History

The Beginning
Union Mission, Inc, began in 1936 as a part of Savannah's religious response to the Great Depression of the 1930's. Originally located on Liberty Street, Union Mission offered food, shelter, religious education and worship opportunities to those who sought refuge there. In the 1960's, the shelter operation closed and Union Mission founded Savannah Christian School. In the late 1970's, the organization reclaimed it's commitment to homeless persons by opening Potter's Place, Savannah's only long term residential community for substance abusers.

The Past
In the 1980's, Mr. J.C. Lewis, Jr. approached Union Mission and formed a partnership to open Grace House, a shelter for homeless men. The 1990's was a time of tremendous growth for Union Mission with the opening of Magdalene Project for homeless families with children, again in partnership with Mr. Lewis, and The Phoenix Project for AIDS - impacted homeless persons. The Employment & Training Center was implemented to place all of Savannah's able bodied homeless people in jobs.  The J.C. Lewis Health Care Center opened to serve the indigent, uninsured, and homeless populations with primary & respite health care needs.  With many programs added in the 90's, this decade follows much the same.  In 2001 The Starfish Cafe became a culinary arts training program in partnership with Savannah Technical College; the course counts as college credits and most graduates are placed in jobs in the culinary field upon graduation.  The Savannah Area Behavioral Health Collaborative (SABHC) also actualized in 2001 gaining state contracts to provide services first in Substance Abuse and now including Mental Health and Dual Diagnosis.  Housing services developed housing options for almost 1,000 people each night and still contines to expand.

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