'We have restored hope'
Bub St. Peter and Buffy Arno, volunteers with the Union Gospel Mission Center for Women and Children in Coeur d'Alene, take part in UGM's 10th anniversary celebration Thursday night.
Anjelique Pennington, right, hugs JoAnn Zajicek, UGM center director in Coeur d'Alene, during the organization's 10-year celebration Thursday night.
JoAnn Zajicek, director of the Union Gospel Mission Center for Women and Children in Coeur d'Alene, and Phil Altmeyer, UGM executive director, try to break open pinatas during UGM's 10-year celebration Thursday night.
Bub St. Peter speaks during the UGM Center for Women and Children celebration in Coeur d'Alene on Thursday.
COEUR d’ALENE — Bub St. Peter, at 90, is the oldest volunteer with Union Gospel Mission in Coeur d’Alene.
He has no plans to quit.
“If I didn’t have this, I wouldn’t have much of anything,” he said Thursday night. “I have so much fun here. I don’t know if these kids have as much fun as I do," he added as the crowd laughed.
St. Peter has been helping at UGM for six years. Being part of the team has been wonderful, he said.
“I can’t tell you how much I love all of you,” he said.
The UGM Center for Women and Children in Coeur d’Alene celebrated 10 years with dinner, a party, prizes and testimonies from staff and residents at its Haycraft Avenue headquarters.
Smiles, laughs and plenty of prayer filled the chapel, where about 200 people were gathered.
The nonprofit's impact was spelled out.
In the past decade, an average of 76 women per year have participated in its residential recovery program and an average of 47 children per year have lived at UGM.
The center has served over 367,000 meals and provided over 11,000 counseling hours to women and children.
It was estimated that volunteers have saved UGM about $4 million in the past 10 years.
JoAnn Zajicek, center director, said they help residents overcome homelessness, addiction and abuse and set them on a course to reclaim their lives — with God leading their way.
She credited the many volunteers who have stepped up over the years, raised their hands and said, “pick me.”
“Together, we have restored hope,” she said. “We have changed lives. We have impacted the next generation.”
Today, UGM Center for Women and Children has more than 200 volunteers.
"Without you, none of this could happen,” Zajicek said.
Anjelique Pennington was one of the first residents to come to the UGM building when it opened. She said she was homeless, discouraged and broken, facing many challenges and had to leave her children with relatives.
"Turning to UGM was one of the hardest decisions I made," Pennington said, "but also the best."
By working with mentors, taking classes, learning new skills, through counseling and by praying, Pennington said UGM gave her hope, taught her to be a “God-dependent woman” and built her confidence.
Today, she works there as a resident assistant.
“This program has changed my life,” she said.
Phil Altmeyer, UGM executive director, said the center has come far in 10 years. When it opened, it had a staff of about 10. Today it has 25, and nine of those started as volunteers.
Last year, it celebrated the renovation of its 12 apartment units in Coeur d’Alene.
“To know that people in this community believed in this place and gave sacrificially, and because of that, wow,” he said.
Altmeyer said a strong team of volunteers has made a big difference at UGM. Many, he said, responded to God’s call to serve.
“That’s why we’re able to do what we do," he said.
UGM’s residents are aware volunteers don’t have to be there, Altmeyer said.
“They know you’re here because you love and care for them, and that is such a powerful message," he said.
