In what used to be Nielsen Elementary School, Chance Uhland sits in a swivel office chair in what used to be the principal’s office.
The cement-block walls are painted a peaceful light blue, and taped to them are photos of Uhland’s sons.
A stash of brightly colored energy drinks sits on a shelf nearby.
On a plaque just outside the door, Uhland’s name is spelled out in a loopy script above the words “executive director.”
Two years ago at this time, Uhland was about to graduate from Knox County’s drug court program. He’d turned his life around after nearly two decades of struggling with addiction and being in and out of trouble — a span of time in his life where he says he had no structure.
Today, he’s at the helm of the Galesburg Rescue Mission and Women’s Shelter, using his lived experience to give others grace, love, and the tools to become self-sufficient.
Uhland runs a homeless shelter that is often at capacity. He manages a staff of 15 people and a budget of over $700,000 — all from donations — and he marvels at the idea this kind of leadership was inside him all along.
“I think that it was a gift from God that I just didn't know that I had. And I didn't know how to use it. I didn't know how to utilize it until I got clean and until I was walking in the calling that he had placed on my life,” Uhland said.
The Galesburg Rescue Mission & Women’s Shelter moved to the former elementary school in 2023. The organization was founded in 1942.
Uhland was named executive director this month, after serving in an interim role for five months. He first came to the Rescue Mission as a case manager, working one-on-one with unhoused people to help them acquire IDs, obtain employment and housing, and address mental health and substance use problems.
“They didn't have a case manager previously. I think I was the first one they've ever had. I built a pretty good, pretty successful caseload,” Uhland said. “Sometimes I'd have to start from the ground level. When I say ground level, I mean no ID, no social security, no phone, no birth certificate, nothing,” Uhland said. “They come here with absolutely nothing but the clothes on their back.”
Prior to the Rescue Mission, Uhland worked for Bridgeway as the System of Care Coordinator for the Recovery-Oriented System of Care (ROSC) in Fulton and McDonough counties.
‘We’re going to show grace’
Across the hallway from Uhland’s office is the former elementary school library.
Books still line shelves along the perimeter of this room — but it’s now a chapel where a large wooden cross hangs on the east wall and where people who are living in the Rescue Mission are required to attend services twice a day. They also are required to attend a church of their choice on Sundays.
The Galesburg Rescue Mission and Women’s Shelter is a non-denominational Christian organization. Uhland said those who work there believe Jesus is the answer.
“That's what we know, that's what we believe, and that's what we stand on,” Uhland said.
But he said they know not everyone believes that. He said it’s a misconception that the Rescue Mission forces religion on people.
“Do they have to sit through chapel twice a day? They have to sit through it, but that doesn't mean that they have to listen, right? And if they're not ready to receive it, then at that point, all we're doing is dropping seeds on top of concrete,” Uhland said. “So we have to step back and let God be God and let it be on His time, not ours.
“A person does not have to believe what we believe in to stay here. We're going to love people through and through, just like Jesus loves us. We're going to show grace and we're going to respect people, because they are people.”
Uhland said his life changed when he attended the Adult and Teen Challenge of the Greater Midwest in Pekin, a Christian faith-based recovery program. That’s where he got sober, where he found his faith, and where he realized his calling was to help others.
“Even when I was very early in recovery, I knew that,” Uhland said. “That's what I was put here to do.”
Since Uhland has been at the Rescue Mission, he’s emphasized paths to recovery from Alcoholics Anonymous to counseling and psychiatry, in addition to the gospel.
“My job is to promote multiple pathways to recovery, but mine personally is in faith,” he said.
The Rescue Mission also deals with a number of people who are struggling with mental issues, but the issues causing homelessness are complex.
“There are guys here who have never touched a drink or drug a day in their life and they don't struggle with mental health,” he said. “They just, they fell behind. I think a lot of us are just one paycheck away from that, you know, especially this day and age.”
‘We don’t fully turn people away’
Uhland is the third executive director to lead the Rescue Mission in nearly four decades. Dave Scholl led the organization from 1988 to 2021. Then the Rev. Darrell Grimm led it through the move to Nielsen Elementary School before stepping down in June 2026.
At the former school, they tore out walls in two wings to turn classrooms into dormitories. The men’s wing now has 40 beds while the women’s has 24.
Uhland said moving to this building from the Rescue Mission’s previous home on South Third Street expanded capacity, but he still has to turn people away.
“Right now we’ve got 40 men, 22 women, and five kids,” Uhland said during an Oct. 16 interview. “Two more women and we’re at max capacity. Men, we’re absolutely full.”
One change Uhland’s made so far is to allow people to access their living spaces throughout the day, where previously the dormitories were closed from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“I think that they're entitled to their belongings whenever they need them. If somebody's uncomfortable and not feeling well, I don't think that they should be forced to sit in the kitchen or go walk around town if they need to lay down. They should be able to do so, just like you and I would be able to do so at home,” he said.
Uhland upheld the longstanding policy that men and women are housed on separate sides of the facility, and come together only for chapel twice a day. The shelter does not have family housing where a mother and father can stay together with children, but it does have a couple classrooms converted into family rooms where a mother can stay with children.
Under Uhland’s leadership, the Rescue Mission is also continuing to emphasize case management. Uhland still manages a caseload himself. He’s also trained a new chaplain and the women’s director on case management.
Uhland said the goal is to help people establish a stable foundation. While he said some residents can be placed in permanent housing within a month, others need more time.
“Because if you do something prematurely, we’re probably going to see them back in a number of months,” he said.
When the mission is full, Uhland tries to connect people with other resources in Galesburg and Peoria.
“I would like to say that we don’t fully turn them away,” Uhland said. “I tell them, keep checking back. Numbers fluctuate and somebody could leave here in an hour. Call up here as many times as you have to.”
‘A well-oiled machine’
Growing up in Knox County, Uhland knew of the Galesburg Rescue Mission and thought of it as just a homeless shelter.
Now, Uhland sees it as a “well-oiled machine” that runs on generosity and faith and is much more than a shelter.
In the kitchen where school lunches used to be doled out, the Rescue Mission cooks three meals a day for people.
In the cafeteria where students used to eat, everyone is welcome.
“We are open to the public as far as meals go,” Uhland said. “Breakfast is at 7 a.m. Lunch is at noon and dinner is at 6. It does not have to be just our residents. It can be anybody and everybody that wants to come in.”
The Rescue Mission operates a clothing program where adults, youth, and children can pick out anything they want on the second and fourth Wednesdays of every month.
“That's free to anybody and everybody,” Uhland said. “If somebody needs something, just come in on either one of those days.”
The Rescue Mission also hands out food boxes daily to anyone who needs them. Uhland said there is definitely a need — they put out more than 800 food boxes in July and August alone.
Uhland is quick to credit the area churches and service groups that aid in the mission, from cooking meals to doing landscaping. He said it’s “faithful churches and faithful” donors that have kept the Galesburg Rescue Mission strong for nearly 85 years.
“When I say donors and churches, I don't mean just monetary. I mean people who have been praying for us for decades and have been involved with the mission for decades,” Uhland said.
All of it, Uhland said, is about helping people who are suffering — and giving them an ample amount of grace.
“I know that I would not be where I'm at today if somebody didn't give me a second chance, a third chance, a fourth chance, a fifth chance, right? I was given several chances before it finally clicked. And I think these people deserve just exactly that as well–an ample amount of grace,” he said.
Uhland said those working to address homelessness in Galesburg are doing a “phenomenal job.” He said many of those housed at the Galesburg Rescue Mission and Women’s Shelter are from surrounding communities that don’t have the resources Galesburg does.
Uhland said he never needed the services of the Galesburg Rescue Mission and Women’s Shelter during his years of active addiction.
But the words Rescue Mission on the organizations’ sign outside the former NIelsen Elementary School resonate in Uhland’s soul.
“Our slogan, if you will, is: Where Jesus is Lord and rescue is our mission,” he said. “Obviously, Jesus is our Lord and our mission is to try and rescue those who don't know Him yet and bring them to Him. That's our job, that's our calling, and that's what those two words mean to me.”
Learn more about the Galesburg Rescue Mission and Women's Shelter.
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