Seattle mission’s outreach director details life on the streets

Most of us can make it through a cold snap because we have a warm place to go, but for the homeless, a cold snap can mean life or death. So how do you help?

Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission has been at the forefront of homeless outreach in the Seattle area. They’ve worked closely with the city to get people out of camps and into shelters with the hope that they’ll finally accept treatment and more permanent housing.

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This outreach method has been so effective that the UGM has added a new department with a familiar face at the helm. The mission announced Brian Chandler as the new director of street outreach.

“I say this a lot, I say it to our team, I say it to the guys that are in our program, ‘if I can change then anyone can change,’ and that’s the hope we carry in our back pocket,” Chandler said.

Chandler was once homeless and knows what it takes to turn around your life. His story on the streets begins in his early 20s as a newlywed and father. At the time, he was abusing meth, speed and alcohol and his wife came to him with an ultimatum.

“It was: ‘you either choose me or you choose what you’re doing,’ and it was unfortunate that I was just so involved in that addiction that I chose addiction rather than my family,” Chandler recalled.

He spent five months living out of his car and working three jobs to feed his addiction. He remembers the winter months in his car being tough.

“It was hard. It’s hard because you end up starting to lose your jobs and you lose money. You can’t put gas in your car and you can’t start your car and so you’re freezing in your car,” Chandler said with a sigh. “You try to warm up with what clothes you have or you’re going into restaurants and just sitting.”

That cycle may have never been broken had it not been for a coworker at a warehouse where he drove a forklift.

“His name is Andy Brown and he somehow figured out that I wasn’t living at my home and he was a religious man and so he just attached himself to me and I called him every name in the book, I stole from him, I did all these things to Andy and he never quit and he never gave up on me,” Chandler said.

Eventually, Chandler accepted Brown’s help to enter rehab and therapy. He got his family back and never looked back.

“Have you ever been cold and not been able to get warm? It’s that feeling of no matter what you do you cannot get warm — times ten. Here most of the areas are muddy and wet and so it’s not just about the coat, it’s not just about the hat and the gloves and the blankets, but you’ve got cold feet, wet feet, you’re sleeping in a tent that’s coldness underneath it and wetness underneath it. It’s rough,” Chandler said.

Chandler goes out most nights after dark to visit with the city’s homeless. When they can they hand out hot chocolate and winter gloves, hats, and coats. Right now, the mission is critically low on those supplies.

“We’re always looking for coats. That’s a good one. One of the things that my wife and I do is carry gift cards rather than giving cash. Sometimes that helps a little bit knowing that you know that if you’re giving a $5 McDonald’s gift card that it’s got to be spent on food,” Chandler said.

Socks are also a great gift.

But most of all, Chandler hopes people learn from his story that a simple gesture of caring is sometimes all that it takes.

“You don’t have to give something every day. Sometimes it’s just knowing their name and every morning rolling down your window to say, ‘hey Frank, how’s your day today?’ And just continuing on with your day. That means the world. It means the world to anybody,” Chandler said.

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