For 10 years Toni was living on the streets.
She lived in a tent in the forest and under bridges.
Toni started coming to the Mission for meals, showers, and laundry.
At the Mission, she heard stories from staff who had been in her shoes who now relied on prayer and the Bible.

Change?  What does real change look like?

Real change starts with something other than money.
Real change starts with a meal and more…

Donate
  • Meal
  • Meeting physical needs
  • Developing a trust with Mission staff
  • Hearing stories about others like themselves
  • Getting off the streets into short-term shelter
  • Entering into long-term addiction recovery program
  • Help with resources e.g. dental, vision permanent housing, job
Toni is a young woman that came to the Mission for a number of years before her life changed. She had been adopted at the age of two months after being left in a laundry basket at a hair salon. As she grew, her relationship with her adoptive mother became very strained. The mental and physical abuse finally pushed Toni over the edge and she left home at the age of 16.

Life didn’t improve. She got together with a drug using boyfriend and had her first child. She started using drugs and after her second child, life really got difficult and her drug habit spiraled out of control. She ended up doing jail time, losing her children and living on the streets.

Word spreads fast on the streets about the Olympia Union Gospel Mission and the services they provide. Toni recalled, “I would come for meals [at the Mission] and they would have someone talk about their life situation, which I totally related to, but they handled it through God, prayer and the Bible. This was a big eye opener for me and I knew I wanted to change my life.”

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“A GREAT HUGE TRANSFORMATION
HAS OCCURRED IN MY LIFE”
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Changes came slowly for Toni, but she eventually was able to get into the women’s short-term shelter and from there into the recovery program at Genesis Acres. “It has been amazing. I have since graduated [recovery program] and now I am employed by the Mission to help manage the women’s short-term shelter. A great huge transformation has occurred in my life. I now have a relationship with God and I’m so thankful for the Mission staff for showing His love when I needed it the most.”