From bartender to homeless center director

Marissa Bancewicz was a bartender mixing a margarita and began to cry as a customer told her about how he was helping a homeless person.

She knew then that she had to act upon what her heart was wanting to do which was to help the less fortunate in the community.

Bancewicz then learned of an opportunity to help others by volunteering at The Mission, an entity that assists the homeless in the community.

The Mission - I’m Possible Inc. was founded by Michelle Chester and it opened in March 2021 at 4310 W. University Boulevard. The Mission assists the homeless by helping them rebuild their lives and return them to the community as independent and contributing members of society.

Chester was inspired to found The Mission after seeing a homeless man during the winter. Chester prayed and asked God to do something for the homeless.

“He (God) ended up telling her to do something about it, so she and some of her trusted friends, they started getting everything together and they incorporated I’m Possible Inc., and they built this place from the ground up,” Bancewicz said. “They remodeled this building. They put a lot of heart into it.”

Bancewicz is from Pennsylvania and moved to Oklahoma to be with her husband. What happened next, she described as a “God thing.”

“I had no friends, family, no community and you know I was working just entry level jobs and not really making any friends,” she said. “I was really lonely. My husband worked away in the oil field a lot and I kept seeing the homeless and I’ve never seen that before. I come from a really small town and you don’t see that.

“I moved here in ‘16 and then it (homelessness) just continued to get worse and worse and you would see that and I had that heart like I want to do something to help, but I didn’t know what to do. Then somebody, who was a regular at Chili’s, he had given his car to someone who was experiencing homelessness and they came and were telling me about it. So I’m shaking a margarita and crying at Chili’s and my friend was there as well and she said that she’s had a heart and wanted to do something.”

They then learned of The Mission and connected with Chester on social media.

“I came the very next day and I started to volunteer,” Bancewicz said. “I’d work here Tuesdays and Thursdays and I would work at Chili’s at night and then she offered me a full-time position with the grant that we had and then. That was in the fall of ‘22.”

Bancewicz was offered the director’s position in January 2023 after Chester stepped down and moved to California. Bancewicz was once asked by Chester what would be her dream job and Bancewicz wanted to say, “It’s your job,” however, she did not say that out loud.

“I never told anyone, not even my husband,” Bancewicz said. “I think God really opened that door for me so I took it.”

The Mission served 176 people in 2023 and 106 have been served since this week.

Bancewicz said the homeless check in and they are greeted by someone at the front desk.

“They sign in so we can keep track of who’s here and when and how often they come,” she said. “They keep their personal belongings up front just so nothing is coming into the building that doesn’t need to come into the building. We do intakes with everybody. We have their general background information so we can figure out how more to help them. Figure out why they’re in the circumstances they are.”

The Mission is open Tuesdays and Thursdays for the day services where the homeless can shower, wash their clothes and eat.

“We started a resident program in 2023 so in September, Ricky moved in as our first full-time resident,” Bancewicz said. “We have a four-phase program so we have him working that program.”

Ricky takes care of the building and grounds.

Currently, there are three residents and approximately 15 people per day are served, but numbers have been down recently because of the homeless moving from an encampment.

A future dream of The Mission is to have studio apartments available which would be another transitional step for the homeless before they are completely on their own.

Bancewicz estimates there are 75 homeless people in the community living outside in tents.

“Idobelievetherearemore that live in their car if they have one,” she said. “I’ve met quite a few people. So you see them a little less than everybody else but there is that problem as well. You’re just not seeing them on the street. I’ve talked to the high school guidance counselor before and you know there are families living in their car with no where to go, so it’s a bigger problem than we actually see when you’re driving down the road.”

Bancewicz praised the community and other organizations for helping the homeless such as Feeding Hope and Light of Hope both of which serve meals.

“There are a lot of meals and some of the fast-food places will offer free food as well,” she said. “When I’m going by the camps every once and a while, you’ll see just individuals. You can tell they’re coming from churches or just individuals themselves are going and dropping off supplies and food.”

Bancewicz said the cost of living can be a factor in a person becoming homeless.

“It’s gone up, so if you’re on disability and you’re making $900 a month and the cheapest apartment is $480, plus your electric, you’re left with like $200 to survive and that’s a big thing,” she said. “Then, Dallas is really pushing a lot of their homeless people out so a lot of people are actually coming here from Texas as a first stop going north.

“There’s a lot from that and mental health is a big thing. For the ones you see on the street, I think a lot falls to that. There’s not really any facility that can house them to get them stabilized where they would need that full-time care. It really can be anything. Getting hurt, losing your job. A lot of people here live paycheck to paycheck, so that one time you can’t get to work or you’re out of work for a couple weeks, it’s detrimental.”

She said homelessness can also be generational.

“If you sit down and talk to somebody … most of the time, if you ask them about their childhood and upbringing, it’s no wonder,” Bancewicz said. “They don’t know how to take care of themselves or take care of a household or finances just because of the way they were raised.”

In addition to Bancewicz, The Mission has another full-time staff member, Kathy Nelson, who is the case manager.

The Mission has received grants in the past but as of now, the organization is operating from community partnerships and donations.

“I’ve applied for a couple of grants,” Bancewicz said. “I’ve never done grants before, so it’s like a whole new thing for me. So, we’re working on that and trying to do some fundraisers. We just did the Coldest Night of the Year and we’ll have a summer bash in June.”

According to Bancewicz, there is misinformation on the online community about there not being any help in Durant or the help not being enough.

“I just really would challenge people,” Bancewicz said. “If you have that opinion, to come volunteer, see what we do, put your hands to work with us. Come see the people and meet them for who they really are. Don’t just drive by them on the street and if they do want to be involved, we do need donations. We need partnerships if that even be $20 a month. It really goes a long way.

“But I think we have a lot of people in our community who do want to help they just don’t know what to do like I did, so I think it’s really pertinent that people seek ways to be involved even if that be a small donation every month or working the laundry room once a month.”

For more information on how to help The Mission, call 580-387-0091 or email infoatthemissiondurant. com.