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CALL TO A MESSAGE FROM KEN PETERSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Close Call!
(continued from page 1)
Heart
be an ob-gyn. But she says she’ll
the of the never forget her time at the Mission.
Immediate Needs
matter
“Coming to the Mission was the
start of a new life,” she says.
A slowdown in summer giving means the Mission
Your gift offered Casey and Alani
the chance for a new start at a time MESSENGER
is in desperate need of: when all seemed lost. Thank you for OUR MISSION IS CHANGING LIVES! JULY 2011 | VOL. 10, N0. 5
seeing the potential in people — even
• Bottled water • omen’s undergarments,
W when they can’t see it themselves. ■ IN SIDE College-educated, but going nowhere PG2 | Neil lives in hunger’s shadow PG2 | The heart of the matter PG4
• Fresh produce
• en’s t-shirts, sizes XL-3X
M
all sizes
• Pillows The best medicine for difficult times “Coming to the
DID YOU KNOW
S
• en’s underwear,
M • Twinsheet sets
omeone once asked the late advice to friends of the Mission. Mission was the start Now that they’re at the Mission
— and out of harm’s way —
sizes 32-36 • Diapers and wipes
psychiatrist Karl Menninger what If you’re losing sleep over world of a new life.” Casey and little Alani can
he would do if he found himself events you can’t do anything about — the
The truth behind
finally relax for some quality
medically depressed. earthquake in Japan, wars in the Middle
homelessness myths mother-daughter time.
“Would you prescribe yourself East, the rising cost of food and gasoline
As the school year approaches, kids need Prozac,” they inquired, “or check yourself
into your own clinic?”
— take Dr. Menninger’s advice and help
someone in need this summer.
MYTH #1
SCHOOL SUPPLIES “No,” Menninger replied. “I’d lock
the door of my clinic, walk across the
Provide a meal to someone who is
hungry. Offer a bed to someone who
Most homeless people
are single men.
With the new school year fast approaching, here’s your chance tracks, and help somebody less fortunate. is sleeping in a skyway. Give hope to
to help kids in need get off to a good start.
When you donate any of the items listed below, you’ll be
That’s the best medicine there is for a drug addict desperately trying to get TRUTH
depression and for recovery.” clean for his kids. Nearly 50% of the
helping to provide hundreds of fully loaded backpacks to school-age How, you ask? By giving to Union
kids whose families can’t always afford the required school supplies. It’s amazing how Gospel Mission this summer!
homeless are children,
Here’s a complete list of what these kids need before the first reaching out to somebody You’ll not only help us at a time when What’s not to smile about? Thanks to youth and young
day of school: less fortunate can give giving to the Mission typically drops off, your gifts, 3-year-old Alani is safe now. adults ages 18-21.
✎ Backpacks ✎ Covered Pencil birth to hope. but you’ll be reminded how good it feels
Wilder Foundation, 2009
sharpeners to provide meals — and hope — to so
✎ Pocket folders Stay Connected:
CLOSE CALL!
That’s sound advice we follow every many neighbors who are in desperate need
✎ Spiral notebooks ✎ Pens (red and blue)
day here at Union Gospel Mission. We of help.
✎ Loose-leaf paper ✎ Glue sticks want our residents to talk to others It feels good! God is offering new life
coming off the street, sharing the hope Thank you for sharing God’s love to hundreds of men and
✎ Rounded scissors ✎ Pencil box
women coming through
✎ Clear tape they have found in Christ. It’s amazing with the Twin Cities! our Mission programs —
✎ Post-it notes how reaching out to somebody less programs that you make
✎ Kleenex
✎ Eraser tops fortunate can give birth to hope. TWIN CITIES MESSENGER
SUMMER 2011 | VOL. 10, NUMBER 5
possible when you give. Mother, daughter make miscarriages. Afraid for her life, Casey
✎ Crayons This summer, I’m giving that same fled in the middle of the night with her
✎ Colored pencils
✎ Calculators
daring escape in the middle young daughter.
✎ Colored markers of the night. Eventually, Casey and Alani ended up
My Gift To Help Hungry People This Summer
C
at our Naomi Family Residence.
asey and her daughter, Alani, would “The Mission gave me food, shelter,
The deadline for dropping off school supplies is like you to know something: You clothing — and stability,” Casey says. “It
August 10. YES, KEN! I want to help reverse the drop-off in summer giving. Enclosed is
my gift to provide meals, shelter, and other care to hurting people across the One meal: helped save their lives! And they are
deeply grateful.
helped me see what I’m capable of and gave
Please drop off your items at: Twin Cities at this critical time of year: just $1.92! Here’s how this mom and daughter’s “The Mission gave me
Union Gospel Mission
Central Services $25 to help provide meals and other critical care. $100 to help provide meals and other critical care. 77 Ninth Street East
near-tragic story unfolded ... food, shelter, clothing —
Casey loved her boyfriend and desperately
UGM Men’s Campus $50 to help provide meals and other critical care. $________ to provide as much critical care as possible. St. Paul, Minnesota 55101 and stability.”
651-228-1800 wanted their relationship to work out. But the
435 University Ave. E.
St. Paul, MN 55130 THANK YOU! Please make your tax-deductible check Ken Peterson longer they were together, the more violent he me the strength to accomplish what I’ve always
payable to Union Gospel Mission. Mail it with this form in the Executive Director
NAME ____________________________________________________________ enclosed envelope to P.O. Box 64389, St. Paul, MN 55164-0389. became. He would choke her. Punch her in wanted to be.”
Questions? Call us at 651-228-1800. Give online at
For more information, the face. Drag her around the house. If all goes as planned, Casey will soon be
For more information, contact ADDRESS _________________________________________________________
www.ugmtc.org/july.
On two separate occasions, he beat Casey moving into her own apartment and attending
o Yes! I would like to be kept up-to-date on important programs and efforts by visit us online at:
Linda Fereira at 651-789-7562. ___________________________________________________________________ joining the e-mail list. www.ugmtc.org so badly during pregnancies that she suffered St. Paul Technical College to begin studying to
HERE IS MY E-MAIL ADDRESS:
CITY________________________________ STATE______ ZIP_____________ _____________________________________________ (continued on back page)
USP_16445NWL_NWLT_7-11-4.indd 1-3 5/31/11 3:19 PM
Giving slows … but the ministry doesn’t 180degrees VITAL
SIGNS
College-educated, Ed was critical of our Mission Life-change often begins
but going nowhere ... until it changed his life when you hit rock bottom
M B “
ike has a technical degree Mike’s mom, who teaches literature, ack in 1991, Ed desperately
in drafting. says she has noticed a big difference. needed help for a serious I used to try my best so God
But it’s not doing him much “She says my writing has gotten a lot drinking problem. But the last would love me. Now, I’ve learned
good now that a tough job market is better,” Mike laughs. place he wanted to go was Union
forcing millions of college-educated, I don’t have to perform a certain
Gospel Mission.
middle-class men and women to deal “I’m living one day “That’s where everyone is a loser!”
way for God to love me. There are
with issues they probably never faced at a time now. he told his counselor.
some things that Jesus and I can
”
before, like hunger and homelessness. That’s all I can do.” Twenty years later, Ed not only is one do together ...
“I’m living one day at a time now,”
he says. “That’s all I can do.” Homelessness is no laughing matter. of the Mission’s most vocal supporters, —Jeff, describing how our Discipleship
but he’s also become assistant director Program has changed his perspective on
Though he’s been out of work for But thanks to the Mission and generous God and life.
two years, Mike has not given up hope. friends like you, people who are homeless at the Christ Recovery Center.
Union Gospel Mission’s “Out and Up” are getting the help they need — even when
program is giving Mike a bed, a chance
to brush up on his math and writing
skills, and even some help updating his
giving to the Mission slips.
Thank you for doing all you can to
offer hope to men and women during these
Mike’s been out of work for two years but
hasn’t lost hope, thanks to your prayers
“I watched people
come off the street
and receive love and
“ I hadn’t talked to my
mom in ten and a half
resume until he gets back on his feet. critical summer months. ■ and generous gifts to the Mission. months. When I called,
acceptance with no she told me she couldn’t
strings attached.”
Neil lives in hunger’s shadow
keep taking me in,
mending me, and then
That’s the same program he sending me back out. I
N
once shunned! blamed her because she
eil has been homeless off and on “You don’t eat; you get skinny pretty three meals a day — and a warm bed at
“I watched people come off the
for the last three years. quick,” he says. night — to help him through this wouldn’t bail me out. That’s when I knew it was the end.
So he knows what it’s like to Thanks to friends like you who difficult period. street and receive love and acceptance
with no strings attached,” he explains. I had lied and cheated and done so many people wrong.
be hungry, sometimes going a day or support Union Gospel Mission, Neil
I didn’t have any more friends, or my self-respect. I hit
“You don’t eat; you get “It meant that there was a purpose for
”
more without food. isn’t going hungry anymore. He’s getting Ed used to be one of the Mission’s most outspoken critics — until God, through the
skinny pretty quick.” me — that God’s plan wasn’t for me Mission, changed his life. Now Ed’s one of Union Gospel Mission’s most vocal supporters. bottom. That’s why I called the Mission.
to waste my life but to forgive, let go, —Brian, describing how he had felt hopeless before he was
The secret to surviving on the street, and take responsibility for the things ingredient in God’s plan,” he says. Life-change: It happens every day at ready to let the Mission help him.
he says, is to keep moving. “You’ve got I had done.” “Have faith and trust, and the gifts God Union Gospel Mission, thanks to generous
“
to put your faith in God and let Him Today, Ed says he relishes the promises us will come to pass.” friends like you.
sort it out.” chance he has to “give back what was “They’re not always what we want, Because of God’s grace and your Five years from now, I don’t want to
For now, he’s also putting his faith in given” to him. but they’re always what we need,” continued support, nobody is beyond hope. forget what it felt like to be a hopeless
Union Gospel Mission. He admits, “I’m “I tell others they are a key he adds. Thank you for caring! ■ drunk whose daughter wanted
coming here to start over.”
You offer men and women a second nothing to do with him. Since coming
chance when you give to Union Gospel to the Mission, I feel like I have a
Mission. Please give again, so people like Giving to our Mission slips every summer. BUT FRIENDS LIKE YOU good chance of making something
Neil can get off the street — for good! ■ out of this life, being the kind of father
CAN HELP MAKE UP THE DIFFERENCE by sending a gift now,
”
I always knew I should be.
Homelessness has taught Neil two so we can continue to offer lifesaving help to everyone who walks —Mike, who is working hard to stay sober for
things: Keep moving when you’re on
the streets, and come to the Mission through these doors. Please send yours TODAY! THANK YOU! the sake of his daughter.
if you want help.
USP_16445NWL_NWLT_7-11-4.indd 4-6 5/31/11 3:19 PM
