Rescue Mission Ready to Rebuild After April Fire

The Westminster Rescue Mission is rebuilding its thrift barn that burned to the ground in early April. A Rescue Mission spokesperson said the organization hopes a new building will be finished by early next year.

The blaze, which started just before 10 p.m. on April 6, was brought under control with the assistance of 100 firefighters from 15 fire departments, including Westminster.

The day following the fire, Pastor Dean Waddell told Patch, "It's been a setback but in the near future we will look to rebuild and make it bigger and better and continue to help our community."

And according to Rescue Mission Development Officer Carol Bernstein, that is exactly what they are preparing to do. Bernstein said that designs are still being considered by the board, but that the Rescue Mission will rebuild in the same footprint as the barn that burned down.

"It has taken awhile for the plans to gel and they’re still coming together as the board makes some final design decisions, but we are going forward with rebuilding," Bernstein said.

Westminster Rescue Mission is a faith-based, residential recovery program for those battling addiction.  They also provide food and other emergency assistance to those in need throughout the community.

Bernstein said the fire resulted in $500,000 in damages between the lost building and its contents. The barn that burned down housed inventory and served as one of the Rescue Mission's thrift shops.

The men receiving services are involved with the running of the thrift shops at several levels. According to Bernstein this not only brings in revenue, but it also provides job readiness training to Rescue Mission clients.

"The community has been gracious and generous in continuing to bring and donate items," Bernstein said. "Following the fire we were able to re-open the thrift shop in our gym facility and we wouldn't have been able to do that if people hadn't brought donations."

The Rescue Mission will kick off a "Pave the Way to a New Hope, New Life" initiative in which members of the community and businesses can purchase pavers that will be personalized and used in the building and landscape of the new facility.

Bernstein said there will be two sized pavers or bricks, one will cost $60 and a larger one will cost $150.

"The best way the community can help support the building effort is through the 'buy a brick' program," Bernstein said. "Not only will this be a financial help to us, but the donors will have their name attached to this new campus."

Bernstein said, "the bricks will be inscribed to show how much the community rallied around the Rescue Mission and what we're doing."

Bernstein said she expects final details to be set and flyers about the building fund to be available within the next couple weeks.

This story was corrected at 10:40 a.m. to reflect Carol Bernstein's title as Development Officer and the date of the fire. 

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