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 midst of the concrete and pavement under I-90) when I was doing a story for the Mission News. Ambre...
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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...
2 min read
Union Gospel Mission: September 18, 2013
Editor’s Note: We found this letter in our parking lot. As you can see, it was an assignment – write a good-bye letter to your drug of choice. Dear...
1 min read
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: September 14, 2013
On September 6, 2012, the UGM Center for Women & Children welcomed its first guests. One year later, the Center is home to 52 women and children and...
1 min read
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: September 13, 2013
My teenage daughters told me the other day that they grew up thinking “hypocrite” was a bad word, akin to calling someone a curse word. Funny how our...
