OUR HISTORY
Jericho Road Ministries, Inc was founded in December of 1998 by Pastor Bruce Gimbel. His heart for rescue mission ministry began while spending a summer in seminary working for Waterfront Rescue Mission in Pensacola, FL. Having relocated to Spring Hill and realizing that no such ministry existed there, he began praying and dreaming with other pastors and ministry leaders for the opportunity and community support to start a homeless shelter in Hernando County.
By October of 2000, Jericho Road’s first men’s shelter was ready to take in residents. In 2008, “Mary’s House” became Jericho Road’s first shelter for women.
Both of these properties are now used as transitional housing for graduates of our recovery program.
From the very beginning, Pastor Bruce and other volunteers at Jericho implemented the strategy of holding monthly yard sales to help fund the shelters. That way, people who could not donate money could still support the ministry by donating used items to sell.
Today, this idea is still active in the form of Jericho Road’s thrift stores. The first, on Wiscon Rd, was opened in 2006. The Ridge Manor store came next in 2007, followed by the Spring Hill store in 2008. The store on County Line Rd was built in 2019 and the store on Jefferson St in Brooksville was added in 2025.
In August of 2018, Pastor Bruce retired as Executive Director after 20+ years of service as Founder of Jericho Road Ministries, Inc. Soon after, Pastor Andrew Chamberlin was hired on as the new Executive Director.
Andrew formerly served as a pastor for 12 years in Virginia and Ohio, and also worked for a Rescue Mission in Ohio. He holds a Masters of Divinity and Masters of Business Administration from Liberty University.
Jericho Road’s men’s services expanded in 2015 with the addition of a 40-bed facility known as “Joshua’s House,” and 30 more beds were added for women in 2025 with the opening of “Esther’s House.”
In addition to providing shelter, Jericho Road has always offered a recovery program that would help individuals work toward more sustainable life change. Pastor Bruce first created The New Life Program, a faith-based, long-term recovery program that was provided at no cost to any individual who met the admission requirements. Pastor Bruce modeled this program after a similar one used by the Waterfront Rescue Mission. He also utilized materials from organizations like the Association of Gospel Rescue Missions (AGRM).
In 2022, Jericho Road’s recovery program was modified and re-branded as REbuilt, with a curriculum written by Pastor Andrew. To read more about the REbuilt program, click here.
In 2024, the men’s and women’s shelters were re-branded as men’s and women’s recovery centers with a commitment to focus specifically on long-term recovery for individuals experiencing overwhelming life circumstances.
Graduation ceremonies are held four times a year to celebrate those who have finished the program. These events are always open to the public.
