San Angelo is blessed with a multitude of non-profit organizations. Few have the reach of Rust Street Ministries.
The local ministry, so named for its location at 803 Rust St., dates back to 1995 when Wall resident Sandy Jameson went on a mission trip to Atlanta with her childhood church, Johnson Street Church of Christ. While there, they visited a church with a rolling closet, a bus that carried donated clothes to people in need.
The group excitedly talked about the project on the trip home to San Angelo. In a time before cell phones were prevalent, they pulled over to use a pay phone to call the church and tell them about their desire to start a similar project in San Angelo.
Upon their return, the youth group painted an old church bus to look like a black-and-white cow. They called it Closet On Wheels and used it to bring clothing donations to children at San Angelo elementary schools. Johnson Street Church of Christ rented a warehouse space on Rust Street and named the ministry The Christian Service Center.
Over the next several years, the ministry burgeoned and was eventually renamed Rust Street Ministries. Donations grew – along with the ministry’s need for space. Today, Rust Street Ministries encompasses 33,000 square feet and provides much more than just clothes for kids.
Volunteers speak to an average of 50 families a day about their needs and how Rust Street Ministries can serve them. Every interview ends with prayer.
Bryan Jarvis, director of Rust Street Ministries, oversees the organization’s six employees and numerous programs.
“People’s lives are so hard,” he said. “They need love, they need care, they need kindness, they need compassion, they need physical help. I’m honored to be part of a team that gives it to them.”
When a family comes in for donated clothes, children pick out five tops, five pants and three pairs of shoes, one of which is a new pair of sneakers purchased with money donated to Rust Street. An adult may select up to 30 items. There are also hygiene products, bedding, and various household items to choose from, depending on the need.
As much as he loves helping the people served by Rust Street, called “neighbors,” Jarvis loves watching the volunteers grow through their work just as much. “This matters as much to us as to the people we serve,” he said. “We’re changed as much as they are.”
Janet Brenham, a volunteer coordinator, oversees the 120 volunteers that keep Rust Street Ministries running smoothly.
(Photo contributed by Rust Street Ministries)
“They need love, they need care, they need kindness, they need compassion, they need physical help. I’m honored to be part of a team that gives it to them”. – Bryan Jarvis, director of Rust Street Ministries
Between unloading donations of clothes, household goods, furniture, bicycles and food, sorting them all, organizing, tagging and distributing them, the need for volunteers is always present.
There’s a community of people that work at Rust Street, Brenham said, adding, “It’s all about sharing God with our community.”
Sandy Jameson went away to college soon after the mission trip that spurred the vision for Rust Street Ministries. When she moved back to San Angelo with her family 13 years later, she was amazed to see how much the ministry had grown and how many churches were involved. In addition to Churches of Christ, Baptist, Methodist, Catholic and several other denominations are involved.
“All the people I love who were part of my growing up, spiritual experience, were all volunteering at Rust Street,” she said.
More than 20 years later, Johnson Street Church of Christ continues supporting Rust Street Ministries, paying all overhead expenses the organization incurs. This allows for 100 percent of monetary donations to be spent on the people the ministry helps, Jarvis and Brenham said.
As the previous owner of San Angelo’s Just Between Friends semi-annual consignment sale, Jameson arranged to have unsold items donated to Rust Street Ministries. Thousands of clothing items, in sizes newborn through teen, allowed the organization to grow even more. Those donations don’t sit idly in a warehouse: Last year, Rust Street distributed an average of 6,500 clothing items every month.
“It was definitely a full circle moment,” Jameson said of the donations. Jameson sold Just Between Friends in 2017, but donations to Rust Street continue after each sale.
As for a vision for the future, the one Jarvis and Brenham have for Rust Street Ministries may seem a bit unusual. “This year, we have not served as many people as we served last year,” Jarvis said, “and that’s a good thing. Serving less people tells me the economy of San Angelo is doing better, and people are able to care for themselves.”
But Jarvis knows there will always be a need to serve people who need help. “If five come or 50 come, we’ll be here,” he said.