OPEN DOOR MISSION ANNOUNCES 21 MILLION DOLLAR BUILDING PROJECT

Official Ground Breaking Scheduled in  October 2008  

Omaha, NE - September 7, 2008 - Open Door Mission revealed Monday plans for their Rebuilding Lives Campaign to expand facility space and services to the hungry and homeless.  

Phase One facility will provide additional living space for homeless men, women, and children. The "Rebuilding Lives Campaign" will allow Open Door Mission to relocate its current Lydia House, now part of the main shelter facility at 2706 N. 21st Street East, into a new structure to be situated on lots just north of the main building. The new building for single women and families, will be by far the largest facility of its kind in the Heartland.

Initial site preparations begin the second week of September. The official groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday, October 14th at 11:00 AM.  

Phase Two will allow Open Door Mission to redesign existing areas in the current shelter to more than double the current bed capacity for men's emergency services.

"In 1954 Open Door Mission launched a vision for helping homeless men in our area. Today, homelessness casts a shadow on the addicted, abandoned, abused, and under-educated. It has no respect for age, race, gender or marital status," said Candace Gregory, President and CEO of Open Door Mission.  "Homelessness resembles your co-worker, your classmate, your brother or your friend. And the need is greater today than in any of the years in our Mission's history."

Phase 3 will add 46 two and three bedroom self-sufficient apartments to the Mission campus. This Permanent Supportive Housing Program will provide stable, supportive, and affordable living options for men, women, and children in the community. 

Gregory reports that $8 million is still needed to complete the innovative project. "Open Door Mission has drawn strong community support because the plan not only recognizes the plight of the homeless," she said. "It offers donors the opportunity to invest in the future of the Heartland, one needy person at a time."  

About Open Door Mission  Open Door Mission is a Gospel Rescue Mission founded in 1954. Each day, Open Door Mission provides 320 men, women, and children wife safe shelter beds, serves more than 1,500 hot nutritious meals, and provides preventive measures to more than 250 families living in poverty.

To meet the basic physical needs of the hungry and homeless, Open Door Mission's Day Facility Services provide free transportation from the downtown area to Open Door Mission and Lydia House.