is a complicated issue it's one of those where it may be the causes are addiction it may be mental illness it may be financial but in almost all cases it becomes a relationship issue it's an issue where there's a  breakdown in the friendship and family support and they may be caused by mental illness or by addiction and those types of things but it ultimately comes to a point to where those numbers are swelling and they continue to grow and so when we look at the committee then homelessness is where there's this target to say you know none of us like this we don't like to see somebody who's there without a home what can we do about it and so seattle's union gospel mission continues to join in and fight that battle as well but there are many who are at the front lines doing what they can and to be able to end homelessness it's a it's a hard job it's one that we're not sure that we could ever finish simply because there are lives that are are falling into homelessness even as we speak and so in many cases it's our ability to jump in and meet that need not so much to just provide housing that's a great first step but one of our primary goals is to be able to transform lives to be able to get inside that life and had to change some of the behaviors and the attitudes and the thinking that got them into that situation to begin with so it's not enough to just provide housing that is a great first step in many cases they can't have hope is long as they don't have housing but at that point once we get a roof over their head then we begin to work on transforming their life from that point then we want to build out and so we'll move them from maybe a year long program like this but then we'll put them into transition housing where they get their college degree and move on from there and get to get a job and as they move into long term housing where they've got a permanent place of their own that's when they really see their life begin to rebuild and in those cases we're still plugging into their life we still have some in some case of case management as we work with them but that's our primary goal isn't to simply end homelessness but it's actually to transform their lives so that they can take care of themselves it's the old teach a man how to fish kind of thing that you really don't want to just simply meet their basic needs you want to come inside and deal with that that herd inside that is created some of the problems to begin with and that's the work of seattle's union gospel mission  mission got started in one thousand nine hundred thirty two right about the time of the great depression and it was a time in seattle when there were a lot of broken lives a lot of hurting people and what happened was a lot of the population united states would be looking for work and as they moved towards the west in the northwest particular thinking of jobs in alaska or along the coast and fishing they were hoping that they would find jobs there and they would arrive in seattle only to find that there weren't any jobs here either and it was very tough times so they would end up at a place called hooverville right at the end of yesler avenue and down there was a place that a camp and that began to grow and grow and became known as hooverville named after the president at the time  yes lower avenue was actually logging road that they would use is to skid the logs all the way down to the water and that's where the term skid road came from is they would skid the route of the logs all the way down at the very bottom was known to be in the bottom of skid row and that's where  e was located and at that point that meant you were down on your luck well as these people were were out of work they were out of money the churches of the seattle area began to pitch in to take take care and to meet those needs so they would come down to serve and provide clothes and any other necessary needs that those families and individuals might need in that process they looked at it decided you know we can't necessarily do this individually trying to struggle to meet all these needs and they said why don't we work together as all the churches and to create an association or a union a churches and that's where the union gospel mission came from is the churches of seattle banded together to meet the needs of those that were in greatest need those that were the least of these they were all gathered there right in that one area and from that time years and years later the union gospel mission is still serving the very purpose and going out and meeting the needs of the least of these and those in greatest nee seattle's union gospel mission grew it began to realize there were more fronts than just simply feeding the hungry and many times as you think of if you've heard of the huge g m the union gospel mission the mission down on second avenue you think of certain things and most often the thought that comes up is that of a rescue mission or a shelter for homeless individuals and we do that and we do a lot of that but the reality is the mission has grown far bigger and with a wider breath than just that so actually now the concept of just serving the homeless is one of the smaller aspects of what we do we have recovery programs for addiction for different recovery programs we have our reads to people who are just coming out of the jails in the prison systems we have outreach to seniors and that are shut ins and they're in convalescent homes and those that can't really take care of anybody or take care of themselves and the families may have simply forgotten them there's a large youth outreach program primarily in the or near valley but in white center here in the in the areas like that as well with the youth programs are going on and we have a legal clinic that takes care of the legal needs of many of these individuals and a dental clinic that takes care of the teeth that oftentimes you might have somebody who is just recovering from an addiction but that addiction may have not only just ruined their life it may have they may have lost their teeth and at that point as we get them to a point where we can rebuild their life they're looking for a chance to get a job and that's very difficult and they don't have their teeth so there's a lot of different aspects like that that just continue to go one of the programs though is also women and children shelter that comes in and we have one of the largest populations of homeless right now growing populations is actually women and children and they're oftentimes the they're not seen as quickly or as easily as some of the men the men are typically the ones  to see out on the st but oftentimes there's a family that's been impacted by that and the women and children are facing that same type of hardship but they oftentimes are not noticed and so as we began to realize that need we first started off with the american hotel downtown in the international district and over time that hotel was run down it was in a difficult neighborhood a lot of drugs being sold out on the streets and it was a place where the moms as they would come in with their children would even feel safe to let their kids outside and so at that point the union gospel mission took a view of saying we need a place that's going to be a safer environment and a place of rights hope for these women and children and so with that we were able to pull together  supporters and donors and foundations that that all came together to support and build hope place and that's where we're at right now is actually in hope place you can see some of the toys behind me even and those toys represent the kids that come in here this is the children's activity center just one one room of that where we get an opportunity to work with some of these young lives that are coming out of a broken family a broken situation but a chance to bring  hope and joy and love to these kids sometimes for the first time and that's hope place and we're going to get an opportunity to talk a little bit about what h the move from the american hotel to hope place was a great move because not only was it a new facility in a better location and being brand new it was bright just great colors and very comfortable great place for these women and children to move into but in addition to that we were able to take a third more in the mount of women we were able to bring in so the women and children shelter will sometimes bring in gals who don't have kids but oftentimes they may have kids out there that were taken away from them and put into the child protective services into custody and at that point one of the things we do with the gals is to work with them to get their own children back as they rebuild their lives and they get some things cleaned up and that process it's that ability to restore the family and bring these kids back into into the arms of their own mom and that's just a great scenario here so the shelter is designed to be able to pick up even more gals and we were able to meet in the international district right now we're running right around seventy to seventy five women and then right about forty to fifty children and it varies on any given day depending on some of the gals that are coming in the size of their families but that puts us at  close to fifty kids that are here in the program and then again about seventy to seventy five women that are here as well a typical day for a gal that might come into the program is that she's going to start the morning with meal taking care of in the great meals here that are both nutritious and just good a lot of our staff our administrative building is adjoining to this one and a lot of our staff come over here and join the gals here for lunch as well so they're  good food and good nutritious food both for the for their families as well as themselves and so that's a great thing but then they'll launch into community meetings where they can talk through issues that the women in a group face and that's an important part of their recovery as we begin to work with them it's done in the end relationship and it's done in community that they're not wrestling with some of the issues alone but they're surrounded by case managers and staff and other gals who have already been walking down that road and they all walk down that path together as they begin to rebuild their lives and so it's that combination of great program great staff but also that community and relationship that's helping these these gals and to rebuild their families to rebuild their own lives and to have hope for the future of what they can do with their life and rather than seeing his being the end of the road this is actually the beginning of a whole new life and it's just a fun thing to watch these women go through that transformation heavy heavy problems come in with domestic violence oftentimes addiction and domestic violence go hand in hand and so these women are come in with all kinds of additional challenges and so we'll be working with them on that as well so it may be issues from chemical dependency to physical violence in the home and it's those kind of issues that that we have to begin to rebuild the lives with so we'll be taking classes in council a meeting with their case managers throughout the day and then they also get an opportunity to be a part of taking care of the facility and they'll be assigned different chores and that might be in the kitchen it might be clean some of the facilities that type of thing but they're going to take on some personal responsibility and begin to build some personal disciplines and from there then we also have our learning center and with the learning center it's a process where we're teaching them and working with them in many cases many of them are dropouts from high school and they never finish their their high school diplomas and so they're getting their g e d s here but that can be a challenge oftentimes with some of the addictions that they've had it begins a point where we have to rebuild their ability to think and process in the personal discipline and to simply work through some normal book work of learning some basic educational skills so we have a staff that walks that through with them in a computer lab that they can begin to use modern technology and just how to use a computer how to type in basic skills that way and it's a great thing to watch them when they go through a year long program they have that opportunity to graduate and so many of them then get and get an opportunity to then jump into college and it's a fun thing that after one year not only is their life clean and sober but they're they've got a life that's rebuild a life that's focused on transformation and turn only spiritually as they begin to have a relationship with god and they begin to have a hope for the future and then with education they then have a hope to branch out and to realize they can be somebody who plugs into society is contributing to the good of society but also allowing their children to see mom can do this and mom gets a chance to remake their life many times the kid the child has been the parent in the relationship when they first come the child has been taking care of mom and so it's a great thing for these children to see their mom step up be a part of the rebuilding their lives and jumping out into the future with a vision and a goal for where they're going to be many of them actually go on to seek a career in social services they know what's happened in their life and they're excited to plug into other lives and to reach out and help other people who may be hurting just like they the forty to fifty children that may be in here again those numbers fluctuate is the families come and go but with those children that are here it is they range from infants we have babies that are born here not literally at the shelter will we get the mom down to the hospital but in many cases she may have been sleeping in the car pregnant and with another child and at that point we bring her into the program and as she comes into the program then we make sure she's getting the best health care that we can be provided and then from there we've had many babies that were actually born while the mom was was in the program the program is approximately one year long the gals can jump in and they have about a thirty day trial period where they can evaluate whether this is a place they want to be a part of but then they get a chance to spend one year going through the entire entire program during that time that gives us an ability to love on these kids to be able to reach in and plug into their children's lives as well so the children range anywhere from an entrance all the way up to eighteen years and that's a unique thing and in shelter work and rescue mission work is that most cases for or for kids that are providing shelter for homeless families is they usually only go up to about age twelve some of the age fourteen but the challenges as kids get into that fourteen to eighteen age those kids if they've been through some very tough times themselves can actually be problematic but whole place is one of those few places in the entire county that actually works with the older kids and we work hard to continue to keep the family intact to be able to reach out with those students as well and ordered to do that even from the young ones who maybe even preschool but into the early ages of school what we do is we provide not only do we get them out into some of the great educational programs that are here in king county but in addition to that we provide some pretty in depth tutoring and that's done with some of our staff but in addition to that we rely on a lot of volunteers and a lot of volunteers will jump in they'll come in for afterschool programs and in the evenings where they can reach into these kids lives and help them whether that's with their math or reading skills and  fact even during the summer we continue to work with the students because in many cases a student that's in a very tough maybe an impoverished situation well many times lose a grade just over the summer time and our goal is to make sure that not only are they not lose that grade but they move forward and are ready to be a great student when the next school year comes along so that's all happening here the volunteer role is just a fun one we have one particular husband wife team that comes in not only do they work with some of the tutoring but the gentleman has his pilot's license and he will take the young kids that are from the program he gives and puts them on the plane and they fly up into port angeles for for a little lunch at a cafe and get to fly over the islands and get a view of of what the sound looks like and it's just a fun fun day for them many cases this is the first time the students have ever been even out of out of the city but a great opportunity just even see that and it's that role of volunteers and staff plugging into these kids lives that they have a great impact on their life and their ability to dream of the future oftentimes people say well how can we help well there's a there's a number of ways obviously donations are helpful donating food and things like that are good but many times it's been a volunteer is deciding you know what i want to come down and personally plug into these lives and be a part of helping these individuals and that can be in a number of ways many times people think well if i volunteer for the mission i'm going to be down serving at the shelter at the men shelter but we have many other programs in whole place is one of those where we love to take volunteer and if you're at all interested in that simply contact on the website which is w w w u g m dot org dot org and we would love to talk with you all the contact information is there and we can get some information from you and plug you into many of the different ways in the different ways to reach out  now that i mean i talk to david as i do in a human being i talk to him on a level that david your value and do you mean everything to me  it's not so much a condemnation type i'm trying to make up for stuff i learned through being here today it's that guy i used to have that now it is that i'm honored  and to let him know and to care truly care for another human being and god placed him in my hand has set a response back he responds back to that that's what he responds back to value and you mean everything to me it's not so much a condemnation type i'm trying to make up for stuff i'm learned through being here it's that guy i used to have that  w is that i'm honored to be as my i used to use drugs right there in that building across the street and they were putting me out of the building because i used to cry every night and i would tell them that when day i wasn't going to be up in their use in drag and i made the call to the union gospel mission and they said i had to be there at nine o'clock in the morning when i got to this corner someone came out of this bar with a hundred dollar bill and my legs were just wobble and i didn't know if i could make it or not and i gave them the money back and i ran the union gospel mission taught me accountability responsibility and they gave me a new direction for my life and we need your help these women and children like myself we can get out here in society and be so much more productive for nearly eighty years seattle's union gospel mission has been addressing the unique complicated issue surrounding homelessness by providing men and women kids and adults a place in the means to change their lives we believe healing and wholeness are possible for all who come through our doors for those individual that don't come to us we go to them in our search and rescue fan the van goes out into the night to find people to extend the hospitality and safety to hitting homeless volunteers and staff distribute food blankets clothing and hand the friendship with an invitation to a safe night stay in shelters on any given night our men's shelter can sleep up to two hundred and fifty man the shelter one of three distinct men's shelters is really two programs in one building first we care for men and women living on the streets by providing food blankets clothing showers and might leave bedding the second is a residential recovery program for those who seek to change their lives this personalized program is designed to help men get to the root causes of homelessness in their life and provide the counseling and education  so during their stay with us the men have opportunity to access job skills training in our learning centers gaining skills they will need to find employment the men who have graduated from our programs have gone on to successful employment as certified dependency counselors pastors and contractors in addition the mission also has to a long term residential recovery programs for those who may or may not struggle with homelessness they're located on capitol hill and in south seattle the programs focus on specific needs and empower man the train form years of addiction in the lives of purpose our long term women's program one of our fundamental services opera's women and their children home opportunities and practical skills to rebuild broken lives they enroll in a wide range of classes to help them through the recovery process working through their struggles with the mastic violence and life skills classes that give them the practical tools they need to stand on their own two feet and prepare for life's challenges once a woman has graduated from the program they can opt to live in our transitional housing facility sunrise house this provides them with a home like setting to look for work or further education legal issues plague many of the homeless individuals who come to the mission resolving these matters helps homeless men and women break free of the cycle of homelessness both staff and volunteer attorneys are open door legal service ministry provides assistance and legal counsel program residents and non residents alike our dental clinic which is housed in the men's shelter downtown offers services for mission residents regaining a healthy smile helps boost self confidence and increases overall employment opportunities today's urban youth are surrounded by drugs gangs and more and often poorly supported our youth services program hopes to intercede in young lives through our afterschool neighborhood and summer programs as well as outreach and leadership training at three locations our goal is to create mentoring relationships with the kids to help give them direction and purpose