Light of Life Rescue Mission cuts the ribbon ahead of opening of Ridge Recovery Place
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The Light of Life Rescue Mission has been helping the city's homeless for years now and on Wednesday morning, some 150 people came to Pittsburgh's North Side to cut the ribbon on the new Ridge Recovery Place.
Ridge Recovery Place will officially be open this fall and this newly renovated 56,000-square-foot former school building, will add greatly to the work the organization already does at their main facility just down the road on the North Shore.
This new space will cater to all in need, but especially those who are homeless because they are battling addiction and working on recovery.
Jerrel Gilliam, the Executive Director of Light of Life, was grateful today, saying how special this all is.
"When I grew up we always talked about how Pittsburgh is someplace special," he said. "We want it to be special for everyone, whether they have a home or not. This should be a special place and we want everyone to find their place here with us."
Ridge Recovery Place has been in the works for years and the opening of this new facility not only took the dedication of this non-profit, but strong efforts from both the city and county governments.
"The community came together to support what's going on here, to provide services to folks in need," said Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. "We were glad to participate, the county was, in many ways as well. But this has been a long time coming and cutting the ribbon today is exciting."
This new space is designed to be less of an overnight shelter and more of a longer-term, transitional facility to get people back on their feet. Residents here will be committing to stay for up to two years and take part in things like workforce development, educational programming, and of course, recovery.
This new building will also be a home to Light of Life's Donation Center, which will allow the mission to receive and distribute more donations than ever before.
The hope is that this facility will not only be great for our city, but it will stand as a model to other cities around the country working to combat homelessness and addiction.
Ridge Recovery Place will be opening at the end of this month… but you can donate to Light of Life. For more information, check out their website.