Carolyn Arends and Spencer Capier have collaborated and toured as a duo for years, but they had to be particularly creative as they created their latest song. Carolyn emailed me, saying that: Some folks have been calling ‘After This’ a…
Pastor Peter (Jonghuen) Yang has been spending much of his time at Oppenheimer Park in the Downtown Eastside for more than a year, offering Sunday services and providing food, along with masks and sanitizer to protect against coronavirus. Now orders…
Unaddressed, hidden barriers can silently trap someone in poverty, homelessness or addiction. But every day, Union Gospel Mission (UGM) support offers people resources to triumph over these complex challenges, moving them towards transformation. Following are four of those stories, re-posted…
The description of Karina Svalya’s current showing at the Dal Schindell Gallery (formerly the Lookout Gallery, still upstairs at Regent College) is brief: This exhibition features large-scale portraits in oil of safari animals: giraffes, zebras, elephants, rhino and lions. Svalya…
Union Gospel Mission (UGM) is raising money for a Mobile Mission van for the Fraser Valley – where the most recent Homelessness Count reveals a 75 percent increase in men and women facing homelessness – to match the one they’ve…
Peter Biggs of The Light Magazine is researching one Metro Vancouver / Fraser Valley municipality each month, and producing a focus on each one. The October issue brought attention to the Downtown Eastside and a feature interview with Jacqueline Dewar, who has worked and lived in…
This week (October 7 – 13) is Homelessness Action Week, and no one can argue that Union Gospel Mission (UGM) is not doing its share. On Monday, volunteers served meals to more than 3,000 people. (See the Vancouver Sun’s article…
Clean from hard drugs for two years and living in the brand new Co:Here Housing Community, Todd K’s[i] journey of recovery has been long. He began drinking heavily at 15, and was living on the streets of Vancouver with a crack cocaine…
Peter Biggs of The Light Magazine is researching one Metro Vancouver / Fraser Valley municipality each month, and producing a focus on each one. The June issue features the Tri-Cities. The Coast Salish people were the first to live in this area, and…
I didn’t grow up in the grocery business and was shocked by the readiness at which perfectly good food was thrown away without a second thought. It seemed to be morally outrageous as well as bad business. I’d been raised…