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Seattle's Union Gospel Mission 

Description

As a Christian faith-based social service provider, the Mission is uniquely positioned to provide help and services to people in need in the King County community:  Homeless adults and families with children, at-risk youth; adults battling addictions, at-risk seniors, victims of domestic violence, and prison inmates.               

We do this through innovative and effective programs, and through extensive collaborations and partnerships.  Our objective is to meet basic needs while also providing recovery, counseling, education, employment readiness and other services as long term solutions.

Mission Statement
Seattle's Union Gospel Mission exists to serve, rescue and transform those in greatest need through the grace of Jesus Christ.
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Seattle's Union Gospel Mission
PO Box 202 
Seattle 
WA
98111 
(206) 723-0767 

Jeff Lilley 
President 

Programs

Seattle's Union Gospel Mission Programs

We accomplish our mission through two program strategies: 

Shelter and Recovery Ministries
 
  • Men's Shelter:  Emergency shelter, meals, 12 month drug and alcohol recovery, life skills, employment readiness, spiritual discipleship. Also Search and Rescue Van and Morning Watch. Downtown Seattle.
  •  Hope Place Women and Children's Shelter:  Short term shelter, 12 month drug and alcohol recovery, domestic violence, education, employment readiness, spiritual discipleship. Homeless women and mothers with children up to age 18. South Seattle.
  •  New Vision:  Residential recovery, 35 beds.  Adult men.  Life skills, employment readiness, spiritual discipleship. Capitol Hill, Seattle. 
  •  Riverton Place:  Residential recovery, 40 beds. Adult men.  Life skills, employment readiness, spiritual discipleship. South Seattle. 
  •  Son Rise House:  Transitional housing, 12 units. Kent, WA.
  •  Lighthouse Apartments:  Transitional housing, 10 units, South Seattle.
Outreach Ministries
  •  Youth Services:  Afterschool/summer programs. At-risk youth.  Academic tutoring, mentorship, athletics, fine arts, Bible study and discipleship. Rainier Valley, south Seattle, Tukwila and Burien. 
  •  Senior Ministries:  Volunteer based programs/assistance fro at-risk seniors provide companionship and connection, food, transportation, Bible study and fellowship. .
  •  Open Door Legal Services:  Legal assistance for those who cannot afford legal representation through coordination of volunteer attorneys. Services provided in Seattle and the Eastside.
  •  Prison Ministries:  Life skills, re-entry assistance, Bible study, discipleship for prison inmates in King County correctional facilities.
  •  Dental Clinic:  Volunteer dentists provide acute and restorative care for homeless, very low income individuals and families.

Recent Successes and Current Challenges

Success:  Morning Watch Van
Seattle's Union Gospel Mission in the Spring of 2011 launched its Morning Watch program in partnership with King County, the City of Seattle and the Metropolitan Improvement District.  King County donated a van which has been outfitted and staffed by the Mission to patrol downtown Seattle in the early morning hours. 

Directed by email and cell-phone referrals, Morning Watch provides wake ups, transportation and site clean ups for individuals sleeping in the doorways, service entrances and sidewalks of Seattle's downtown community.  Seattle Police, MID Ambassadors, businesses and other agencies send referrals to Morning Watch staff and volunteers who respond in person to help individuals get up and out of the doorways and back entrances. They are offered transportation to get a meal or other assistance at the Mission, or referrals to other agencies. 

Morning Watch staff also provides clean up to remove cardboard beds, blankets, drug paraphenalia and other debris left by those sleeping on the streets. The program has already proven to be a great benefit to downtown businesses who are unprepared and ill-equipped to deal with individuals sleeping on their doorsteps who struggle with mental illness, addictions and other challenges.   

Challenges:  Emergency Housing
One of our current critical needs is short term emergency housing for families and women.  We continue to get many calls a day from individuals or families seeking help whom we are unable to take in to our programs. 

To meet this growing and urgent need, Seattle's Union Gospel Mission has established the Safe Harbor network, repurposing available space or units in Mission facilities for emergency housing, but also working with churches, individuals, apartment owners who have a house, an apartment, a room that can be added to the Safe Harbor network.  If your church has housing available, or if you own an apartment building and have a unit that could be included in the Safe Harbor network, please contact us.

Evaluation


Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission (UGM) provides a variety of basic needs services for homeless and underserved men, women and children.

Proven Success
UGM programs focus on two strategies shelter/recovery and outreach. Between the Mission’s four shelter and residential programs, they are serving nearly 1,500 hot meals per day to homeless and very low income individuals and families. 75% of the food they receive is in-kind and they have a strong network of wholesalers, retailers, restaurants where they obtain donated food.

Accessibility
UGM launched its Morning Watch program in Spring 2011. They drive a van throughout downtown and provide transportation and site clean up when individuals have been sleeping in the doorways. They provide transportation to get a meal at the Mission or referral to other agencies.

Financial Health
UGM has a high level of individual donors and no public funding – not relying on public funding has given the organization flexibility and they are not impacted by recent government budget cuts. They have a wide donor base including over 50,000 donors and through fundraising and cost cutting have been able to consistently balance their budget.

Sustainability
UGM conducted an internal and external assessment to determine the needs in our community and how UGM’s programs were meeting those needs and where the service gaps were. They launched the Catalyst Initiatives, a total of 53 initiatives in ten broad categories that the Mission took on beginning in September 2010 at a cost of $1 million. The initiatives range from emergency housing, expansion of meals programs, new partnerships with churches around meals, and recovery programs.

The Mission took an aggressive approach to their fundraising and programming activities in FY 2011 in order to meet the increased needs in the community. They increased their projected donated revenue by 23%. They hosted their first major fundraising gala in October 2010 and raised a total of $885,000. They are setting aggressive goals for FY 2012 with an increase of another $1 million.

Grant History with The Seattle Foundation:

Grants Awarded through The Seattle Foundation Grantmaking Program:

DateAmountPurpose
12/10/2008 $60,000.00support the capital campaign for Hope Place Women and Children's Shelter.

Financials

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