Mission Gate Prison Ministry

Mission Gate's Goal:
To restore justice-involved individuals and people in recovery from substance use to a productive life, including reuniting parents and children when possible.

Our Mission:
To regenerate, rehabilitate, and reintegrate justice-involved individuals, people in recovery from substance use, and their families through relationships with Jesus Christ.
•Regeneration includes a spiritual awakening and building a relationship with Jesus Christ.
•Rehabilitation manifests when our program participants replace crime and addiction with healthy new lifestyles through classes, social interaction, and church participation.
•Reintegration occurs when Mission Gate guides our program participants into the social circles that will support their recovery and encourage continued growth.

Residential Homes:
All programs are 9-month or longer residential sober living programs accredited by the National Alliance for Recovery Residences (NARR). We serve more than 300 men and women each year. Residents without a high school diploma receive GED/HiSet training and testing. They take mandatory classes that include anger management, financial stewardship, parenting, trauma recovery, job readiness, and more. Our four programs include:

•Fort Good Shepherd Ranch is a 125-acre, 55-bed ranch in Cuba, Missouri, serving more than 120 men annually.
•Saint Louis Men's Guest Homes serve more than 60 men each year in three different homes with a total of 31 beds in South St. Louis City.
•Hannah's Ranch is a 32-acre facility on a beautiful country property in Cuba, Missouri that houses 38 women and their children at any given time. It serves approximately 70 women annually.
•Promises of Hope is located on a 25-acre country property outside of Elsberry, Missouri (Lincoln County) and can serve up to 22 women and their children at any given time. It serves 40 women annually.

Results:
Many Mission Gate program participants stay connected to Mission Gate decades after they leave our facilities. Many become ministry leaders and go back into prisons and jails to bring hope to those still incarcerated. A large number earn certification through the Missouri Credentialing Board as Certified Peer Specialists.

A majority of graduates stay out of prison for the rest of their lives. A one-year study of our aftercare program in the City of Saint Louis revealed that only 6% were rearrested or re-incarcerated one year after completing the Mission Gate program.

Brief History and Background:

Mission Gate was founded in 1985 (and officially incorporated in 1986) by Rick and Trish Mathes and Senator Jim Talent and his wife, Brenda.  Rick, a person in recovery from alcohol himself and recent convert to Christianity at the time, cut his teeth preaching in local homeless shelter and jails in and around St. Louis.  Rick understood all too well the challenges that people with substance use issues face in trying to recover from their affliction when they remained in homes and communities where they continued to be surrounded with drugs and alcohol on a regular basis.  Rick and Trish also noticed that many of the people they ministered to while in prison or jail did not have a safe place to go once they were released from incarceration.   They started the aftercare ministry by allowing justice-involved individuals they ministered to while incarcerated to come and stay in their own home once the people were released from prison or jail. Their vision for Mission Gate was to make it a safe haven, where people in recovery from substance use could recover and start life anew.  It was to be a place for a new fresh start on life.

Today, Mission Gate operates three guest homes in south St. Louis City that serve 60 men each year transitioning back into society.  While in Mission Gate’s nine-month or longer reentry program, residents are provided with housing, basic essentials, counseling services, life skills classes, employment placement, transportation, and recovery-oriented care.

 In 1999, Mission Gate purchased a 125-acre, 55-bed Fort Good Shepherd Ranch in Cuba, Missouri that provides reentry services for another 120 men on an annual basis.  

 Fort Good Shepherd Ranch is also home to Mission Gate’s equine program.  Mission Gate currently has 12 horses, one pony and two donkeys. 

Since its founding, Mission Gate has provided spiritual guidance to men and women alike. Mission Gate operated programs for women in St. Louis City for several years. Mission Gate's current women's program is located at Hannah's Ranch in Cuba, Mo., which was purchased in 2014 and Promises of Hope in Lincoln County, which started in 2017. Mission Gate is one of the only women's programs in the state that allows women to bring their children with them to live and paticipate in the program. Evidence shows that one of the main reason most women do not receive help is because they do not want to be separated from their children. Mission Gate has addressed this barrier to care head on.