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 considered at risk of homelessness due to poverty, lack of support networks, and dismal living...
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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...
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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...
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...
1 min read
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: September 9, 2013
Reliable transportation critical for single moms Brittany Branch had a car when she started Women’s Recovery at Anna Ogden Hall – a 1988 Dodge...
1 min read
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: September 4, 2013
Every summer, my family and I go camping. It really doesn’t matter where we go or what time of year we go, we know that it will rain. Our little tent...
1 min read
Union Gospel Mission: September 1, 2013
As part of her recovery, Dionne Varney needed to find a new career. Before coming to Anna Ogden Hall, she spent 14 years in the adult entertainment...
1 min read
Union Gospel Mission: September 1, 2013
Bill and Jan Traynor were mentors before UGM had a mentor program. Several years ago they and other members from their church were preparing and...
1 min read
Union Gospel Mission: September 1, 2013
Makin’ a list. Checkin’ it twice…and here’s what we discovered. In order to best serve our clients and clearly communicate our holiday needs to the...
1 min read
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: August 26, 2013
This is part of a series on UGM's Core Values. Read a variety of staff members' musings on God-dependence, Christ-likeness, Pursuing Excellence,...
1 min read
Union Gospel Mission: August 22, 2013
Kathleen Wilson, a Resident Advisor at Anna Ogden Hall, chose three of UGM's core values and wrote a short essay that untangles the meaning and depth...
1 min read
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: August 14, 2013
Chase Montgomery with his mom, sister, brother and grandparents Chase Montgomery’s mom dropped him off at the UGM Men’s Shelter the day before his...
1 min read
Barbara Comito, former marketing director: August 8, 2013
From left: Ethan, Melissa, Cameron, Isaiah, Silas, Noah, Izzy, Roman, Maliaka, Joe and Maranatha The Reid and Hefling families stopped by 1224 E...
