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 sometimes it can seem like an uphill battle, to say the least. How exactly do you inspire those virtues? How...
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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...
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...
