Three Grads and ASM Global
From day one of our program, men and women flip the script of their impact on society. They move out of a life of drugs, criminal activity, domestic violence, and more, to a life that starts giving to others. Through service projects on and off campus, they began to contribute to their recovery and the recovery of others.
These service projects can include cooking meals, cleaning the facilities, laundry care, building swings in our wood shop, assisting churches with events, directing traffic for the University of Mobile’s Christmas Spectacular, glazing Honey Baked Hams, picking up donated items for our thrift store, doing lawn care and landscaping, and more.
We call this part of the program MissionSERVE.
One local business had a great need for help setting up a big Mardi Gras event. They’ve struggled to find good workers since the pandemic, and with the big event looming, tensions were running high. Then, Katherine Reeves of ASM Global received a recommendation to call the Mission of Hope. Katherine called and spoke with Neil Swartz, Program Manager for the Men’s Campus.
Arrangements were made for the Mission to bring a number of the men in the program to the Mobile Convention Center to assist with Mardi Gras set up. Hosting six events with as many as 6k people takes a lot of work. What these men did shocked Katherine and her entire staff.
“What used to take our entire staff 7-10 days to complete, working through the weekend and late into the nights, the Mission of Hope guys knocked it out in less than two days!” Katherine recalls with excitement. “My staff was overjoyed to work with the Mission of Hope!”
“The Mission of Hope was a game changer for us!” Katherine boasted.
ASM Global has continued to call on the Mission for projects. The work is done freely, however, ASM Global makes significant donations to the Mission after each project to support our 501(C)(3) nonprofit ministry .
Katherine noted, “The men work, they work well, and they work well together. It became obvious to our staff that the Mission of Hope was really making a difference in these men’s lives. You could tell there was something really great happening in this program to have these results.”
The positive community impact that takes place is dependent on businesses, churches, and individuals providing opportunities for our clients to serve, shifting their focus off themselves and toward others.
Then, ASM Global started hiring our grads!
Conversations about the quality of work being done led to questions about what happens to the men after they graduate from our program. Katherine and her team learned about our Halfway Program, which allows us to provide ongoing support to men transitioning from our program back into our community.
Breakfast and supper is cooked for the men each day, transportation to and from work is available, the Bible is studied as a group twice a week, and a staff member lives onsite for encouragement and accountability. This ongoing support coupled with the great work the men were doing, gave ASM Global confidence to hire our graduates.
“Most of our new hirers in the last year have been men graduating from the Mission of Hope. They are outlasting other new hires, as well. It’s been fantastic!”
She went on to explain, “The City of Mobile hired ASM Global to manage the events that take place at the Convention Center, the Saenger Theatre, and the Civic Center to drive economic development for Mobile.
The Mission of Hope is at the heart of making this economic development a reality.”
Katherine recently accepted another position with ASM Global, and looking back over her 6 years in Mobile, she said, “Bringing in the Mission of Hope to work alongside our crew has been the single greatest achievement I have had in my time with ASM in Mobile.”
The three men pictured to the left are Barrett Denson, Michael Daughtry, and Ricky Pittman. They are Mission of Hope Alumni working full-time for ASM Global and representing well. We appreciate Katherine, her team, and ASM Global’s willingness to partner with us.
Let us know if you’d like to talk about partnering with the Mission of Hope to positively impact lives and your business!