GiveBig2020

SUNDAY, APRIL 26, 2020 | Special Advertising Section 1 R 4 Marty was living the life he’d always wanted. “I had my kids, a good job, a nice car, a ranch-style home with a garage. I was divorced, but I could pay my child support. Life was good.” But then he experienced a series of devastating losses. He was laid off. Both of his parents passed away, one shortly after the other. Soon, he’d lost his savings, his car and his home. Then his ex- wife took his sons. “I didn’t want to live anymore after that,” he says. Marty quietly disappeared into the shadows of homelessness. At first, the people he met called him “the Boy Scout” because he didn’t steal or do drugs. But soon those same people took advantage of him. “I did what I thought was right, but I ended up working for bad people who were in human trafficking. After I realized what was going on, I tried to leave.” Instead, Marty became one of their victims. “For five months, they kept me drugged and locked in a room. I was so sedated they were able to do whatever they wanted to me.” When Marty finally escaped, he was a heroin addict. “I hated everything about who I’d become. Once, when I was about to be released from jail, I told a guard that if they sent me back into the world, I’d just walk out in front of a bus. I’d rather end it all than keep dying slowly.” Alone in his cell that night, Marty says he reached out to God. “I begged for help. I promised if God saved me, I’d spend the rest of my life working for Him.” When he was released the next day, a cab was waiting. The guard Marty had confided in told the driver to take him to Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission. And that day, Marty entered the Mission’s drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. “I owe my life today to finding God and the Mission,” he says. Marty was in the Men’s Recovery Program at the Mission for two years. During that time, he learned the skills he needed to start a new life, including how to manage his finances, set goals and build up his savings. He also explored his faith in ways that continue to shape his life today. “This Bible is a constant source of inspiration to me,” he says, “especially the story of Job. How he was stricken with disease and had everything taken away from him, but he kept his faith and he got it all back. That’s really helped me a lot in my life.” Now sober for nearly three years, Marty has dedicated his life to helping others find their way out of homelessness. He says, “I work at the Mission in outreach. I get to go hang out with the same people that I used to hang out with when I was stuck on the streets and in addiction. I’m able to show them there is a better way. They’ve seen where I’ve been, and they know if I can do it, they can, too.” Now more than ever, give to help the lost become found PROVIDED BY SEATTLE’S UNION GOSPEL MISSION Almost overnight, COVID-19 radically changed life as we know it. Your gift to Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission will help bring lifesaving services to those who need it most right now. The Mission is a nonprofit ministry that loves and cares for our homeless neighbors throughout greater Seattle. We want everyone to know, no matter their circumstances, they are loved and cared for, by us and by God. Learn more at ugm.org . Marty (left) on Search + Rescue with Duff McKagan, of Guns N’ Roses, and Richard, Emergency Outreach Administrator at Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission. “I owe my life to finding God and the Mission,” Marty says, standing in front of the Men’s Shelter where he found the love and support to escape homelessness and an addiction to heroin.