Union Gospel Mission Twin Cities

Rich doesn’t blame anybody but himself for the trouble he was in.

What had started out as harmless pranks when he was a teenager turned into a full-blown crisis as an adult when the tough crowd he was hanging around sent him into an emotional death-spiral.

Gone were the stable housing and steady relationships that once defined his life. Now, his survival depended on well-meaning friends who let him sleep in their backyards at night.

His rock-bottom moment came when he admitted, “I didn’t think anybody could help me.”

Fortunately, he was wrong!

Erasing the doubts

It was a loving aunt who got him a bus ticket to Union Gospel Mission Twin Cities. But even then, he wasn’t sure this was where he wanted to be.

“The first night in chapel, I wondered if I had made a terrible mistake,” he says. “There were plenty of other places I could have gone.” Except, he had completed other recovery programs before — and was still in the same old mess.

It wasn’t until he finally admitted to himself that the Mission was different — a conclusion he came to after the first few Mission meals — that things began to change.

“Union Gospel Mission provided a safe place to begin getting well,” he says, looking back. “People around me acknowledged my painful past and assured me I would find healing.”

And they were right.

Learning to trust again

“There was a time when I didn’t trust anybody,” he confesses. “It was a while before I realized that I needed others in my life to get me on the right path.”

Today, Rich’s life looks nothing like it did only a few short months ago. He’s back to working at a job he really loves, which he insists is indicative of just how far he’s come.

“The Mission took in a broken, throwaway dude and gave him a chance,” Rich says, half-smiling. “They showed me how to be a valuable person that others value, too.”

But perhaps the most startling revelation: “I’m not that destroyed person anymore. Thank you for helping me find new life.”