Creative Partnership: A church, a dentist, and a forklift dealer

What do a church, a dentist, and a forklift dealer have in common? Creative partnership at Union Gospel Mission. 

New Hope Baptist Church brings special chapel services to the Crisis Shelter. Every guest is prayed for and invited to seek God’s will and wisdom for her life. This church has partnered with UGM in a wide variety of ways over the years. They have provided clothing, toys, jewelry, bulk laundry detergent, school supplies, Easter bags, cash gifts, and so much more. Pastor’s wife Shawn Watkins says that since its foundation, New Hope has been a “giving church.” 

Dr. Rex and Kathy Moody partner with UGM Medical Clinics to bring dental triage and oral surgery services to Men’s Shelter guests. Although Dr. Moody, DDS, has retired from his own practice, he and his wife continue to facilitate connections between guests and specialists who are willing to provide their services free of charge or accept Medicaid. Recently, former UGM resident Mark Hohnhorst got dentures with their help. Before going in for his final appointment, he said, “It will be nice to not be afraid to smile.”

Norlift gave the first of several forklifts to UGM in 2012, and had already been partnering with us by hiring men from the Men’s Shelter to work day labor shifts at their facilities. They have since provided abundantly in several capacities including adding to our fleet of Thrift Store and Warehouse forklifts—each worth about $50k. We asked why they’ve chosen to give so generously to the Mission. “As Christ-followers, we have a mandate to care for the widows and orphans,” said President Jay Jarvis. 

These articles and more are published in our January Mission News in which we detail the MANY ways our community partners together to pave a pathway out of homelessness for our neighbors in need.