History of the

Reno-Sparks Gospel Mission

“It was like the Acts of the Apostles all over again, miracle after miracle.”

Rev. Howard Cooper

Miracles in Sin City

The old Bronx Hotel certainly has some colorful history.

It’s had its share of drunks, prostitutes and brawlers saddle up to the bar.

An ex-alcoholic once offered $20 as a down payment on the $150,000 purchase price – and got it. And it takes its name from a congested area 3,000 miles away from the Nevada desert.

But its turning point came in the late 1960s when the wooden bar came down and the wooden cross went up. The Reno-Sparks Gospel Mission had arrived.

From humble beginnings, the Mission has become Northern Nevada's largest provider of services to the homeless, affecting thousands of lives and families since 1963. Men and women used to walk into the building at Third and West streets and stagger out drunk.

Now, they walk out with their heads held high. More than 60,000 men and women who entered its doors left as changed creations.

They had become Christians.

“It’s what we do,” said Rick Redding, Executive Director of the Reno-Sparks Gospel Mission. “We take hurting people and make them whole again through Christ. We’ve been doing that for more than 40 years and we’ll continue on that path.

“We don’t cram anything down anyone’s throat. We accept people where they are and I think they respect us for that. But we are a Christian organization and we’ll never compromise our beliefs. We come to us for answers and we’ll give you The Answer: Jesus. He’s the Way, the Truth and the Life. He’s where true success lies.”

Success, however, hasn’t been without its struggles.

Incorporated in 1963, the Mission’s first years of existence were spent sharing quarters with guests of the Mizpah Hotel on Second and Lake streets. It was cramped and yet ever-expanding. Then-Superintendent Howard Cooper prayed for a miracle in Sin City.

He got it.

Scanning the newspaper classifieds, Cooper – the successful salesman turned skid row bum -- spotted an ad for the dilapidated Bronx Hotel at 145 W. Third Street. He knocked on the owner’s door with one hand, clenching his small wad of cash in the other.

Minutes later, Cooper had left with a $120,000 purchase price – $30,000 off the original price tag – dropped $20 as a down payment, and even led the owner to become a Christian.

Oh, yeah, and the bar.

In the midst of this transaction, the hotel owner gave Cooper a beautiful wormwood bar. Complete with liquor. It was an odd contribution to an organization dedicated to separating men and women from alcohol – and perhaps an even stranger gift to a man who once lost all he had to the lure of the drink.

But these were God’s people. And they knew what to do.

“I felt like one of those policemen in prohibition days who poured away the bootleg booze,” Cooper wrote in Miracles in Sin City. “We gathered all the alcohol and took turns pouring it all down the sink…There was one less bar in Reno.”

The wormwood bar was torn apart and used to decorate the new office. Neon beer signs came down, replaced with ones of “Jesus Saves.”

Men who hadn’t worked an honest day in years volunteered to toil 18-hour days to renovate the new Mission. Donations of gas ranges and refrigerators and other supplies – including much needed cash -- poured in.

Men from around Northern Nevada, California and elsewhere sought refuge inside the Mission, where Cooper had laid down the golden rules that exist today:

• There would be no compromise of the Gospel;
• A sin is a sin;
• And no one could preach unless they stressed the simple faith in Christ for salvation.

The transformation had begun, but it was far from complete.

The Bronx Hotel – now the Reno-Sparks Gospel Mission – was rapidly becoming overcrowded. Nightly, men slept on the pews and ground, curling up wherever they could rest their heads. They waited outside in the winter for a cup of hot coffee. They filled the nightly chapel services, hungry for direction in life.

The Mission expanded, with staff and volunteers tearing down the roof of an adjacent storage room to build a 50-bed dormitory. Carpenters volunteered their time, using materials donated from the old First Evangelical Free Church.

The Mission’s growth brought such services as a thrift store and warehouse. But still it languished in financial struggles and identity problems. Many thought the Mission was the problem with downtown’s woes of decreased tourism and gaming.

Then the man with a slow, Southern drawl came into town.

Bringing with him more than 30 years of experience in working with the homeless, former Executive Director Rev. Kaleel Ellison and his family ushered the Mission into a new era.

In just a few short years, Rev. Ellison – with the backing of the Board of Directors – paid off mortgages to eliminate staggering interest rates. Upgraded a tattered vehicle fleet. Created an intensive recovery program. Expanded a struggling industrial operations division.

The work continues to pay off.

Up to 175 men and women now call the Mission “home” on any given night. About half are enrolled in the Christian Addiction Recovery and Education program, a free service that provides their needs for up to a year through counseling, Bible classes and studies, educational courses and a work therapy program that stresses ethics, responsibility and on-the-job training.

“We target the whole person,” Redding said. “They’re usually hurting pretty bad when they come through our doors, so our first encounter is usually one filled with pain and crisis.

“But once they’re stabilized, we then focus on their needs. Spiritual, vocational, educational. We want them to see that the year with us is spent productively in giving them a new start. Our hope is that this is the last program for everyone who comes here.”

Yet somehow, somewhere down the line, the Mission was labeled a “soup kitchen,” as if all it did was ladle soup to lines of indigents. The Mission continues to struggle to publicly combat that limiting image.

But those who work with the homeless or oversee public agencies know what the Mission means to the community.

“It’s one of the premier agencies in the city,” said former Reno Mayor Jeff Griffin. “The work the Mission does is truly needed and has responded to human needs. They do an outstanding job.”

Long before he became Washoe County’s top cop, Sheriff Richard Kirkland patrolled the streets of Reno. He recalled many times coming across drunks and homeless. Instead of hauling them to jail, Kirkland said frequently he’d call up the Reno-Sparks Gospel Mission to see if they had room for one more.

They usually did.

“You know, one the greatest satisfactions I’d get from law enforcement would be to run across one of these guys later holding a job and staying sober,” Kirkland said. “They’d say, ‘I know you probably thought I was just a bum, but thanks for having a little faith in me.’ That’s the kind of impact the Reno-Sparks Gospel Mission has.

“How do you put a price tag on the work of the Mission? Their work and success has been proven over and over again. If it weren’t for them, the government would have to do it at great expense. I have nothing but praise and admiration for the Reno-Sparks Gospel Mission. They are invaluable to this community.”

Mission workers say the difference is Christ.

With Him, the possibilities are endless. Without Him, the Mission is no different than any other social service agency.

“The good news of the Gospel is our focal point in all we do,” said Steve Higgins, program director. “That’s what makes us different than other agencies working with the same population.

“There is incredible healing and power in Christ. This isn’t just a Band-Aid or ‘new way’ of thinking. This is complete and total transformation from the inside out.”

Higgins said the Mission has about an 80 percent success rate (of those who complete the program) as proof of Christ making a difference in the substance abuse program. The figure is in line with other faith-based programs across the country.

Nationally, the “success” rate for non-faith based programs is under 20 percent.

The Mission always has cleaned up men and women physically and spiritually. But over the past few years, the Reno-Sparks Gospel Mission has placed an increasing interest in also rehabilitating them through work therapy.

Everyone enrolled in the Christian Addiction Recovery and Education program works at one of the Mission’s three thrift stores, men’s or women’s facility or the warehouse. At the latter, they learn electronic and small and large appliance repair, stock work and furniture refurbishing.

The Mission also has a computer training class led for learning basic computer skills. When they finish the course, clients will have basic computer and small-office skills.

“It’s in line with our reaching out to the whole person,” said Tim Brown, the Mission’s warehouse supervisor. “We teach them work ethics, responsibility and job skills. Our goal is to have them use the year as one of training so they are employable when they leave.

“Christ was very clear when He said we should be good examples. That applies to the workplace as well. We bring that Christian ethic into our jobs and great things start happening. Clients put us on their resumes and employers are impressed with the skills they’ve learned and their attitude as a whole. They’re different and employers notice that.”

Judy Still, now retired, saw thousands of men and women come and go in her 27 years of volunteering and working at the Mission.

“The ones looking for nothing more than free meals and a place to sleep usually don’t last long,” she said. “But the ones who want change find it.”

Always.

“Many of the men and women who come through here are bitter and angry and blame others for their situation,” said Still, who used to manage the bric-a-brac section. “For those that give their lives to Christ, that attitude turns to one of joy. Those that don’t, remain bitter and angry. They never experience the peace only God can give.

“I believe we have such an impact on their lives here at the Mission, because many of the men and women who leave here and then come back say this is the only place they received real help. Here, they get the support they need but have been lacking.”

Still said she’s seen other agencies try different approaches but with vastly different results.

“The Mission has and always will center around Christ,” she said. “The Mission caters to all of a person’s needs, but most importantly to their spiritual nature. Other (non-religious) organizations cater to the human nature only. But when the spiritual nature is taken care of, everything else falls into place. If you don’t have that foundation built on Christ, the building crumbles.”

The Reno-Sparks Gospel Mission’s approach has been credited with helping change the way Washoe County deals with its homeless. Former Sheriff Kirkland, for example, publicly has stated that he borrowed aspects of his inmate work therapy program from the one he witnessed at the Mission.

“We’re no flop house,” Redding said. “This is hard work. I tell the clients that they spent a lot of time and energy into ruining their lives, and it’s going to take that same commitment to turn things around.

“We have a big heart but we’re tough. No one is coddled. We don’t buy into the perpetual ‘victim’ mentality. We’re blunt. You want change, you’ve got to work for it. You want our help, we’re here for you.

“I’ll bend over backward to help someone who truly wants help. But if you’re here for ‘three hots and a cot’ and to play games, this isn’t the place for you.”

It’s that commitment that makes the Reno-Sparks Gospel Mission credible to other agencies and – more importantly – thousands of people who contribute to it annually, Redding said.

“People have misconceptions about us all the time, but they change their tune when they work with us and see us in action,” Redding said. “We’re legitimate and they know it.

“I believe that credibility has built up a loyal base of donors. They know they can trust us with their money. They know they’re making a difference in thousands of lives. We couldn’t do it without them.”