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BUILDING POTENTIAL: Executive Director Jason Hynson says Victory Mission’s services are not anchored on Commercial Street.
BUILDING POTENTIAL: Executive Director Jason Hynson says Victory Mission’s services are not anchored on Commercial Street.

Victory Mission re-evaluating its place among nonprofits

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A new day is on the horizon for Springfield Victory Mission Inc., and new Executive Director Jason Hynson is at the helm. Following the retirement of 20-year leader Jim Harriger in January 2016, Victory Mission’s board of directors got to work looking for someone to fit the new role – one who could take the new ideas and questions on the table and run with them. Hynson was hired in November.

“He’s got fresh ideas,” said Craig Heidemann, chairman of the board. “He’s got energetic leadership style that I think everybody is really coalescing around. We’ve got a lot of positive energy and a lot of hope for the future.”

Just two years ago, Victory Mission had many moving parts: a homeless shelter for men; food pantry; thrift store; Cook’s Kettle restaurant; culinary program Victory Trade School; free dinner and chapel services nightly for the community; family ministries; and a catering service.

But last year, Victory Mission closed Cook’s Kettle and the Victory Trade School, and staffing has been reduced by five positions since Hynson’s arrival. The moves saved the rescue mission roughly $250,000, and Hynson said the nonprofit now has $200,000 in its cash reserves, which were completely depleted prior.

Hynson said the mission was overextended, and the board determined it time to re-evaluate the outreach. This year Victory Mission’s operating budget is resized to just under $2 million, down from $2.7 million last year. It was $3.5 million in 2015.

“Every ministry needs to do some self-evaluation and self-reflection periodically,” said Rita Gurian, a Victory Mission board member. “As we were transitioning to new leadership, it’s always a good time to have fresh eyes, fresh heart, fresh thoughts about ‘what’s our place in this city?’”

Core services include the homeless shelter, which serves over 300 men annually, and the evening meal and chapel service, which are attended by about 70 people daily.

Hynson talks like he’s open to redefining Victory Mission. He’s working to approach the organization from a business standpoint, and asking, “How does our business prepare for the future?”

With services spread across multiple properties, one of the answers might be condensing in its three-story building at 200 W. Commercial St. After the closure of the restaurant and trade school, which were both housed in the C-Street building, now only the administrative offices, catering services, chapel and evening meals are left. It’s nearly two-thirds empty most of the time, he said.

“The property is not listed. But if somebody gave us a couple million dollars, we’d walk away from it,” Hynson said.

A couple of blocks to the east on Commercial, The Kitchen Inc. just sold its 3.5-acre-campus, including the vacant 40,000-square-foot former Missouri Hotel, to Historic Commercial Developments LLC. The developer is planning a commercial and residential project. Critics over the years have cited the homeless services offered by The Kitchen and Victory Mission as reasons for sluggish economic development along the once-thriving C-Street.

Hynson said Victory Mission is not anchored on Commercial.

The board now is setting short-term and long-term goals, such as retooling the education program, starting a women’s and children’s program, and considering relocation.

Among the ideas, Hynson and the board have considered starting fresh by constructing a new building to house all operations.

In place of Victory Trade School, Hynson is connecting with the dean of students at Ozarks Technical Community College to continue fostering education to those served by Victory Mission.
“When you have an organization that is already doing it and is reaching a wide audience, it makes sense to come alongside them and take advantage of the infrastructure that they already have in place rather than trying to maintain it yourself,” Heidemann said.

That’s one of the new director’s main ideas: See what community organizations already are doing for impact and see how Victory Mission fits in.

“Springfield is very rich in people and programs that operate somewhat independently,” Gurian said.

“We think we’re in a unique position because we have the clients. We don’t always have to reinvent the activity; we can partner with other organizations.”

According to Charity Navigator, an online guide for philanthropists, 81.5 percent of Victory Mission’s expenses go directly to programs and services, while 10 percent goes toward fundraising and 8.4 percent covers administrative expenses. Victory Mission scored an overall rating of 76.65 in June 2016 for finances, accountability and transparency, earning two stars out of four. Two years earlier, according to CharityNavigator.org, the organization had three stars with an 85.3 rating.


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