Rescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan (R3M) has more than 100 years of experience in addressing these most basic problems. Back in 1905 a man named Mel Trotter was summoned to Saginaw to help address the problems of men addicted to alcohol and women living in the brothels of Water St. The problems were almost epidemic in scope because Saginaw was the fallout zone for the collapse of the logging industry. Thousands of men had harvested the forests of northern Michigan and developed the practice of coming to Saginaw with their seasonal paychecks. As the logging industry waned, many of these men settled in Saginaw with their thirst for the wildlife, but without their paychecks. This was the most obvious people problem in 1905, and the man who had some acclaim for helping address similar problems in Grand Rapids was Mel Trotter. Mel himself was a recovered alcoholic who had successfully established the City Rescue Mission of Grand Rapids (today known as the Mel Trotter Mission).

Several area Christian leaders brought Mel to Saginaw to help establish the City Rescue Mission of Saginaw. Mel’s brother, George, was our first superintendent and the organization that was established to meet the people needs of 1905 Saginaw has developed to serve the people needs of twenty-first century Mid-Michigan. The Saginaw Rescue Mission was drawn into senior care in middle of the twentieth century as older homeless men were determined to have a need for permanent housing solutions.

A portion of the Mission house was allocated for frail seniors, and this eventually gave way to the addition of Community Village as part of the Rescue Mission family of services. Today Community Village is a Michigan Home for the Aged, located in the heart of the Tri-City area, that is licensed to serve 90 seniors.

The work of the Saginaw Rescue Mission has developed to address homeless men, women, and children.

The Mission typically serves 90 people a night, and services range from basic shelter to Christian discipleship, to supportive services for men and women who are entering the job market. The success of meeting people needs through the Saginaw Rescue Mission eventually led to the establishment of the Good Samaritan Rescue Mission (GSRM) in Bay City. Today Good Samaritan is able to provide emergency shelter for women and children of Bay City, but as community support develops this Mission will also provide emergency shelter for men, women, and children.

The addition of GSRM called for a new name that would recognize the expanded service area of this volunteer driven organization. We wanted to appropriately recognize that people from the entire region were coming together to help address the people needs of Mid-Michigan. Hence, you will find detailed information about each of our divisions on this website. However, you will also see us as Rescue Ministries of Mid-Michigan. A new name for an organization with a century of experience in meeting people needs.