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Posted: Oct 01, 2019 2:35 PMUpdated: Oct 02, 2019 10:35 AM

Rescue Ride Visits Lighthouse Outreach Center

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Garrett Giles

Rescue Ride visited the Lighthouse Outreach Center located at 1411 W Hensley Blvd in Bartlesville on Tuesday for lunch.

Linda Radaker, the Lighthouse's Director of Development, said Organizer Brandan Thomas was putting on the historic ride across America to raise awareness about homelessness. She said the event was special for all at the Lighthouse, especially those who reside in the shelter.

No one from the bike gang knew who was living in the facility, but Radaker believes that God moved them to the people at the Lighthouse that needed encouragement. She said one gentleman at the shelter was ready to leave and just to give up, but when the Rescue Ride bikers came to visit, he became an entirely different person.

Seeing the smile on his face, as well as the others, was heartwarming to Radaker. She added that she was grateful for the community's support in providing lunch for the Rescue Ride event.

Brandan Thomas, the Executive Director of the Winchester Rescue Mission and the Organizer for Rescue Ride, shared his personal story as to why he put on this inaugural event. When Pastor Thomas stopped with his crew of cross-country motorcyclists in Fort Smith, Arkansas, to pay respects at his father’s grave, it marked a convergence of elements in his life that he never imagined would intersect.

As the director of the Winchester Rescue Mission, a shelter for individuals experiencing homelessness, Thomas, 34, has become aware of the foundational role of mental illness in chronic homelessness. And as a son, he suffered the consequences of the schizophrenia and mania that disabled his father, from whom he was estranged for a decade.

Thomas said doing this work has allowed him to love his father again, forgive him, and to journey on.

From the Lighthouse Outreach Center in Bartlesville, Thomas and his crew headed toward Wichita, Kansas. On Friday, Sept. 27th, Thomas and seven additional cyclists left Winchester for a cross-country trip they have named the Rescue Ride, stopping at homeless shelters nationwide, including in:

  • Roanoke, VA;
  • Knoxville, Nashville and Memphis, TN;
  • Little Rock, and Fayetteville, AR;
  • Wichita and Colby, KS;
  • Denver, CO;
  • Albuquerque, NM;
  • Phoenix, AZ;
  • Las Vegas, NV, and concluding in at Skid Row in Los Angeles, the most severely affected site for homelessness in the United States. It is estimated that more than 17,000 homeless people live in this four-mile area.

In total, Thomas said his crew will stop at 15 missions. He said he met the director for the Lighthouse Outreach Center in Bartlesville at a conference last August, which is why he decided to travel to Bartlesville from Fort Smith, Arkansas. The city was on their way to Wichita and they wanted to pay the friendly folks at the center a visit.

Thomas said he hoped to go on a ride where he could not only highlight the barriers for those going through homelessness, but to show the work that rescue missions like the Lighthouse are doing for the homeless across the nation. He said they are helping the whole person.

Thomas said that means that the Lighthouse Outreach Center in Bartlesville is meeting the mental, physical and spiritual needs people have. That to Thomas is valuable and he commended the Lighthouse for their work.

Straddling a Harley is a step beyond that last marathon event for homelessness awareness that Thomas staged, a 24-hour park bench sit-in, in front of the rescue mission, at which community members were invited to stop and share their stories.

Contributors are supporting the Rescue Ride, particularly Grove’s Winchester Harley Davidson, which is providing Thomas with a new Harley-Davidson Ultra-Light motorcycle for the trip.

The Rescue Ride is expected to take 12 days, with Thomas and his crew over-nighting in homeless shelters as they go. A concluding event with Rev. Andy Bales at the Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles is scheduled for Oct. 9th.

A documentary will be cut from the footage for release later. Thomas said they have already discussed putting on the Rescue Ride event again next year. He said he does not know how long they will put on the Rescue Ride, but he said he is happy to see all the support they have received and the difference they have made with their mission. In the future, they plan on going to Canada where they already have invites from missions up north to spread their message about homelessness.

Below, Thomas talks with residents at the Lighthouse Outreach Center over lunch. Also pictured below are guests eating at the Rescue Ride event. Other Rescue Ride members are seen interviewing a resident for their Rescue Ride documentary.

 


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