Posted 10:47 am Thursday, September 11, 2008
New Shelter Finds Home For Needy In Tyler
By BETTY WATERS
Staff Writer
A new shelter for the homeless and needy is coming to Tyler.
Staff Writer
A new shelter for the homeless and needy is coming to Tyler.
A leader in rescue mission work in Longview, the Rev. H. Tony Chung of Hiway 80 Rescue Mission Ministries, announced his resignation as executive director on Wednesday, saying he feels called to move to Tyler to answer the needs of the homeless here by opening the East Texas Rescue Mission of Tyler.
In announcing plans to leave the Longview mission, Chung stressed the new Tyler shelter will be "totally separate" from the Longview shelter, where Chung has been executive director for the last six years.
Alluding to new facilities and programs instituted during his tenure at the helm in Longview, Chung said, "We've completed everything here and we've been looking at Tyler the last couple of years. We know there's a need there and opportunity to start something."
His wife, Donna, works with him at the Longview shelter.
"The whole reason I resigned was to start this (Tyler) ministry," Chung said. "Our mission is to share the good news of Jesus Christ to the homeless and needy in East Texas communities, while providing food, clothing, shelter and other basic life necessities, as well providing a one-year residential discipleship/recovery program."
Hiway 80 Rescue Mission, which has been in operation 55 years, is seeking a successor to Chung.
He will open the new Tyler shelter in mid- to late October, but will assist at the same time with the transition over the next couple of months of the Longview shelter to new leadership.
Chung said he has been working with Tyler officials in preparing for start of East Texas Rescue Mission of Tyler and has set up an advisory board.
Chung is president and other members are: Robert Bush, executive director, East Texas Food Bank; Christina Fulsom, executive director, People Attempting To Help; Linda Shawn, a certified public accountant with Perry Reed Co. of Longview; Steve Todd, vice president BWR Architecture of Tyler; Jim Wooldridge, Habitat for Humanity of Tyler; and Chung's wife, who has been involved in prison ministry as well as rescue ministry.
Members of the advisory board have advised there could be as many as 200 homeless men in Tyler and surrounding communities, often sleeping in abandoned cars, buildings and makeshift lean-tos and in need of a hot meal, a shower, a clean bed and someone to talk to.
"The need is there and provides an opportunity for somebody to do something, and we have picked up the call," Chung said.
The old post office building at 1023 Glenwood Boulevard (near the intersection of Glenwood and Gentry Parkway) is being renovated to house the new shelter.
From 15 to 20 volunteer college students are scheduled to help Saturday with getting the facility ready.
The new mission will be the second shelter for the homeless in the Rose City and the only shelter that does not charge for services. It will be able to sleep up to 30 or more men on a regular basis.
The shelter, Chung said, "will belong to the community and we look for the community to adopt us and come alongside and be a part of it. From everything I know about the community, it seems like a very giving community."
The Tyler shelter will start off primarily serving homeless men because it will only have one building and it would be hard to sleep both men and women, Chung said.
However, men, women and children will be able to come to the shelter to eat. He anticipates eventually the new shelter may expand into a separate building for women.
Although not connected with the Longview shelter, East Texas Rescue Mission of Tyler will do similar things, Chung said. It will feed, cloth and shelter the homeless and help them get established.
During his tenure at the helm, the Longview shelter underwent major expansions in facilities and numbers of people served.
It went from housing 20 per night to 160 nightly. It went from sleeping 18 or 20 men per night to averaging 90 each night and went from housing three women per night to up to 50 women and children nightly.
It conducted a successful $3 million capital campaign, built a new chapel completed two years ago, bought and renovated a building to house women and children closer to town and renovated and added 15,000 square feet to it existing building. "It (the shelter) is debt free; we owe no money," Chung said.
The Longview shelter also started a long-term discipleship program, called the New Creation Program, to help people get back on their feet, Chung said. "We've seen people complete the program who had been living on drugs and alcohol have their own place, and one is going to college," he added.
The Longview shelter now has a $1.7 million annual budget, compared with a $350,000 budget when Chung became executive director. "We get a lot of support from 144 churches, but we are an independent, nondenominational organization. We receive no government funding. I work hard doing a lot of marketing and fundraising within the community," Chung said.
Chung, 56, has been doing rescue mission work 20 years and came to Longview from Boise, Idaho, where he was executive director of the Boise Rescue Mission. Chung has also trained thoroughbred race horses for 15 years.
He has a bachelor of science degree in Bible/rescue ministry from Grace College of the Bible in Omaha.
