Tom Devries

Originating in 1906, Citygate Network (formerly known as the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions) is North America’s oldest and largest community of independent, faith-based crisis shelters and life-transformation centers. In most U.S. cities, a member of Citygate Network is the most comprehensive homeless services provider, and in some cities, it is the only homeless services provider. Our member organizations are staffed by diverse, faith-focused followers of Jesus who carry out their objectives through various programs, all of which generally coincide with the eight “S” words of life-transformation. These individuals inspire and energize each other in exercising their religious convictions. Guided by their beliefs, they conduct all of their activities out of a biblically-based perspective and calling. Foundational is a belief by faith that Jesus of Nazareth was marvelously and simultaneously God and man—someone whose sinless life, death, burial, and resurrection are the basis for understanding and living life according to God’s plan. This makes offering help and hopes to people in destitute conditions and desperate situations an exciting endeavor because it is essentially a way of proclaiming and achieving what God wants: that His Kingdom should begin to emerge, right here on earth, just as it already exists in heaven. (Matthew 6:10)