HIGH LINE NINE: The Bowery Mission: A Grand Story of Faith
Two men sat together at High Line Nine Galleries, tucked into an exhibition of life-sized steel silhouettes. They might have appeared to the outside observer to have nothing in common — one was young and white and a CEO, and the other, an older black man, had experienced homelessness.
Those who know them, however, say they have the most important things in common, starting with their name, James (meaning “the supplanter,” a Biblical warning against abdicating God’s supremacy to another). And like the steel silhouettes, both have been indelibly touched by The Bowery Mission — the city’s preeminent non-profit serving the homeless since 1879.
The former, President and CEO James Winans, came to Bowery Mission as a volunteer intern during his college summer break in 1999, working in one of the men’s recovery programs. “I didn’t know much about the city. I certainly didn’t know much about the experience of homelessness,” Winans said. “I was so impacted that summer by the staff — many of whom were alumni, who had experienced homelessness and incarceration themselves.”
“They had come to The Bowery Mission, turned their lives around, and decided to give back to others who were experiencing the same homelessness they had experienced,” he continued. “That had a huge impact on me as a young man.”
These residential programs — where adults will find a caring place to achieve personal goals, heal from past trauma and overcome the tangible barriers to independence — are just some of the services provided by the Mission. Transitional housing and alumni programs serve those graduates who need additional assistance, and children’s programs provide mentoring, enrichment and leadership development. The Compassionate Care program provides basic needs and emergency care services. Meals, shelter, clothing and more are provided seven days a week, 365 days a year, to all who walk through The Bowery Mission’s bright red front doors — no questions asked.
After a stint as Education Director at Family Promise, Winans returned to the Mission in 2005 as a grant writer, and then as Chief Development Officer. “Responsibility has grown over the past 17 years,” he chuckled. Winans served as interim CEO in November of 2019.
Image: The Bowery Mission
Three months later, the COVID pandemic hit the city and threatened to close the red doors. “We were all told to stay at home. The Bowery Mission serves thousands of people who have no home. And so, we determined to stay open and continue to serve in new and different ways.”
Meals that had been served three times a day to nearly 250 people in the dining hall were moved onto the street. Quickly, they saw their numbers double. “We were seeing all of the folks we might typically see, who were unhoused,” Winans recalled, “but as we talked to our meal guests, we realized we were serving the people who, last week, were working for cash at the restaurant or construction site or hotel. They’ve got a rent check due, and there’s no work, and somebody told them to get help at The Bowery Mission.”
Almost immediately, hygiene degraded amongst the homeless population as public bathrooms shut down. So, the Mission erected two public bathrooms on the sidewalk which stood for nearly two years. They also partnered with Showers of Blessing to bring hygiene and clean clothes back to the population. The sidewalk in front of The Bowery Mission became a place of help and hope in the midst of a ghost town.
“As I saw the staff innovate and take on risk,” Winans recalled, “I thought, this is something I want to continue doing. I was humbled to work with the team.” He became CEO in July of 2020.
“I didn’t get here easily,” he added. “The road’s been tough, but God has seen me through. I can’t leave him out.”
James Macklin’s story began very differently. In 1987, after many personal tragedies — including his adoptive mother’s death at nine years old, addiction, and a toppled business — he found himself homeless, broken, and asleep on the A Train.
A white-haired woman shook him awake. “What’s a man like you doing sleeping on the A Train?” she asked, reaching into her purse. She gave him a card with directions to The Bowery Mission.
“Who did she think she was looking at?” said Macklin, years later.
He stumbled through the red doors later that night, and after witnessing a service in the chapel, he went to the dining room for a meal. “I thought, maybe I’ll be here for a day or two, get a change of clothes, and then get the heck out of here…but it didn’t happen like that. I got a change of clothes, but I got a change of everything else, too.”
That was the beginning of a new life for Macklin, who has been with the Mission ever since. After entering the discipleship program for men, he was promoted to Security Supervisor, Operations Manager, and eventually to Assistant Director. In the 1990’s, he met his wife Debra, who he married in the Mission’s chapel.
“Homelessness is a devastating thing. Some people never get out no matter how hard you try. But I’ve learned that when the student is ready, the teacher will come. That’s what happened to me,” said Macklin. “The student was ready for the message. And the mission was to give it out — not the bricks or the mortar — but the word of God, and seeing it in action. That is the beginning of change.”
Today, Macklin is the Mission’s Outreach Director, sharing his newfound hope with New Yorkers from every walk of life. “I didn’t get here easily,” he added. “The road’s been tough, but God has seen me through. I can’t leave him out.”
The Bowery Mission’s exhibition at High Line Nine, entitled “A Legacy of Transformation,” tells a 150-year-long story of faith with God as the author. Each steel silhouette represents a person whose life has intersected with the Mission, inflection points on the greater timeline, which unfolds on the back gallery wall.
“These silhouettes represent people experiencing homelessness every day — the faceless, the statistics. However, when you get close, you delve into a story that’s real,” said Brian Ourien, the Mission’s Director of Brand Marketing and Communications.
Some silhouettes are familiar — like that of James Macklin, for example — and others are from chapters past. “These two are our founders,” says Winans, pointing toward statues near the window on 27th Street. “Jerry and Maria McAuley were Irish immigrants who lived a life of crime.” Jerry was dubbed the River Thief for his practice of boarding boats on the Hudson, stealing wares, and selling them on the streets of New York City. His antics landed him in Sing-Sing, where he met noted prize-fighter Orville Gardener. Gardner, who had been deemed “Awful Gardener” for his reputation, had experienced a conversion to Christianity after the death of his son. It was his preaching that catalyzed a change in McAuley’s heart.
Shortly thereafter, McAuley met Maria, who had experienced deliverance after a life of prostitution. The two married and started McAuley’s Water Street Mission, which would later merge with The Bowery Mission.
Winans pointed to the silhouette of James Cash Penney. The entrepreneur, father of five young children, was widowed suddenly at 35. He had lost hope. “He came down to the Bowery, which was New York’s Skid Row. It was the place you went to drink your despair away. It was a place you ended your life, if that’s what you were going to do.”
Suddenly, he heard music coming from the Mission chapel. He would later credit that moment with endowing him with new resolve in his life, his family and his business — known today as JCPenney Department Stores. He would go on to become the President of The Bowery Mission, carrying the organization through the Great Depression.
“In my distraught state I did not altogether grasp it clearly,” Penney would later say. “But I felt that my steps had been led in some way halfway across the city to this mission.”
“In my distraught state I did not altogether grasp it clearly. But I felt that my steps had been led in some way halfway across the city to this mission.”
As the interview concluded, Winans recalled a recent story. “There was a group of people standing in this room, all supporters of The Bowery Mission. It was a small enough crowd where each person could introduce themselves.”
A Jewish entrepreneur stepped forward. “I grew up in New York,” he said. “My dad and I would go up and down the Bowery, and I always wondered what was behind those red doors. About ten years ago, I decided to find out.”
“I sat in that chapel alone,” he continued, “and I had time to think. What am I doing with my life? What am I doing with my business? It was a transcendent moment.” He walked out of the chapel with a new purpose.
As the man spoke, Winans saw JC Penney’s silhouette directly behind him — two stories, authored by God, echoing together across history. Winans fought back tears. “I thought to myself, what is the rest of this story going to be?”
The Bowery Mission: A Legacy of Transformation is on view at High Line Nine in Gallery One through January 3rd. Give to The Bowery Mission here.