a range of new services under one roof: a culinary academy, salon, auto shop, wood shop, child care center, and a computer lab, among others.
“What we call a unified campus,” said Lundgren. “Everything is under one roof. Why? Because if you have to walk across town to see your therapist, you might get distracted along the way. You might run into some of your old friends that want you to do some of those old destructive behaviors.”
The goal of the expansion is to create fewer barriers and more access to support systems, skill training and long-term recovery. The second building was put together with the help of 10 to 30 volunteers.
Vanessa Bond, now the program coordinator, began her own journey within the shelter system.
“(I) went to the shelter, rang the doorbell, they let me in, and my journey began from there,” said Bond.
She now works alongside David Campbell, a case manager who has also walked the road from homelessness to stability.
“I went from being homeless with no hope at all to being a case manager here,” said Campbell. “Evidently, the people that I was working with saw something in me that I did not know was there.”
For both Campbell and Bond, working at the Rescue Mission is not just a job. It is a way to help others board their own train toward change.
“There’s absolutely hope, and as long as you can put a little bit of effort into it, there is hope for you at the end of the road,” said Campbell.
Information on how to donate to the organization can be found here.
