About Us - Union Gospel Mission - Yakima, Washington

Mission Statement

YUGM exists to provide Christ-centered rescue, recovery and restoration to men, women and children in need.

Vision Statement

Our vision is to see individuals and families set free from addictions and homelessness, transformed by God to become physically, emotionally and spiritually healthy; equipped educationally and vocationally to participate in society and live successful, balanced lives on their own—dependent only on Christ and interdependent with other people.

To accomplish this vision we:

Offer residential Christian Discipleship programs for men and women designed to address life dominating addictions and abuse by providing spiritual and physical tools to overcome destructive life patterns and live healthy productive lives.
Provide tangible resources to those who are homeless or in jeopardy of becoming homeless with food, clothing and emergency/transitional shelter. Help provide the homeless with access to permanent supportive long term housing providers.
Develop onsite opportunities for healthcare professionals to provide services that benefit the poor.
Encourage literacy, education and training for employment as a means of equipping residents for self support and stabilization. Work to assist those who discover that a self-sustaining lifestyle is beyond their abilities.
Promote healthy lifestyles that include wholesome recreation options where people learn to live in healthy supportive relationships which provide for spiritual, emotional and physical support with personal accountability.
Create opportunities for donors and volunteers to use their gifts and talents to experience making a personal difference in the lives of the people who seek help from the UGM ministries.
Develop a healthy Christian community environment in which staff, program participants, program alumni, donors and volunteers can freely interact and encourage one another.
Educate the community regarding the needs of the poor and the most effective methods of meeting those needs.

Core Values

God as our Source for truth, direction, provision and human dignity.
We serve God, under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
The Holy Spirit through God’s Word brings true spiritual transformation. Maturity and growth are developed through strong Christian discipleship, equipping and training.
All services provided to those in need should be done to preserve the dignity of the individual in love, offering hope, mercy and compassion.
Addictions can be overcome through prayer, medical treatment and healthy relationships.
Homelessness is a temporary condition that can be overcome when desired with personal healing, educational assistance, housing and employment.
Actively find new ways to be good stewards of the resources entrusted to us.
Intentionally look at new and innovative ways to do our work.
Accountability for success.
Share our expertise with others.
Pursuit of excellence.

Statement of Faith

We believe only the Bible to be the inspired, infallible, and authoritative Word of God.

We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We believe that man was created in the image of God, holy and innocent; that of his own choice he sinned and as a result brought death upon all humanity.

We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death, in His bodily resurrection, in His Ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.

We believe that we are saved by grace through faith, apart from works; that the person who repents and personally accepts the atoning work of Christ on the Cross becomes a child of God and is made a new creature through regeneration by the Holy Spirit.

We believe the Holy Spirit unites all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and that together they form one body, the Church.

We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life of obedience and given gifts for service.

We believe in the resurrection of the saved and the lost, the saved to the resurrection of life and the lost to the resurrection of damnation.

History

The Yakima Union Gospel Mission has been helping the homeless and needy people of the Yakima Valley for 75 years. Several Christian men representing different Yakima churches personally financed and started the ministry in 1936. It was later registered as a 501c3 religious non-profit organization in 1941.

The YUGM exists to provide Christ-centered rescue, recovery and restoration to men, women and children in need. The mission has always provided the basic needs of clothing, shelter and meals for the man on the street but over the decades, as community needs have changed, the ministry has adapted to meet specific needs with families, single women and children.

The Union Gospel Mission Ministries consist of a residential men’s and women’s recovery program, emergency shelter- for men, women and families, a Madison House Youth Community Center, Lost Creek Village Camp and conference ground, eLife computer and literacy training Lab, YUGM food box distribution to families, a warehouse operation that distributes furniture and household items to the poor and a free medical and dental clinic. Visit our Services page for more information on these vital ministries.

We have developed training industries. “The Olde Lighthouse Shoppe” is the Yakima Union Gospel Mission’s thrift store/boutique selling a variety of items for ministry support and provides retail training to the homeless. New Hope Catering and Cuisine is a central commercial grade kitchen with the capacity to provide quality meals to the community and training for our clients in recovery. We also have a fully functioning recycling program which reduces our waste, provides revenue and provides job training.

Over the years we have established ourselves as an important safety-net working in cooperation with other agencies to provide essential emergency services. We serve men, women, and children in our ethnically diverse Yakima Valley, including Hispanic, Caucasian, Native American, and Asian members of our community.

We encourage faith in God, but it is not required in order to receive our help. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, political affiliation, national origin, or disability.

The ministries operate without debt and keep all accounts paid in full. We have remained free from dependency on tax dollars with our support coming primarily from the private sector of the greater Yakima Valley. The Yakima Union Gospel Mission is an autonomous organization, which is governed by a local Board of directors. The ministries operate with several full-time and part-time staff members who oversee hundreds of volunteers during the course of the year.