“At the Mission, I learned to love myself again.”
Standing in a line for food was the last place Jesse wanted to be during the pandemic.
“Everything was shutting down,” he remembers, “and it really affected me because I was running out of food.”
After 10 years in Niagara Falls, Jesse returned home to Buffalo, hoping to reconnect with his daughter and make a fresh start. “I came here with just a suitcase… I wasn’t eating right or getting proper rest.”
For a little over a month, he moved in with his 13-year-old daughter and her mother.
“I came back to raise my daughter… but it didn’t work out as planned.”
Jesse started to feel unwelcome in their home. The disappointment and isolation sent him spiraling into depression… until he remembered Buffalo City Mission.
Years before, when an accident left him unable to work, he’d found the support he needed here to rebuild his life. Jesse knew the doors of Buffalo City Mission would always be open to help him in his time of need.
Through spiritual classes and guidance from the Case Management team in our Transitional Housing Program, Jesse has overcome his recent struggles and is starting to dream about his future. “Since coming to the Mission, I’m not depressed anymore… Now I’m cheerful. I’m here to see another day, and that’s something to smile about.”
He has even reconnected with his daughter, and with the support of Mission staff, he is working to gain joint custody.
“I’m trying to get housing where I can have my daughter come stay with me.”
Jesse is beyond grateful for this second chance in life – and says it’s thanks to the love you’ve shown for a neighbor like him. “Before I came to the Mission, I was lost,” he says. “But now, I’m at peace… trying to live by God’s will instead of my own.”
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