Tracie

Tracie came to The Union Mission during the holidays to help make food boxes for the poor. She wanted to give back what the Mission had given to her. Tracie had been to The Union Mission before in 1997 when she was eleven years old. She came with her father and four siblings. Her parents had moved the family from Maryland when times got tough. Both suffered from drug addiction. They lived in a motel until her mother was put in jail, leaving her father to care for the family. Unable to make ends meet, they ended up on the streets. “We walked and walked until someone told us about The Union Mission.” They came to the Mission only to find it wasn’t equipped to house a father with five children. The Family Shelter didn’t have a place for a man and the Men’s Shelter wasn’t suitable for children.

As they began to leave, Rev. Bashford (former Executive Director) saw them shivering in the parking lot and his heart filled with compassion. He took them in and made provision for them to stay for three weeks. The Mission fed them and clothed them and provided guidance. “I remember sitting in the Chapel and hearing the men sing, ‘He’s got the whole Union Mission in His hands.’ I was in awe.” They stayed at a few other shelters until the children were adopted by a church family, but Tracie never forgot the Mission.

Today she is a Respiratory Therapist and was recently married. “I have so much passion to give back. I’ve wanted to for years. I would do anything to help,” and this year she did. The song, He Made Something Beautiful Out of My Life has a special meaning to her. She says, “To rise above where I was, and to forgive my parents … God placed that forgiveness on my heart. That’s what The Union Mission did for me and my family those three weeks. I am so grateful and God is so good.”