Sunday, April 23, 2023 | Special Advertising Section 1 R 44 SPONSORED CONTENT PROVIDED BY SEATTLE'S UNION GOSPEL MISSION “Let me tell you what was missing,” says Alvin. “People who cared about me and loved me. I never knew what that felt like..." Alvin grew up in an abusive family. His father was a musician and on the road much of the time, and his mother left the family, leaving him to be raised by his grandmother. As he describes it, his grandmother would beat him “with a belt, stick, chair, whatever she could get her hands on.” In addition to the abuse, alcohol abuse was rampant in the home. He says he took his first drink around 13 years of age. “It became a normal feeling of being high or drunk.” Despite his struggles with alcohol, Alvin built a life with a lucrative career. Things began to spiral down for him, however, when he was introduced to crack cocaine in his 30s. “That’s when the events really started happening,” he says. “As time went on, it got more aggressive.” He began to lose his material possessions and found himself “stealing and lying and scamming people.” Looking for a fresh start, Alvin moved to a new city and began doing computer work for a utility company. Unfortunately, his addiction followed him, and soon he found himself using again. This time, he became homeless. He lived on the streets for several months. “I was very depressed,” he says. “I was sleeping in this abandoned garage by a trash can. It was really infested with rats, but I was so exhausted and so tired ... that I was willing to sleep anywhere.” Alvin found help at a local rescue mission, graduated from that program, and became a staff member. “I wound up taking some courses and became an ordained pastor and serving the homeless population,” he says. Connections pave a way out of homelessness Seattle's Union Gospel Mission addresses urgent needs and offers long-term recovery to our homeless neighbors throughout greater Seattle. We want everyone to know they are loved by us, and by God, no matter their circumstance. Learn more at www.ugm.org. He even started a local church. In his own words, though, Alvin took his “eyes off the prize and fell.” He got involved in an unhealthy relationship, relapsed, and in less than two weeks, “I went through all of my credit cards ... all of my savings ... lost the car. Lost the keys to the apartment.” He ended up locked in a motel room alone, with suicidal thoughts. “That, to me, is a rock bottom.” Alvin found the help he needed at Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission. At the Mission, it is believed that unhealthy, broken relationships are at the root of homelessness, and that true healing comes in the context of healthy relationships with God and with other people. For that reason, Mission staff and volunteers take a relational approach. According to Scott Cleveland, vice president of Program Ministries at the Mission, “Most of the men we're serving have been deeply hurt in the context of relationship. It's typically abuse, abandonment or neglect. If you can get down to those core issues, often times you can get people on the healing path, and past the addiction stage, and into recovery. We do a lot of modeling with them, and loving with them, and showing them what grace really looks like, and even when they make mistakes, we’ll love them through that.” At the Mission, Alvin learned what healthy relationships look like. “They opened their arms and embraced me, gave me another opportunity,” he says. Looking back, he says his case manager showed him the love that was missing in his life. “He came beside me ... He loved me. He cared for me. He was there for me, and a couple of times I threatened to leave ... he didn’t talk me out of it, but he allowed me to process it the way it needed to be.” Alvin graduated from the men’s recovery program at the Mission, and today he works with them as a support services administrator. One of his great joys is being with other people. “That’s what I do,” he says. “I look forward to that ... Part of my prayer is, ‘God, give me an opportunity for me to share your goodness with someone else.’” Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission’s relational approach begins with meeting urgent needs, providing stabilization, and walking with people through long-term recovery and back into thriving lives. Donate today! “I started smiling and I like to show my teeth … the Mission’s Dental Clinic even took care of that for me. My smile is a smile now.” – Alvin, Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission, recovery program graduate. (Photos courtesy of Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission).
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