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.

A Christmas Like No Other — Jerry Armstrong

“To me, every day is like Christmas,” says Jerry Armstrong, reflecting on how dramatically different his life is now, thanks to Goodwill Rescue Mission. Before he joined our Project Emmanuel Recovery Program, he says, “I was destroying myself.”

Jerry tasted tragedy early in life when his mother died when he was 9. His six siblings were left in the care of their older sister, who provided them with a stable, loving home.

After high school, Jerry joined the Marines, and that’s when his life began to change for the worse. “I started drinking, drugging and womanizing,” he explains.

When he left the service, Jerry became more and more dependent on drugs. “I always felt I could control the drugs, then I ventured into crack cocaine. That was the one that brought me to my knees,” he says. “When I started taking money from my kids’ allowance to get more drugs, I realized that wasn’t me. That’s when I realized I couldn’t do it myself.”

“ For to us a child is born, to us a son is given and he shall be called wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

— Isaiah 9:6

Jerry came to Goodwill and joined our program, but left after three months. “Of course, I did terribly,” he recalls. “A week after I left, I was going back down the same road again.”

A few months later, as he came to after a bad drug binge, he knew he had to come back to GRM. “I didn’t want to die,” he states flatly.

This time, Jerry did wonderfully in the program. He graduated, rejoined his family and started life anew. Today, Jerry and his family live in Fayetteville, N.C., where he is in charge of maintenance for an apartment complex.

This Christmas, Jerry will rejoice at the miracles God has performed in his life. “God is good, and I thank Him for what He is doing for me and my family,” he says. “I thank the Lord for Goodwill Rescue Mission and the men and women who are a part of that organization.”

Read other Stories of Hope

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