Goodwill Rescue Mission

Our Mission

Goodwill Rescue Mission offers help and hope to North Jersey’s urban poor and dispirited.

•	For mind and body: food, clothing, shelter, training and teaching.
•	For soul and spirit: the life-changing message of God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ.

Special Project

Hope Totes
Can you join us in this front-line ministry by collecting items to fill the totes?
Click here for more info.

The Fruit of Faithfulness

As the ushers closed the casket on Herman Henley’s brother, Herman cried out to God, “Lord, please help me!” Through the past 20 years, every time Herman lost people he loved, he dealt with the pain by diving deeper into drugs and alcohol. But on that January day, as he stood by his brother’s gravesite, Herman knew if he didn’t get help soon, he was as good as dead himself.

“I speak of Your faithfulness and salvation.”

— Psalm 40:10

“I got on a Greyhound bus to Newark, and I didn’t stop until I got to Goodwill,” recalls Herman. “I was sitting in the Day Room when I heard a woman singing about God’s faithfulness– how God was there all the time. The way she sang it, I knew it was for me, that God was telling me He’d been there waiting for me all the time.”

From an early age, Herman knew he was loved. His big-hearted step-mom worked two jobs to raise Herman and his siblings after she sent Herman’s alcoholic dad packing.

Herman Henley sorts food donated to our feeding ministry.

But when he was 17, Herman left his home in Virginia for New Jersey, where he was sure adventure awaited him. Things started out well for Herman. He landed a great job with Allied Signal Corp., met a young woman, fell in love and had a son.

But in his mid-20s, Herman was seduced by the party lifestyle. For the next 20 years, he spent his free time drinking and drugging.

Down inside, Herman knew his lifestyle was killing him. In fact, he came to Goodwill for help in 2006. But then tragedy struck: Herman’s son was killed on his way to the Mission for a visit. Grief capsized Herman, and he relapsed.

But the day his brother was buried, Herman knew he needed to come back to GRM and let God finish what He had started. While in our program, Herman gave his life to Christ and overcame his addiction to drugs and alcohol. Now he’s in our leadership training program, working in our kitchen. He hopes to join our staff some day.

“Goodwill has been a blessing,” Herman says. “I’d be dead somewhere without it. God has put this place here to help people who want to be helped. Now I have a joy I will never take for granted.”

Read other Stories of Hope

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