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Barbara Comito, former marketing director: March 14, 2014
Reason #1: Shari Griffin Shari, 50, just finished the first four phases of the LIFE Recovery program at the UGM Center for Women & Children in Coeur d’Alene. In phase 4, she did her business practicum (240 hours of unpaid employment) at the Kootenai...
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4 min read
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: March 6, 2014
“Life is not made up of minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, or years, but of moments. You must experience each one before you can appreciate it.”―...
5 min read
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: February 21, 2014
Just say no. Not even once. DARE to keep kids off drugs and alcohol. The problem with these anti-drug slogans is twofold: 1) their simplicity belies...
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Barbara Comito, former marketing director: February 18, 2014
(This article was posted in 2014 and updated in 2019.) UGM: the Whole Person Approach In its quest to break – not perpetuate – the cycle of...
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Barbara Comito, former marketing director: February 13, 2014
When the actor Philip Seymour Hoffman died of a heroin overdose, public reaction ran the gamut from disgust to sympathy. One controversial church...
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Barbara Comito, former marketing director: February 7, 2014
Effective Compassion "Truly effective compassion means striving for human flourishing and seeking the conditions that make it possible." (Jennifer...
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Barbara Comito, former marketing director: January 28, 2014
Safe Shelter Kimmi Halbrook liked to play, “Let’s Make a Deal” with God: Get me out of this scrape, and I promise to get my act together. But at 39 –...
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Barbara Comito, former marketing director: January 23, 2014
Editor's Note: Back in October, we met Amanda while she was staying at the Crisis Shelter with her daughter, Daisy. We encourage you to read about...
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Barbara Comito, former marketing director: January 17, 2014
Seven years ago this week, UGM opened the Crisis Shelter for Women & Children at 1234 E Sprague. This week also marked the Shelter’s 10,000th...
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Barbara Comito, former marketing director: January 7, 2014
Not everyone who walks through the doors of one of UGM’s shelters needs the same kind of help. Case in point: Tim Whitman. Tim had been sober for two...
6 min read
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: December 19, 2013
My Attempt to help Sammy and Ambre By Barbara Comito, UGM Staff Writer I met Sammy and Ambre in Freeway Park (a mere plot of grass and trees in the...
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Barbara Comito, former marketing director: December 18, 2013
Editor’s Note: For this newsletter - published in October 2011 - UGM Staff Writer Barbara Comito went outside the Mission’s shelters onto the...
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Barbara Comito, former marketing director: December 6, 2013
Holly Simons is one of the extraordinarily talented volunteer professionals giving sacrificially of their time and talents to the Union Gospel...
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: December 5, 2013
Editor's Note: As part of Lisa's journey from broken to whole, she has returned to her love for music. She wrote these lyrics specifically to...
3 min read
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: November 14, 2013
“Share.” As a parent, how many times do you suppose you’ve said that word? We want our children to be generous, selfless, compassionate, but...
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Barbara Comito, former marketing director: November 5, 2013
11% of the adult homeless population are veterans. 20% of the male homeless population are veterans. About 1.4 million other veterans, meanwhile, are...
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Barbara Comito, former marketing director: October 30, 2013
Group gathered on a foggy Saturday to dedicate heart-shaped tree park. This blog post is a little different for UGM. It’s not really about the...
1 min read
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: October 29, 2013
Last year, I experienced a significant dream, a visitation from the Lord. In my dream, I walked out onto our patio, and Jesus was seated in one of...
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Barbara Comito, former marketing director: October 24, 2013
Roxanne and Doreen Roxanne and Doreen are bright, articulate women whose lives got off track. “In high school,” Roxanne said, “I just wanted to be a...
3 min read
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: October 21, 2013
Dan McLellan is a house manager at the UGM Crisis Shelter for Women & Children. Editor's Note: This is the first in a series of interviews with...
1 min read
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: October 16, 2013
Amanda & daughter Daisy "I think it's safe to say that when our residents were little girls, they did not dream of growing up to stay at a homeless...
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Barbara Comito, former marketing director: October 14, 2013
Lenore puts together the welcome baskets for new guests at the Center. From my perspective, Lenore McDonald is a volunteer extraordinaire. She says...
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Barbara Comito, former marketing director: October 4, 2013
Next week,* Luke Hauflin, 21, will be headed off to Sacramento, California to join Americorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps). For now, he...
5 min read
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: October 4, 2013
Paul folded his lanky frame into one of the red chairs in my small office. I sat in the other, our knees less than a foot apart. He was wearing a...
1 min read
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: September 26, 2013
“I was in the bottom of a tin can, and I couldn’t claw my way up. It was dark. It was dirty, and I didn’t feel any value. I felt unreachable.” -...
