Durham Rescue Mission

What Durham Rescue Mission does

Durham Rescue Mission (legal entity: Rescue Missions Ministries, Inc., EIN 58-1482590) is a faith-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1974 and headquartered at 1201 East Main Street, Durham, North Carolina. It is Durham's oldest and largest long-term homeless shelter, operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year across a single metropolitan region (Durham, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill). Its service portfolio comprises four core programs: a Men's Homeless Shelter, the Good Samaritan Inn (women and children's shelter), the Victory Program (a 12-month residential pathway combining addiction recovery, Biblical counseling, vocational training, and job placement), and Operation Warm and Cold Shelter for extreme-weather emergencies. There is no proprietary technology product; the technology stack consists of conventional nonprofit SaaS (Stripe for donations, Handbid for fundraising auctions, Galaxy Digital for volunteer management, Resupply for donation logistics, Google Analytics / Piwik PRO, Meta and Google Ads for donor acquisition, and YouTube for the INSIGHT video series).

The business model is donation- and grant-funded, supplemented by earned income from wholly-owned DRM Thrift Store retail locations. The organization tracks operational KPIs — meals served, shelter nights, Victory graduates, volunteer hours, and salvage outcomes — as proxies for mission impact rather than financial revenue. The organization holds ECFA accreditation, the Candid (GuideStar) Platinum Seal of transparency, and a Charity Navigator Four-Star Rating, and is a member of the Citygate Network of rescue missions. Staff size is reported at 11–50, with named contacts including Director of Development Adam Todd, and event/organizational staff Chris Sievers, Matthew Paul, John Turner, and Billy Bullock.

Revenue is not publicly disclosed. The entity is governed by an independent board under Rescue Missions Ministries, Inc.; there is no private equity, venture capital, or institutional investor ownership. Distribution is exclusively through direct facility-based service delivery plus digital fundraising channels; no consumer-facing software or commercial product is sold. Commercial vendors and corporate partners (e.g., GSK for backpacks/Back-to-School Party, Convergint Technologies for campus landscaping, Deep River Sporting Clays for fundraising venue) provide episodic in-kind or event-related support rather than strategic operational integration.

Name

Durham Rescue Mission

Legal name

Rescue Missions Ministries, Inc.

Website

https://durhamrescuemission.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Durham Rescue Mission is a faith-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1974, operating Durham, North Carolina's oldest and largest long-term homeless shelter, providing 24/7 residential, recovery, and workforce programs for homeless men, women, and children across the Durham-Raleigh-Chapel Hill region.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Homeless Shelter and Recovery Services

NAICS

Temporary Shelters (624221), Community Housing Services (62422), Emergency and Other Relief Services (624230)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Homelessness Prevention, Shelter & Supportive Housing Services (BPAIANAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Emergency Shelter, Camp Management & Non-Food Items (NFI) (BPAGAAAC)

Keywords

• Homeless shelter services
• Addiction recovery program
• Workforce development training
• Emergency weather shelter
• Nonprofit social services

Headquarters

HQ city

Durham

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Others, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Primary funding source from generous donors who support the mission through one-time donations, monthly donations, stock donations, vehicle donations, tribute gifts, and estate planning.

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Durham Rescue Mission provides free, 24/7 residential shelter and recovery services to homeless and at-risk men, women, and children in the Durham, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill area. Core offerings include emergency and long-term shelter housing, meals, clothing, Biblical counseling, the 12-month Victory Program for addiction recovery and workforce reintegration, vocational training, education, job placement, and extreme-weather shelter under Operation Warm and Cold.

Product overview

Durham Rescue Mission operates as a nonprofit homeless shelter organization offering a portfolio of residential programs and support services for homeless individuals and families. The core offerings include Men's Homeless Shelter, Women's and Children's Shelter (Good Samaritan Inn), the Victory Program (a 12-month addiction recovery and workforce development program), and Operation Warm and Cold Shelter for extreme weather conditions. Supporting services include the Durham Rescue Mission Thrift Stores (retail sub-brand), the INSIGHT video series (YouTube client spotlight content), and the HomewardBound newsletter. The organization does not offer a technology product or software platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Good Samaritan Inn: Women and children's shelter operated by Durham Rescue Mission
• DRM Thrift Store
• Victory Program
• HomewardBound

Products and services

• Men's Homeless Shelter Long-term residential shelter program providing safe housing, meals, clothing, recovery services, skills training, and employment assistance to homeless men in the Durham, NC area.
• Women's and Children's Shelter (Good Samaritan Inn) Family-centered residential shelter program providing safety, food, clothing, biblical counseling, job placement, and family support services for homeless women and mothers with children up to age 12.
• Victory Program 12-month residential program designed to help individuals transition from addiction to employment through biblical counseling, vocational training, education, accountability, and job placement services.
• Operation Warm and Cold Shelter Emergency shelter services providing homeless individuals protection from extreme weather conditions, particularly during hot summers and cold winters.
• Durham Rescue Mission Thrift Stores Retail thrift store locations operated by Durham Rescue Mission, selling donated goods to provide sustainable shopping options while generating revenue to support the Mission's charitable programs.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration9 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Convergint TechnologiesminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 October 2020Convergint Technologies partnered with Durham Rescue Mission on a landscaping project at the men's campus located at 1201 E Main St, Durham, NC.
• GSKminorOthers · 16 August 2019GSK donated backpacks for the 20th Annual Back-to-School Party event and provided employee volunteers.
• Citygate NetworkminorOthersAffiliated with Citygate Network, a national network of rescue missions serving communities across the United States.
• Deep River Sporting ClaysminorOthersProvides venue for annual Sporting Clay Tournament fundraiser held at 284 Cletus Hall Rd., Sanford, NC.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Phoenix Rescue Mission: Faith-based rescue mission providing shelter, addiction recovery, and job training through structured residential programs; near-identical operating model and Citygate Network membership to DRM.
• Atlanta Mission: Faith-based, multi-program homeless rescue mission offering emergency shelter, recovery, and workforce programs — directly comparable to DRM's integrated model and Citygate Network affiliation.
• City Union Mission: Kansas City-based faith-based rescue mission with men's, women's, and family shelters and a structured recovery program — directly comparable program portfolio and faith-based funding approach.
• Urban Ministries of Durham: Operates a community shelter, food pantry, and supportive services in Durham, NC, directly overlapping DRM's catchment and service mix (emergency shelter, food, case management) for homeless and low-income clients.
• Los Angeles Mission: Faith-based homeless services provider offering emergency shelter, recovery programs, and meal services; comparable mission-driven model and donor-supported funding base.
• Nashville Rescue Mission: Long-standing faith-based rescue mission operating men's, women's, and family shelters plus recovery programs — same funding model, governance approach, and program structure as DRM.

Broad incumbents

• The Salvation Army: Global nonprofit offering emergency shelter, recovery, and food programs across the U.S., including Durham-adjacent operations. Much larger scale and broader service portfolio but overlapping mission with DRM's homeless services.

Regional players

• Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Raleigh: Regional Catholic social services provider covering the same Triangle NC geography as DRM, with food pantries, shelter support, and case management — directly competing for the same donor and client base.
• Open Door Ministries of Raleigh: Faith-based shelter and services provider in Raleigh, NC, operating in the same Research Triangle catchment as DRM with comparable emergency shelter and recovery programming.

Others

• Goodwill Industries of Eastern NC: Regional workforce development and thrift retail nonprofit that competes for thrift-store revenue and vocational training partnerships in the same geography, offering an adjacent alternative for DRM's workforce placement clients.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/rescuedurham
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCAQP5szWj8ZvuMgkWJ9tgdQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/DurhamRescueMission
• Instagraminstagram.com/rescuemissionsnc
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/durham-rescue-mission

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Durham Rescue Mission