A Mother’s Way Back
Rebecca lost her parents, her marriage, and nearly her children. Then she found her way to Phoenix Rescue Mission.Rebecca didn’t plan to become a mother...
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Miles Found Hope When He Had Given Up
After six years on the streets, your generosity helped Miles find hope, healing, and a future at Phoenix Rescue Mission.Miles spent six years living on...
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A Mother’s Way Back
Rebecca lost her parents, her marriage, and nearly her children.
Then she found her way to Phoenix Rescue Mission.
Rebecca didn’t plan to become a mother who spent almost a year apart from her two little boys. For eight years, she had been clean – had built a life, started a family, and was raising her sons. Then she went home to care for her parents, and everything fell apart.
Her mother was neglected in a care facility during Covid. Grief and helplessness brought depression, and depression brought drugs back into Rebecca’s life. In the span of two years, she lost both of her parents, her marriage, and her home. Alex and Robby went to stay with a trusted friend while Rebecca tried to find her way back.
She got clean through another program, then moved to a transitional home. A case manager there encouraged her to try Phoenix Rescue Mission. Rebecca had deep reservations about entering another faith-based program, but PRM offered something the other programs had not: a path back to her children.
Within weeks, she saw the difference. Counseling that helped her through her grief. Education on how addiction rewires the brain. A faith community that didn’t force belief but made space for it to grow. Her boys arrived at the Mission, and what unfolded over the following months was, by every measure, a coming home.
Her sons made great strides in school and received the support they needed at the Mission. Rebecca rebuilt her relationship with God, something she once thought grief had permanently broken. She watched Robby begin to worship at church services and ask about baptism.
In February 2026, Rebecca graduated from the Transformations Recovery Program. But her story at the Mission was not finished.
She was accepted into the Ministry Training program, which is designed to equip graduates with practical experience in Christ-centered outreach, rescue, and recovery ministry. The program serves as a learning opportunity that engages clients in peer support activities, promoting community-building and fostering a sense of connection and mutual support on campus. Through Ministry Training, she is developing professionalism by actively listening, supporting others, and preparing to counsel and serve neighbors who are where she once was.
“This place was able to surround me with love,” Rebecca says. Her boys are thriving, and so is she.
“What brought me here was just one thing. But what kept me here is what God has done in my life.”
– Rebecca
When a Mother Comes Home
What Mother’s Day looks like at Phoenix Rescue Mission.
Rebecca’s two sons didn’t ask for much. They just wanted their mom back.
There’s a moment on campus that never gets old – the moment a child stops waiting to be with their mom. When a mother opens her arms, and her children run into them. When tears and laughter arrive at exactly the same time. This May, that moment belongs to Rebecca. And, it belongs to you too.
Across the Valley, there are mothers still waiting for that moment. Still fighting their way back to the people who need them most. Your generosity is what makes the Mission a place they can come home to – where the road back to their children, and themselves, is closer than they imagined.
Thank you for being the reason another family was reunited.
God Bless,
Ken Brissa
Chief Executive Officer
“What we do is both eternal and earthly – and in May, that truth is never clearer.”
A Prayer for Mothers in May
Join us in lifting up the women and families across the Valley who need God’s protection and peace this month.
This May, we invite you to join Phoenix Rescue Mission in praying for the mothers and families we serve – and for those we haven’t yet been able to reach. Whether a woman is still on the streets of the Valley or standing in the early days of her transformation, she needs what only God can fully provide: protection, strength, and the knowledge that she is not forgotten.
Pray with us this month:
Psalm 91:4: “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” (NIV)
2 Thessalonians 3:3: “But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one.” (NIV)
Psalm 46:1: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” (NIV)
Isaiah 41:10: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (NIV)
Thank you for standing with us in prayer. These women are not forgotten. Because of your faithfulness – in giving, in serving, and in praying – they know it.
Show Your Neighbors Love This May
Two ways to serve your neighbors this May. Here’s how to get involved.
One of the most powerful things you can do for a neighbor in need is simply volunteer. This May, Phoenix Rescue Mission has two meaningful ways for you to do exactly that.
1. Hope for Hunger Food Bank – Glendale
Located at 5605 N. 55th Ave. in Glendale, the Hope for Hunger Food Bank serves over 250 families every single day. Volunteers help unload incoming donations, pack food boxes, and assist with drive-through distribution. This is a great first volunteer experience and a perfect fit for groups – whether it’s a team from your workplace, a small group from your church, or a few neighbors who want to do something that matters.
2. Meal Service at Our Recovery Centers
Volunteers are also needed for food preparation and meal service at both the Changing Lives Center for Women and Children and the Transforming Lives Center for Men, working directly alongside the men, women, and families in our residential recovery programs. It is hands-on, relational, and memorable.
To sign up for volunteer opportunities, visit phoenixrescuemission.org/get-involved/volunteer. We’d love to have you with us.
A Private Foundation Built on a Simple Idea
For more than 20 years, the Charles E. Benidt Foundation has believed that restoring one life ripples into generations.
Chuck Benidt built his life around work, family, and faith. He ran grocery stores in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa. He and his wife Bea wintered in Scottsdale. One holiday season, they opened the Milwaukee Journal, circled local nonprofits by category, and visited each one before deciding who to support.
That is how the Charles E. Benidt Foundation came to Phoenix. Chuck saw the need. Bea saw the people. And together, they chose Phoenix Rescue Mission.
After Chuck passed in 2006, the sale of remaining businesses fully funded the foundation the following year, ensuring it could live in perpetuity and continue multiplying the generosity Chuck and Bea had modeled in life. Maureen Crowley, who worked alongside Bea for years as part of what many called the “dynamic duo,” has led the foundation ever since.
The Benidt Foundation has been a partner of Phoenix Rescue Mission since 2004, helping to fund the Transforming Lives Center for Men and remaining committed to an organization whose mission mirrors their own: care for the person and watch the change ripple outward into families, communities, and the generations that follow.
“Everything in our mission seems to have a ripple effect,” Maureen says. The work she has watched PRM do over two decades bears that out. Men, women, and families who walk through these doors carry something different when they leave – and so do the people waiting for them at home.
We are deeply grateful for the Benidt Foundation’s partnership and for their enduring belief that transformation is worth every investment.
“Family is the cornerstone to living your life to its fullest. There’s nothing closer than family.”
– Maureen Crowley, Charles E. Benidt Foundation