Twelfth Annual Inner City Outreach Coming Soon!

Memphis Union Mission's twelfth annual Inner City Outeach is coming soon, and we would be thrilled if you could join us!

The event will be held each night at 6 p.m. from Sunday, May 19 through Friday, May 24. Churches from all over the Memphis area will partner with Memphis Union Mission to minister to our guests and serve them a delicious meal. In fact, we expect to feed approximately 400 men, women, and children each night.

The event will be held outdoors on the Mission's property at 383 Poplar Ave. Volunteers from the sponsoring churches will help cook the food, lead worship, serve snacks and dinner to our guests, and pray with and counsel with those in need.

We would be honored for you to stop by and join us any evening that week at 6 p.m.

Please join us in thanking our church sponsors for the outreach:

We also want to thank Abiding Above Ministries, who will be leading worship each day at 11 a.m.

For more information, please contact Jeff Patrick at (901) 526-8434, ext 1002 or Steve Carpenter at (901) 526-8403, ext. 2009.

Eighth Annual Memphis Union Mission Heritage Classic

The rain looked threatening for our eighth annual Memphis Union Mission Heritage Classic, but we ended up with a beautiful day and a fun event that raised money for a great cause!

The tournament was held Monday, May 6 at Windyke Country Club. All proceeds from the event benefited Memphis Union Mission.

We wish to thank our sponsors for helping make this year's tournament a success, including:

We also wish to thank all of our hole sponsors, including:

  • American Business Solutions
  • Collierville First Baptist Church
  • Floied Fire Extinguisher & Steam Cleaning Company
  • Roop Financial Services
  • Topmost Chemical & Paper Corp

And finally, we want to thank all of you who participated in the event. Thank you all for your support! We hope to see you next year!

For more information, please contact Steve Carpenter at (901) 526-8403, ext. 2009.

Mission Mourns Passing of Andy Andrews

Memphis Union Mission has lost a dear friend and board member with the passing of Andy Andrews.

Andy went to be with the Lord on February 25 after a long fight with cancer. He faithfully served on the Mission's Board of Directors for several years, also serving as the Board's secretary.

Through his involvement at the missions department at Kirby Woods Baptist Church, he was also very instrumental in helping Memphis Union Mission launch the Inner City Outreach, an annual event held in May that ministers to hundreds of needy men, women, and children. As seen from the photo above, taken at the 2008 Inner City Outreach, Andy had a heart for the Lord and a heart for people.

He was a dear brother in Christ, and we will miss him very much.

Click here to view the obituary and sign the online guest book.

Armstrong Relocation Helps Memphis Union Mission

Memphis Union Mission wishes to gratefully acknowledge Armstrong Relocation and Companies.

Each year, their employees pick a different local charitable organization to help, and this year was Memphis Union Mission's turn. Throughout the fall and holiday season, they did a variety of donation drives (including clothing, hygiene supplies, and winter-related items) for our ministry.

Then the company wrapped up the campaign in mid-January by presenting the Mission with a very generous gift of $8,000. Please join us in thanking Armstrong for helping the Mission and for investing in the community!

Hungry Guests Enjoy Thanksgiving at Memphis Union Mission

Through the help of volunteers and donors from all over the Mid-South, Memphis Union Mission was able to serve delicious Thanksgiving meals to hundreds of hungry, men, women, and children.

The Mission held its annual Thanksgiving banquet for the homeless again, and this year's event was a real treat.

Volunteers helped us to serve three separate meals during the day, and the menu included turkey, dressing, green beans, sweet potato casserole, rolls, and dessert. It was a delicious meal that would rival any restaurant's (if we do say so ourselves)!

Once again, we owe a debt of gratitude to Corky's Barbecue for smoking the turkeys for us at no charge; this makes meal preparation so much easier and less stressful for us. We also want to thanks St. Clair Foods for donating the dressing and sweet potato casserole again this year.

But most of all, we want to thank the wonderful volunteers and donors who helped make this Thanksgiving holiday a very special one for the people we serve. God bless each of you!

For more photos from Thanksgiving, visit our Facebook page.

Soles 4 Souls Event Provides Foot Care and Shoes to Homeless

Once again this year, the folks from Campbell Clinic paid a very special visit to Memphis Union Mission for their annual Soles 4 Souls event.

Just a three days before Thanksgiving, Campbell Clinic's staff spent an afternoon providing a free foot clinic for homeless guests at our Opportunity Center. They also distributed shoes to those in need.

Please join us in thanking Campbell Clinic for providing a valuable service to our guests!

Extreme Makeover: Moriah House Edition

This summer, the women and children of Moriah House enjoyed their own version of Extreme Makeover, courtesy of some caring volunteers from Grace Evangelical Church in Germantown.

At Moriah House, each woman has her own room (either by herself or with her children). But over the years some of the residents’ rooms experienced some wear and tear and were in need of an overhaul.

Enter Diane Daniel, Grace Evan member and faithful volunteer at Moriah House. One day, as she and Moriah House director Beverly Thomas discussed the condition of the rooms, Beverly asked if the rooms might be a project that Diane’s MIT volunteers would consider tackling.

Diane was in a good position to help as a leader of a Ministry Initiative Team (MIT) at Grace Evan. The MIT program is one in which the church encourages its members to form teams to reach out and minister in the community, and each team is given a budget to use for various projects.

Diane’s team, known as H2O, focuses their energy on ministering to the women at Moriah House and the men at Calvary Colony. For the Moriah House room makeover, the team asked the church for a special budget for new new bedding, drapes, bathroom accessories, and room decor.

“We did not have a budget for furniture, but we did tell the teams they could seek donations of any furniture needed,” said Diane. “It was awesome to see chairs, desks, couches and so forth donated.”

The 16 teams of volunteers (with six to 10 volunteers per team) introduced the program to the residents at Moriah House in a fun way.

“We had a kickoff event in May,” said Diane. “We had a pizza night, and the women met with the residents to learn what things they liked, whether it was butterflies, flowers, or whatever.”

The next step was for the volunteers to go into the rooms to deep clean them and remove any clutter. Then the teams took the money allocated for the project, along with the residents’ wish lists, and went shopping.

Finally, the day came in July for the makeover.

“The residents chose to sit in the lobby and not see the rooms getting decorated, and then come in after it was done,” said Diane. “It was a lot of fun.”

The MIT volunteers had beautifully redecorated all of the residential rooms in a way that was tailored to each resident. The volunteers also redecorated the children’s play room.

Not surprisingly, the response from residents was very positive.

“Each lady loved her room,” said Diane. “And since then, the women have come up to us after Bible studies and said, ‘I love all of the rooms, but mine is my favorite’ because it was done just for them.”

“It was a fun missions project.”

Please join us in thanking the volunteers from the H2O Ministry Initiative Team and Grace Evan for doing something so special for the women and children at Moriah House!

Volunteer Delivers the Goods

Six years ago, after Andy Quaranta lost his job, he was faced a dilemma regarding his charitable giving.

Andy, a Midtown resident and a member of Bellevue Baptist Church, had been giving a portion of his income to Memphis Union Mission, and wanted to continue supporting the ministry. But finding himself unemployed with no regular income, he knew that giving at the same level as before would be nearly impossible.

But one day, while visiting a local Starbucks, something caught his attention.

“I was going to one Starbucks because I didn’t know what else to do,” Andy said. “And I saw a need with the bread and the other food that was being thrown away.”

Seeing the need, Andy asked the Starbucks if they would be willing to donate the leftover food to Memphis Union Mission. They consented as long as Andy would agree to pick up the bread on a frequent basis.

Andy agreed, thinking that this was a way he could continue to help the Mission. And from there, his own personal ministry, Manna from Heaven, began.

Today, Andy picks up the food on a daily and nightly basis from local area Starbucks coffee shops and Panera Bread stores with whom he has negotiated and contracted. Driving all over the city in his red Ford Explorer, picking up the food, delivering it to Memphis Union Mission, and filling out the required paper work keep him busy full time.

In a short period of time, the donated food’s value really adds up.

"About $3,000 a week comes in on average,” Andy said. “In the six years I’ve been doing this, over $777,000 worth of food has been donated.”

The food’s value doesn’t escape the notice of the Mission’s clients, either.

"Often, as I’m taking the food into the Mission, the guys will say, ‘Wow, I could never afford to eat at Starbucks or Panera, and now we’re having it,’” Andy said.

The food pickups aren’t the only way in which Andy is involved in serving people in need. Each Saturday, he drives to Memphis Union Mission’s Calvary Colony facility to meet with a small group of men who are enrolled in the Mission’s recovery program.

He leads a Bible study with the men and helps them grow in their walk with the Lord. And once the men in his group graduate and move on, Andy continues to stay in contact with the men to encourage them.

For Andy, whether it’s ministering to the men in recovery or dropping off food, it’s ultimately about serving others in Christ’s name.

“The Bible says, ‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mind, you did for me’” Andy said. “And when I lay my head down at night, I can do so knowing that I was able to feed someone who was hungry.”

We certainly appreciate everything Andy does for the men we serve, and that is why he was our July Volunteer of the Month. Please join us in thanking him for his hard work, commitment, and faithfulness!

Note: Andy operates Manna from Heaven out of his own pocket; if you are interested in helping him, you can contact him at (901) 212-3029 or at caqicas777@yahoo.com.

Celebrate Recovery Ministry Meets Weekly

If you are a graduate of Memphis Union Mission's Iron-On-Iron program, you are invited to join us for our weekly Celebrate Recovery meetings. They are held every Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. at 600 Poplar Ave.

This is part of Memphis Union Mission's effort to build an after-care program to provide fellowship and accountability to men who've graduated from our long-term recovery program. If you fit this description, we hope to see you there!

For more information, please contact Kenneth Ewalt at (901) 746-8902, ext. 1202.

A Service Opportunity for Men

Hey, men! Are you part of a men’s Bible study or Sunday school class that is looking to reach out to other men and form meaningful relationships?

If so, Memphis Union Mission has a great opportunity for you!

We are inviting men’s groups to consider getting involved with the mentoring program at our Wright Transitional House.

Our goal is to encourage and foster healthy relationships between the men in our transitional program and other mature Christian men.

We are looking to achieve this goal with what we call SERVE AND CONNECT. We’re asking for mature Christian men to come and serve at a Saturday breakfast or at a weekday dinner.

Groups who are interested agree to provide the food, which can be cooked on- or off-site, and serve it to the 26 men who are in the last stage of our recovery and discipleship program. These men are working full time and preparing to transition into the community, so it’s important for them to develop friendships during this critical time.

For more information, please contact Rogers Heffner at (901) 526-8403, ext. 2016.

Memphis Union Mission Partners with Team Max and the Memphis Symphony

Earlier this month, we and our guests enjoyed a special and unusual treat, thanks to Team Max and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra.

Team Max is a group of volunteers that was headed up by Gayle Rose to honor the memory of her son, Max, who lost his life in a car crash three years ago.

Max was a service-minded young man, and the group follows in his steps by serving the community in a variety of creative ways.

On January 3, they honored the three-year anniversary of Max’s passing by serving at the Mission. That evening, Gayle and her team served dinner to our guests. Then, at 7 p.m., our guests and the volunteers walked across the street to our Opportunity Center at 600 Poplar Ave. and enjoyed an outstanding concert by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra and choir performed four pieces, interspersed with readings of Max's poems.

We estimate that over 425 people attended the concert, and the response from our guests that evening was extremely positive.

Thank you, Gayle, Team Max, and Memphis Symphony for making it a really special evening for everyone involved!

U of M Nursing Students Serve at Memphis Union Mission

Every few weeks, the lobby of Memphis Union Mission's Emergency Shelter at 383 Poplar Ave. is aswarm with people donning blue and white coats.

The coats are worn by students and faculty from the University of Memphis School of Nursing, who are enrolled in the school's community health class.

Students enrolled in the class get practical experience in community health through various community service projects, and Memphis Union Mission is one of the places that they visit on a regular basis.

Joy Ellen Hoffman is a clinical assistant proffessor at the nursing school and is part of the team that organizes the trips to Memphis Union Mission.

"When I bring them down here, they are terrified," says Hoffman. "Many have never been to a place like this and don't know what to expect."

But after the visits, students are often pleasantly surprised about their visit to the Mission and their encounter with the homeless guests there.

"They comment about how clean everything was and how nice the men were," says Hoffman. "It really takes away their fears about serving the homeless community."

It's a partnership that has lasted for several years, with students providing services like blood pressure and eye screenings and serving lunch.

On their most recent visit on November 11, the students did a foot clinic. They cleaned guest's feet and helped treat them for basic problems like athletes foot, toenail fungus, corns, and calluses. They also provided referrals for guests with more severe foot problems.

Please join us in thanking the faculty and students from the U of M School of Nursing for their long-standing partnership and for helping Memphis Union Mission to provide comprehensive outreach to our homeless guests!

Local Barbering Program Provides Grooming at Mission

If you were to walk into our Opportunity Center on any Wednesday morning, you could be forgiven for thinking that you had accidentally walked into a barber college.

Every Wednesday, from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., the Tennessee Technology Center’s barbering program sets up shop at the Mission’s facility at 600 Poplar Ave. to provide free haircuts to anyone in need.

The free haircuts are part of a long-standing partnership between the school and Memphis Union Mission, one that began in 1999.

“The program itself began as part of the Convoy of Hope,” said Ernestine Peete, senior barber instructor. “A bunch of churches got together to make a difference, and we were asked to help by providing the haircuts.”

At about the same time, some students at the school were having a difficult time completing their course work because they didn’t have enough clients.

Ernestine suggested that they walk along Poplar Avenue seeking clients. As the word got out, lines of people would form outside the school’s doors at 5 a.m.

“That was overwhelming,” said Peete. So she talked with Memphis Union Mission and other local homeless service providers about setting up a remote barber shop at their locations.

At first, the school set up shop every other week at Memphis Union Mission’s shelter at 383 Poplar Ave. But now that the Mission has opened up the new Opportunity Center, and has more room in which to work, the school sets up shop there every Wednesday to provide the free haircuts.

For the school and for Memphis Union Mission, the partnership has been mutually beneficial by providing practical training for students and a real ministry opportunity for the Mission.

“It’s a win-win for everyone; it’s now a part of our curriculum,” says Peete. “We’re helping the community and the community is helping us.”

Moreover, several Memphis Union Mission program clients have gone through the school’s barbering program.

“We look at the Mission as if they’re family,” she said.

Please join us in thanking Ernestine and her students at Tennessee Technology Center for providing such a meaningful service to our guests!