Old Savannah City Mission
"Savannah's Five Star Gospel Rescue Mission"
Pastor Larry  McDaniel
For some time UTI has been developing  two distinct
divisions.  The Clean Start Division is designed to
facilitate freedom from substance addictions while
the Fresh Start Division reaches men who while
incarcerated come to faith and genuinely desire a
fresh start in life.  The most distinguishing component
of UTI is its mentorship component.  Mature Christian
men are matched with students for a year long role as
a life coach.  The mentor and mentoree work together
in all areas of life.  Mentors are required to train and
commit to be with their assigned student for a
minimum of two hours weekly.  
Fresh Start Student and Mentor
Old Savannah City Mission - LOCATION MAP
Mr. Bill Stiles is the Executive Director of Old Savannah City
Mission (OSCM) in Savannah, Georgia. Bill has been at
OSCM for three years and lives with his wife Connell in a
beautiful old Savannah Victorian home. Born in 1947 to
Thelma Williamson Stiles and John R. Stiles Jr. at the Old
Charity Hospital in Savannah, GA, Bill and his family first
resided at 311 East Duffy Street.  The next year they moved to
Skidaway Road across the marsh from Wormsloe Plantation
when Skidaway Road was not even complete and the only
way to access the area was on the trolley car by way of
Central Avenue.

Bill’s first job experience was at the age of 8, when he began
cutting grass on Isle of Hope.  He is a 1965 graduate of Sol
C. Johnson high school and a 1969 graduate of Hampton
University, Hampton Virginia with a degree in Bio-Chemistry.
Upon graduation, Bill served in the U S Army receiving an
honorable discharge in 1972.  
business and in 1976, Bill and his wife Connell opened Stiles for Living,
Inc., an upscale home furnishings and gift shop at 1310 Abercorn Street
in the Victorian District. And in 1979, Bill started Stiles For Living Realty.
In 1982, Stiles For Living opened its second location in Oglethorpe Mall,
becoming the first African-American business to operate in a regional
mall in southeast Georgia. It was through his construction business that
he started doing volunteer work at Old Savannah City Mission at the
request of his wife who is the Director of Development. Because of his
multi-faceted abilities, Bill was later hired as the Director of Operations
in 2008.  

Bill has chaired and served on numerous boards and committees
throughout his career. Bill married his college sweetheart, Connell, in
the spring of 1972 and through that union they are the proud parents of
three (3) sons, William Elliott (31), Byron Adams (27), and Jordan
Winston (18). He came to know Christ at an early age and currently
attends The Sanctuary of Savannah. Bill credits his marriage to Connell
as being the pivotal point that chartered his Christian journey. Together
they have established a profound everlasting relationship that is truly
grounded in their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  

The Mission was founded through the inspiration of Larry McDaniel,
Pastor of The Sanctuary in Savannah, Georgia, after he was invited to
preach at the Los Angeles Mission by Reverend Jim Lewis. When Larry
would return to preach at The Sanctuary in Savannah, he would tell the
congregation about the Los Angeles Mission. The Mission’s ministry
was contagious. And soon, members of The Sanctuary were on board to
start a Mission in Savannah. Pastor Larry brought members of his
church with him to Los Angeles. They caught the vision of Rescue
Ministry, too. Under Larry’s leadership, the Old Savannah City Mission
was established in 1997. In a real sense, this was a daughter mission.
Jim encouraged Larry to grow and develop a residential, recovery
program patterned after the one at the Los Angeles Mission.

Several years after the establishment of the Old Savannah City Mission
Pastor McDaniel and the Board of Directors invited Jim Lewis to become
the Executive Director of the Mission. Through his leadership the
Mission grew and became perhaps the best known and only Five Star
Gospel Mission in the Savannah area.

While serving as Executive Director of the Los Angeles Mission
Reverend Lewis developed UTI, Urban Training Institute. He continued
to develop UTI in Savannah. It champions “high standards, strong
boundaries and clear direction.” It is a vehicle that advances
transformation. It gives formerly homeless drug addicts, alcoholics, ex-
offenders and others who feel themselves outcast to become
STUDENTS. For those who have little or no self esteem, labels are
removed and they are given a new name. This is fundamental to the
ministry of the Old Savannah City Mission. No one is called “homeless,
guests or clients.” UTI students, staff and volunteers refer to those they
serve as “friends and neighbors.”

UTI is the “crown jewel” of the Old Savannah City Mission. It transforms
students from being a receiver to being a giver. The students are the
engine of the entire operation of the Mission. Students are empowered,
trusted and held accountable. Jim’s definition of success is when the
student excels the teacher— in line with John 14:12, “Most assuredly, I
say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also;
and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.”

Greatest Accomplishment
The Georgia Department of Corrections nominated the Old Savannah
City Mission’s Urban Training Institute’s Fresh Start Division to receive
the Association of Paroling Authorities International’s Community Award.
The presentation on May 18, 2010 put some wind under the
wings of Savannah’s Five Star Gospel Rescue Mission.

Greatest Challenge
What is our greatest challenge? “It is the down to earth, nuts and bolts. It
is our cash flow problem. It’s funding! The Old Savannah City Mission is
privately funded. It receives no public or United Way funds.  Because we
are a Gospel Rescue Mission we are intentionally politically incorrect.
Here at OSCM we walk by faith and not by sight; however our fountain of
faith runs low sometimes. We know God never fails, but He does make
us nervous. God always comes through.

Greatest Joy
We delight to see people learn because when they learn God’s Word,
they change. I love to teach God’s Word. To see it germinate in
someone’s heart and grow ... to see the work of God in someone’s life.
My greatest joy is when I see a student “get it.”
Bill Stiles
Executive Director