Operation Backpack is our annual campaign to make sure our neighbors who are experiencing homelessness have the resources they need to survive the winter. Starting in mid-October, UGM will distribute backpacks with winter gear and a meal to our downtown guests, on our Search + Rescue mobile outreach and at partner locations with churches and organizations in the metro area.

We are excited to share that Union Gospel Mission’s new home for women and children, Angela’s House is officially open! Saturday, September 13th we celebrated the grand opening of this new LifeChange Center for Women and Children.

After 49 years trapped in addiction, Eric was desperate for change. He’d tried to do it on his own but couldn’t. Desperate, he cried out to God. God answered his prayer with a phone call from a man named Luis. Luis works here at the Mission, and he knew Eric from his own time on the street.

After meeting a man, believing she was in love, getting engaged within eight months, moving over 2,500 miles away from her family and getting pregnant after three months of marriage, Allison felt happy but overwhelmed. She had a full-time career, a baby and a home to take care of. Three years later she was expecting her second child. All without family nearby to support her.

There are a lot of stereotypes about what homelessness looks like. Feinix broke almost every one of them. “I wasn’t high. I wasn’t drunk. I wasn’t dirty. I wasn’t wearing torn, greasy, dirty, ripped up clothes . . . I really tried to be as inconspicuous as possible.  I tried to blend in, be quiet, like I was somebody who had a regular life.”  But her life was anything but “regular,” and it was a far cry from the life she once had with a house, a job and plenty of food to eat.

We are pleased to introduce you to the new Director of LifeChange for Women and Children, Reiko Cordeiro. Reiko is a licensed professional counselor in the state of Oregon and has served as the Counseling Director at Union Gospel Mission since 2021.