New socks and underwear needed

Union Gospel Mission REALLY needs new socks and underwear to give to the homeless or people in need who come to the door of the Mission seeking clothing on a daily basis.

Union Gospel Mission has a "community clothing closet" that has all types of clothing: pants, shirts, jackets, blankets, and new socks and underwear. People in need of these items can come to the door and receive them. However, over the past week or two there just hasn't been enough socks and underwear to meet demand. As many as 30 requests for these items per day have been turned down.

Why? There are a couple of reasons: clothing donations have dropped off, and this spring has been unseasonably cool and wet increasing demand for these items.

Marc, who is a member of the LifeChange recovery community here at Union Gospel Mission, has the role of meeting the needs of people who come to the door of the Mission. His observation was that many of the people who rely on the Mission for clothing don't have a place to store clothes, nor do they have a way to wash their clothing.

So if you can drop off some new socks and underwear at 15 NW Third Avenue in Portland that would be greatly appreciated! You can make a donation online http://www.ugmportland.org/donate.html to help purchase these items. Another option is to organize a sock and underwear clothing drive at your place of business, school, church, civic group or club. Any questions -call Union Gospel Mission at 503-274-4483.

Easter Highlight video

We're very excited! We have started taking video of various events and we're able to share them with our friends online.

Here is our first effort, a look at highlights from our Easter event:

LifeChange Graduates: They've come a long way

Here's a photo of our 5 LifeChange grads with our Executive Director Bill Russell (far right in the pic) It was a very exciting, emotional time at the graduation celebration in March. All the graduates are awesome guys who worked very hard in LifeChange. You can read their stories and see their "before" and "after" LifeChange photos at:

http://www.ugmportland.org/lifechange.html

In addition to the stories on the LifeChange page, is an application for the LifeChange addiction recovery program. Most of our residents heard about LifeChange from a family member or friend. If you know someone who is addicted and feeling hopeless, please let them know about LifeChange.