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.
Often sleeping outdoors around Richmond and living day-to-day in the same city, Mike had never heard of Union Gospel Mission. He had recently received food and some caring words from a young woman whose church youth group was out one evening seeking out the homeless to offer a helping hand. She had spoken to him about the possibility of turning his life around and planted the seed that a different life was within his reach – he just had to decide to take action.
Just a few weeks later, UGM’s Mobile Mission was on patrol in Richmond. Arnold and Scott, trained UGM Outreach Workers and the Mobile Mission’s operators, were working through the night extending UGM’s reach to the “hidden homeless” – those who live in out-of-the-way areas all over Metro Vancouver. Carrying food, hot drinks, and their expertise, Arnold came upon Mike on a park bench.
“I was sitting in the park drinking beer and I got this tap on my shoulder,” remembers Mike. Arnold asked him if he’d like help getting sober, and at that moment, Mike recalled that first conversation with the kind woman from the youth group. He was moved to realize how important her words had been to him and how this young person had made such an impact on him. He decided to jump at the opportunity that was being offered to him. “I put my beer down on my bench, gave my bike to my friend and said, ‘Where am I going?’”
Your gifts to UGM make transformations like Mike’s possible. On behalf of Mike, and those whose lives you’ll touch this Christmas season, thank you.
Photo: Mike (pictured)
Mike climbed into the Mobile Mission that night and Arnold and Scott brought him directly to the Emergency Shelter at UGM’s Cordova facility.
“As we drove, we talked and I said, ‘I’m worried about … I need clothes, I need this, I need that,’ and Arnie put me right at ease. He said, ‘Come the way you are; don’t worry about it; we’ll take care of you.’ And they did.”
From that point on, Outreach Workers and the Alcohol & Drug Recovery Program Counsellors took care of Mike. Life on the streets had been hard on him, and the love and care he found at UGM were literally lifesavers. He began the 6-month live-in Alcohol & Drug Recovery Program and graduated in late fall of 2009. Mike is now employed with UGM picking up food donations to feed those still on the streets.
Today Mike looks and feels like a new man. Over the summer, he was baptized in the ocean waters near Richmond. He’s connected to a church there and is looking toward furthering his education. The world has opened up for Mike and you can see it on his face; when he grins, his eyes smile too. “On the street for so long, I didn’t have much to smile about,” Mike says, “but today I have a reason to be happy.”
