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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Women and children in our community, who might not have another place to go, have a temporary safe place to stay together. The Downtown Rescue Mission’s Owen’s House is opening a door to a better life for hundreds of women and children.

Michelle Holland is one of those women; she’s a long way from home. “I’m actually from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma,” Holland said.

Holland is in the year-long program at the Downtown Rescue Mission. Sometimes life’s journey takes you away from everything you knew to solidify everything you’ll become.

“I’m not sure where I would be if it wasn’t for this place,” Holland expressed.

This place, with its freshly painted walls and welcoming beds, holds hundreds of women a night in Huntsville. “The rescue mission has changed my life,” Holland exclaimed.

Holland is talking about Owen’s House. It’s the Downtown Rescue Mission’s brand new women’s and children’s facility.

“Even if they have four or five, no matter how many kids that you have, we want you to know that you’re welcome here,” Tylor Jones, Director of Media Outreach at the mission, said.

“We are able to take young men up to the age of 13 in this facility,” Tracy Gibson, Director of Women’s Ministry, said. “We have the capability where they have privacy; we have the capability where the mom does not have to decide if she’s going to choose comfort.”

Owen’s House is a place for women and children to stay for a night. It’s also home to the 12-month program for single women, and the new 9-month program for moms.

“They come in for 9 months, we help them with their job skills,” Gibson explained. “We have an organization that’s helping them with parenting skills; we have an organization that’s helping them with their finances.”

You don’t have to leave Owen’s House the same way you came. “We’ll be able to have moms who maybe need to go to an interview or something like that, we can provide childcare for them as well,” Jones said.

Holland can attest, this is a house for the hurting with plenty of room for rescue. “They have the sound backing of people who have poured into them and who are going to see them through to the end,” Gibson said.

If you would like to partner with the Downtown Rescue Mission by providing donations for Owen’s House, visit www.downtownrescuemission.org. If you are a woman interested in joining one of the transitional programs, email Gibson at tracy@downtownrescuemission.org.