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Jim and Ken

Core Values

UGM financial partners, vehicle donors, thrift store shoppers, volunteers

3 min read

A Thanksgiving Reflection: Our mission, your partnership

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, UGM Development Director Steve Ellisen pauses to reflect on our organizational core value of Thankfulness. His work...

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4 min read

A Conduit of God's Excellence: Letting ministry flow from the heart

UGM is not just shaped by knowledge, experience, and skill, but by the true condition of our hearts - collectively. Excellence in ministry flows from...

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Comito family

4 min read

Gratitude by the Moment

Generally, I think of myself as a grateful person. If you asked me, are you grateful? I would most likely respond, “How could I not be? I have a...

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prayer circle

5 min read

The Blog Post You Don’t Want to Read

By Barbara Comito, UGM Marketing Director Who would ever read a blog post on Total Accountability? My staff said they wouldn’t. (So I changed the...

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3 min read

UGM Core Value: Pursuing Excellence

By Brad Crockett, UGM board member The value of Pursuing Excellence is an essential recognition that while we cannot attain perfection on this side...

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foot washing

4 min read

UGM Core Value: Christlikeness

By Sonny Westbrook, UGM Director of Ministries One of the core values we hold dear here within UGM is Christ-likeness. Christ-likeness is the...

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3 min read

UGM Core Value: Unified Teamwork

By Gayle Havercroft, UGM Facilities Manager There are many terms and words that give aspects to the idea of “team.” While other terms are useful, I...

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3 min read

UGM Core Value: God-dependence

By JoAnn Zajicek, Director at the Center for Women and Children During monthly staff meetings at UGM's Center for Women and Children, team members...

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3 min read

UGM Core Value: Stewardship

By Wil Wilhelm, former UGM Director of Development How many times have you heard a Sunday message at church about stewardship and the main point was...

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2 min read

The Root of Our Joy

This sentence from the cover story struck me: “The day after Rachel was baptized, she received news that her father’s cancer had returned for the...

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Take Action: Bible Giveaway

As we prepare for our 5th Annual City-Wide Thanksgiving Dinner, we’re excited to try something new. This year, we’d like to put a Bible in the hands...

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3 min read

UGM Core Values: Loving Relationships

Editor's Note: The Union Gospel Mission holds 10 core values as foundational to the culture of our organization. One of those, based on Matthew...

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Phil-and-Grandsons

2 min read

Poverty and Family Breakdown

“If a country is to be corruption free and become a nation of beautiful minds, I strongly feel there are three key societal members who can make a...

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3 min read

Teaching Children to Serve Others

“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...

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2 min read

Dreams that grow into forests

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...

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1 min read

The Towel

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...

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1 min read

Hypocrite

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...

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1 min read

Business Practicum: Hospitality

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...

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1 min read

Core Values: Life Transformation

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,...

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1 min read

Core Values: Total Accountability

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...

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1 min read

Colors of Hope Update

From left: Ethan, Melissa, Cameron, Isaiah, Silas, Noah, Izzy, Roman, Maliaka, Joe and Maranatha The Reid and Hefling families stopped by 1224 E...

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1 min read

A Working Relationship

As Paul’s strength returned, he was paired with volunteer Mike Updike to work in the Mission’s flower beds a few hours each week. Mike calls it...

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2 min read

Rubbing Elbows with the Homeless

What Does God Mean When He Calls Us to Be Separate? It’s sad how I’ve sectioned off people because of their economic status, or upbringing, or even...

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2 min read

Telling the truth

A few weeks ago, I had my worst case of writer’s block ever. I asked for prayer from pretty much everyone I knew, and many of you were kind enough to...

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1 min read

[Im]possible standards

This week I have struggled. The attacks of the enemy have cut deep. Interestingly, the attacks have all come against my high standards. I fully...

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