Harbor Light is a publication of Muskegon Rescue Mission and is produced tri-annually.
Mission Statement
We exist to demonstrate and proclaim God’s love to the less fortunate and homeless people of West Michigan.
Muskegon Rescue Mission
2735 E Apple Ave Ste D
Muskegon, MI 49442
231.727.6090
muskegonmission.org
Board of Directors
Roger Doctor – President
Rick Ebeling – Vice President
Bryan Betten – Secretary
Chris Thompson – Treasurer
Dave Barham
Jennifer Hamdorf
Dan McKinnon
Patrick Wittkopp
Give Online
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New Hope This Easter
Dear Friends,
Easter is a joyous season that reminds us that through Christ, new life is always possible. Because of your generosity and faithfulness, that promise of new beginnings is being lived out every day at Muskegon Rescue Mission.
Your support is transforming lives! As you’ll read in this issue of Harbor Light, our updated food pantry is welcoming families with dignity, nourishment, and hope during difficult seasons. You have also helped strengthen our Men’s Shelter, creating a safe and encouraging place where men can rest, heal and begin again.
Most importantly, your partnership allows us to help people escape poverty spiritually, emotionally, and financially. Easter reminds us that no one is beyond redemption — and your generosity helps make that truth tangible for those we serve.
Scripture tells us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This verse beautifully reflects what you are making possible — stories rewritten, hope renewed and lives made new.
May God bless you this Easter season and always!
Serving Together,
Dan Skoglund Executive Director
Change Happens Here: Renovation Complete
After months of planning, prayer, and construction, we’re excited to share that renovations to Muskegon Rescue Mission’s Men’s Shelter and Community Pantry are now complete!
Through the generosity of our donors and partners, this $1.5 million project has transformed our facility into a space that better reflects dignity, compassion, and hope for every person who walks through our doors.
I am grateful for the pantry and being able to get food and care items. The pantry’s new shopping experience is much better, much easier since the renovation.
We would love to thank you in person!
Please join us on the third Wednesday of the month for a special lunch and guided tour of our new Men’s Shelter and Community Resource Center. To RSVP scan the QR code.
- Kim, a Pantry Guest
The completed renovation introduces a tiered shelter approach designed to meet individuals where they are on their journey, along with a fully updated residential program wing featuring refreshed living spaces, restrooms and showers, a classroom, and a gym.
A new, adaptable building design allows our spaces to serve multiple purposes as needs evolve — ensuring the Mission remains flexible and responsive for years to come.
One of the most exciting additions is our new pantry shopping experience, which offers a one-on-one, choice-based model that allows guests to select food items that best fit their family preferences and cultural needs. This approach promotes dignity, strengthens relationships, and helps reduce food waste by ensuring resources are used wisely.
Kim, a recent pantry guest, is grateful for the pantry and being able to get food and care items. She shared that the pantry’s new shopping experience is, “much better, much easier,” since the renovation.
Because of your support, we are now better equipped to help men, women, and children take meaningful steps toward stability, independence, and lasting life change. Thank you for believing in this vision and helping make it a reality. Together, change truly happens here!
A Father Restored: How Your Support Changed Dennis’s Life
When Dennis walked through the doors of Muskegon Rescue Mission on a cold October morning, he wasn’t just seeking warmth — he was seeking a way out of a life that had slowly unraveled around him.
For months he had been living alone in the woods, hiding his homelessness from others and from himself. “For me it was easier,” he says.
But isolation was no longer numbing the pain of a drinking problem, drug use and broken relationships. Dennis knew that something had to change.
One Sunday, while attending a lunch hosted by a local church, he met a woman who offered to pray for him. While she prayed, Dennis experienced a peace he had not felt before. “I was, in that moment, washed over with warmth,” he remembers. “It felt like every cell in my body was completely content.”
That moment became the turning point of his life. ”I realized the faith I had been looking for was God.”
Dennis came to MRM for the first time the next morning and saw a sign for our long-term discipleship program. He hesitated when he learned that the program takes 12 months to complete. But God gently removed
every excuse — even the vape pen Dennis had stashed outside disappeared. “It was like God said, ‘You don’t need that,” Dennis says.
He joined the program. And the changes in his life began almost immediately, starting with his sobriety.
“I hadn’t been sober for more than a week consistently since I was 19,” Dennis shares. “Now, I don’t think about it. It’s not even a want. It’s just gone.”
Relationships he thought were beyond repair — including with his parents — are being restored.
“My mom goes to church with me now … My dad and I talk again. I hadn’t spoken to him in five years.”
But the greatest restoration has been Dennis’s relationship with his eight-year-old daughter. He had not been allowed to see her when he was drinking. But now ...
“My daughter sees me every Sunday for church now,” he says, smiling. “She’s a daddy’s girl… She would love for us to have our own house where we could have our own dog,” he says. “God will provide. That is my goal.”
Dennis wants friends like you to know something:
“There’s a lot of care going on here. More than people ever realize. Every resource, every meal, every class—it’s given in charity. And it’s saving lives like mine.”
Dennis was recently baptized at the church he attends weekly. Thank you for making life transformation like this possible!
Because of your generosity, Dennis didn’t just find shelter at MRM. He found faith. He found sobriety. He found his family again. And he found the man God created him to be.
I’m exactly where God wants me to be.
Full Circle: Samantha’s Story
A year and a half ago, Samantha McGuire walked through the doors of Muskegon Rescue Mission during one of the hardest seasons of her life. She had just left a relationship and was trying to figure out how to move forward with her kids, her recovery and her future. What she found here was stability, safety and a place to breathe.
“This place became almost like a sanctuary,” Samantha shares. “A place to go, where I could be with my kids, and they’d be safe.”
Today, Samantha is back — not as a guest, but as a volunteer. She serves several days a week at the front desk and food pantry, offering compassion, conversation and connection to those who walk in.
“I genuinely care about these people,” she says. “This is extremely important to me. And it’s the best way I can give back what was given to me.”
What once helped restore her life is now the place she pours her heart into — full circle.
Are you interested in volunteering? We would love to have you! Learn more at muskegonmission.org/volunteer or call 231.727.6090.
Bright Futures for Boys and Girls
Families in need turn to our Bright Futures Daycare & Preschool which offers safe, affordable and high-quality childcare for children from newborn through age 5. Free play and structured activities like the MI Cooking class and Creative Kids Moving Network are offered to foster children’s social, emotional, physical and cognitive growth. Meals and healthy snacks are provided throughout the day.
48 children are currently enrolled and another 400 are on our waitlist! We are grateful for the opportunity to meet this vital need in our community and to minister to children and their families. If you would like to help at Bright Futures, visit muskegonmission.org/volunteer or call 231.727.6090.
