Good Samaritan Rescue Mission

Our History: From Eight Cots to 215 Beds

In April 1953, Buddy Murphrey and Arnold Jennings, both studying for the ministry at the University of Corpus Christi, opened an old farmhouse on Upper Broadway to serve homeless men. With eight cots and a soup kitchen, Good Samaritan Rescue Mission began. Seventy-three years later, led by Carole Murphrey, Good Sam has grown into a 215-bed shelter for men and women at 902 Nueces Bay Boulevard. Here, people can rebuild the lives they lost—or dream new dreams.

Run BY the Homeless, FOR the Homeless

At Good Sam, the people who once came through our doors seeking shelter are now the people keeping those doors open for others. Our staff members live and work here. Some arrived with professional experience and college degrees; others discovered abilities they never knew they had. Today, they teach, encourage, and mentor those who come after them. We laugh and say Good Sam is “run by the homeless for the homeless.” I, Carole Murphrey, CEO and Senior Chaplain, live here, too.

We do not expect people to fit a program designed by someone who knows their circumstances only from a textbook. When a person arrives with a need we have never encountered, we listen. Staff and residents work together to find an answer—sometimes by changing a program, sometimes by creating a new one. That freedom is one reason we accept no government funding: we can respond to the person in front of us without waiting for bureaucratic approval.

More Than a Shelter: An Intentional Community

Good Sam is an intentional community where people live, work, learn, worship, and care for one another. Residents are not simply recipients of services; they help shape the life of the Mission. We offer more than a place to stay. We offer a place to belong, contribute, and begin again.

Some of our younger residents have aged out of foster care. After difficult childhoods, they need time, encouragement, and the chance to discover their gifts and what they might love to do with their lives.

We also value the training and experience of veterans and try to hire as many as we can. Their skills strengthen our work, and many combat veterans are especially able to encourage others facing fear, grief, and hardship. Our staff members have walked a mile in the shoes of those who arrive at our doors.

Every Day, Around the Clock

Good Sam is open 24 hours a day, every day of the year. We serve three meals and two snacks daily. Our Day Labor Program helps people earn income, and our ID restoration assistance helps them obtain documents needed for employment. We welcome residents with pets, too. With PAAC’s help, their animals receive vaccinations, spay/neuter services, and flea and tick care.

We are a Christian ministry supported by private donations, without government funding or United Way membership. We serve people without regard to race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, or disability. We share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those who wish to hear it; our commitment to care does not depend on anyone’s beliefs.

Our greatest tool is God’s unconditional love. Good Sam is far more than a place to eat and sleep. It is a community where people help one another find hope, purpose, and a way forward. Miracles happen here.

Our Mission

Good Samaritan Rescue Mission exists to meet the needs of people experiencing homelessness with compassion, dignity, and unconditional love.

We provide food, shelter, clothing, opportunities for employment, and a place to belong. No two people arrive with the same needs, so we do not believe in one-size-fits-all solutions. We listen, we learn, and we work together to help each person find a way forward.

We are a Christian ministry, open to people of every background, supported entirely by private generosity, and guided by a simple principle:

As the original "Good Samaritan" did... See the need. Meet the need. Don’t wait.

Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these, my brothers and sisters, you did for Me.”