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President and Board Chairperson’s Message 2023-2024

Reports
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The thing we know about families is that they come in every shape and size. They’re made up of an array of parents, children, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. They often include lifelong friendships and chosen communities.

Similarly, everyone who comes through the doors at Union Gospel is unique. Each person has had their own hopes, their own disappointments and needs. No one’s journey is predictable, and no kind of care is one-size-fits-all.

But while everyone we meet at UGM is one-of-a-kind, their stories often contain common themes. And one theme that surfaces time and time again is that many have experienced the loss of relationship. They’ve become separated from their parents, from their children, from their friends. Isolation is a byproduct of poverty, homelessness, and addiction, and it can make hard seasons even harder.

In good news, we believe God is in the business of reunification. The Bible is full of stories of families and friends finding each other again, committing to each other, and loving through hard seasons. Think of Joseph, sold into slavery as a young man, reconnecting with his brothers after over 20 years apart. Or Ruth, who chooses to commit to her mother-in-law Naomi despite the loss of Ruth’s husband. Perhaps most famously, there’s the prodigal son, whose father comes running towards him when he’s still a long way off. All of these stories have complexity, but remind us of God’s heart for us: that none of us would journey alone.

That’s our prayer here at UGM — one that each and every day, you are helping us walk into in faith. We see God moving in the lives of our neighbours: we hear stories of fathers rebuilding trust with their children, mothers taking up recovery while raising their newborns, and friends getting to build new traditions together. Relationships lost for years are often recovered, because people have had the space and support they needed to stabilize and heal.

We hope that the stories in this year’s Annual Report paint a clear picture of the healing work God is doing in people’s lives at UGM through your compassionate care. As we continue to support people in our communities, we pray to see many more family albums restored, and many more individuals step into life-giving belonging.

In faith and gratitude,

 

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