Gospel Rescue Mission, Tucson, AZ

We're volunteering at the Gospel Rescue Mission through an organization of retired people called SOWERS (Servants on Wheels Ever Ready) . About 100 women live here, some with children, in a beautifully converted motel.  The women are in various stages of rehabilitation.  They are approved into the programme when they want to change, and must have already gone through detox from drugs or alcohol.  There are temporary stays, and longer programmes, about 18 months long.  Then there is a transition house, where they are taught how to function in the real world, after being in the shelter so long.  Some of us joined in their "celebration" the other day where they were given certificates for achievements and character.  It was just like school! They celebrated such things as completing programmes and getting a job.  Even the little children received certificates for reading books, and little 2 year old Mason, for listening so quietly to stories.
 I mentioned the 2 jobs I was supposed to be doing, but they did not actually materialize.  So I've been waiting to find my niche, and things are settling into a pattern.  The most predictable day is Tuesday, when I "help" in the daycare.  Today I was reading a story to 4 year old Micah, when he started dancing around.  On his way to the bathroom he yelled, "Pause the story!" When we were playing in the kitchen centre, I asked him to cook my food, so he put it into the (toy) microwave. I could not persuade him to "cook" my food on the regular stovetop! The microwave was all he had seen.  The women eat at a cafeteria, where we also eat lunch for the 4 days we work.
Other things I have done is sweep the sidewalk, littered with little black berries from the palm trees, help at the community outreach centre, and help sort clothing in the give-away store for the women. 
The RV's are parked in the asphalt parking lot behind the motel.  I'm happy to report, we are not the smallest.  Our neighbours live in a camping van.  Another couple is from Vernon, BC, so we're "buds".  When it was really hot, in the 30's, we ate outside, but it's cooled off a bit