Care and Comfort

featured in the March 2012 newsletter

Up until a few weeks ago, Brett Harriss was one of the people coming to First Covenant Church on Friday nights for a hot meal provided by the Union Gospel Mission. “Lost, nowhere to go, no one to turn to – that’s where I was at . . . And it seemed like every day it just built more and more.”

Homeless since 2004, Brett hadn’t been to the Mission in over two years – mostly because he couldn’t stay sober long enough. “Half the time, I’ve been sleeping outside, down by the river, out in the Valley.” When it got really cold, Brett found a bed at a shelter, but he knew he wanted more, and Friday Night Outreach reminded him of what that more was.

“I know they could smell alcohol on my breath, but they were still kind, you know? They’d say, ‘When you coming back?’ And I’d been wanting to because I know this is a safe place and, not only that, but they help people.”

One Friday, as Brett was leaving the outreach, he said to himself, “Thank God these people are here. Thank God they care about me. I’m tired of being drunk. I’m tired of not going nowhere. So, I decided, yeah, I’m gonna get back with people who care, and I know I can make it.” Just to make sure he didn’t spend it, Brett gave a staff member the five dollars in his pocket that night to pay for the urine analysis he knew he would need to get back into the Mission. And not the next day or the one after that, but eventually, Brett did come back.

“I kind of feel like I have a weight lifted off my shoulders being here because the people that have helped me here are solid people. I need structure in my life. Slowly but surely, I’m starting to feel alive again. I’m just so glad to be back here.”