Daniel's Story

Daniel , who recently launched out of the Christian Life Program came to the Mission in January of 2024. Daniel had lost his job and connection to the people he cared about. This caused him to go on a downward spiral and he experienced a lack of trust, fear, and hopelessness. On top of that he couldn’t hear very well which made him very frustrated when trying to communicate with others. He turned to alcohol to try to help.

Daniel got on a Greyhound bus not knowing where he would end up. He stopped in Kansas City. He heard about City Union Mission from others he met. Something was telling him to go there. He walked through the Men’s Center doors in January of 2024. After talking to the City Union Mission staff, he heard about the different paths for programs. He chose the Christian Life Program path. He joined the Equip program at the Men’s Center and a few weeks later made it the Christian Life Center.

Daniel healed through his past trauma by working with his counselor and supportive community through Biblically oriented trauma recovery process. Daniel came to a critical point in his trauma work that almost caused him to leave the program. Staff lovingly supported him through this challenging time. He decided to stay in the program and move forward. He credited the compassion and the prayers of the staff to help him through that time and help him stay.

Healing through his trauma was a major turning point for him in his recovery process. Now he could fully focus on preparing for work and transitioning into the community. His counselor also helped him on the journey of quitting smoking. He is now smoke free!

Knowing that he greatly struggled with hearing, staff shared resources to help him get hearing aids. He was amazed that he could hear everybody clearly and his stress around communicating with others went away. He also got a grant from a community resource to get dentures. He is now confident in expressing his joy through his smile. Those two things helped him boost his image of himself. 

He decided to follow Jesus earlier in his life. While in the program he rededicated his life to Jesus Christ and decided to live a Christian lifestyle. He was able to conquer his addiction to alcohol. He got baptized at Summit Point Church, his supportive community.

His license was suspended prior to coming to the program. Program funds helped him pay for SATOP and he was able to get his driver’s license back! He applied for a car through the City Union Mission’s Car Program. He received a car and now he can drive to school, training, work, and church. The Vocational Team helped Daniel build his resume, participate in mock interviewing, figure out his career path and connect him to MCC Pen Valley for training. He took classes at MCC Pen Valley and completed eight-week welding courses. He applied for a living wage job at KC Track using his welding training and experience to fix rail cars and he got it. He has received two raises since getting hired.

Mainstreet Bank and other financial institutions came in to do seminars with the CLP participants. Daniel benefited from learning how to build his credit and now he has a financial plan in place to maintain his budget, build credit, and pay off debt!

In August, He moved out into permanent housing, an apartment in downtown Kansas City. He is staying in contact with his CLP case manager for encouragement in this transition of his life.