Stories

Read stories about the work bighearted donors like you are making possible each and every day at Union Gospel Mission.

• Healing the whole person

  Drawn back repeatedly for the great meals, Carl was also touched by the ever-present love and attention from Outreach Workers. “They shook my hand, asked my name, and asked how I was doing. They had genuine concern and they cared about me. That’s why I kept coming here.”

• Come the way you are and we’ll take care of you

  Mike had been living outside, homeless, for 5 difficult years. He had been battling an addiction to alcohol for 30.

• Kari's Story

  The road to recovery isn’t often a straight one, and Kari knows that well. After 17 years of alcoholism and two stunted attempts at recovery, Kari felt like she might not have it in her to live a sober life.

• A Summer Camp Success Story

  Now 18 years old, Hannah has spent much of her life in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. She perhaps isn’t whom you might picture when you think of someone from this part of town, but Hannah, just like hundreds of kids today, grew up calling this tough neighbourhood home.

• John's Story

  For as long as he can remember, John, 51, was told that he was worthless. Growing up with an alcoholic father and a family that fought constantly, by age 10 he decided he might as well drink too.

• Paul's Story

  It was the summer of 2007, I was homeless and living in Oppenheimer Park and I woke up and that morning there was hundreds of people buzzing around there setting up the BBQ.