3 min read
Union Gospel Mission: January 1, 2014
Recovery is impossible... if you don’t believe you have a problem if you refuse to look at the problem if you blame someone else for the problem or if you minimize the extent and effects of the problem. All of these scenarios are forms of denial.
Read More
2 min read
Union Gospel Mission: January 1, 2014
Below are two letters of gratitude from individuals experiencing radical life change through UGM’s LIFE Recovery programs. We were encouraged to read...
3 min read
Union Gospel Mission: December 31, 2013
Last December, we took a look at the words “God with us” and launched our focus for the first half of 2013 on Isaiah 61:1-3. Those three verses paint...
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...
4 min read
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...
3 min read
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...
1 min read
Union Gospel Mission: December 1, 2013
By Phil Altmeyer Executive Director Christmas – what’s not to love? Family and old friends gathered together around a roaring fire. Sledding....
1 min read
Union Gospel Mission: December 1, 2013
Lois used to be a kindergarten teacher. That probably says it all. Lois loves kids. Her husband, Everett, loved children, too. The couple lived life...
1 min read
Union Gospel Mission: December 1, 2013
Holly Simons, a psychiatric nurse, worked in the prison system for 10 years and first visited UGM while researching safe places for an inmate to go...
Union Gospel Mission: December 1, 2013
UGM is partnering with Burlington Coat Factory again this year for the Warm Coats/Warm Hearts Campaign.
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...
4 min read
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...
2 min read
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...
2 min read
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...
1 min read
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...
1 min read
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...
3 min read
Union Gospel Mission: October 1, 2013
I was in prison and you gave me a second chance. Paul Staley was a self-described “peace-loving man.” A product of the sixties. A flower child. A...
1 min read
Union Gospel Mission: October 1, 2013
Danny Beard has been running UGM’s volunteer ministry at Juvenile Detention since 1985. Every once in a while, he runs into someone around town who...
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.” -...
1 min read
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: September 25, 2013
THE BIG PICTURE Families make up 34% of the total US homeless population. 87% of homeless families are headed by women. (Single-parent families are...
