Written by Cathy Gripka | The Star
Photograph by Katherine Vescovo | The Star

The Rev. Dan Doty, executive director of the City Union Mission, said he has a hard time talking about many of the people who have come to the mission without tell-tale watering eyes and a lump in his throat. Still, he loves to tell the stories he’s accumulated in his 25 years there. He admitted that any story about his career will end up being a story about the mission. The City Union Mission’s men’s shelter at 1108 E. 10th St. is across from the administrative offices at 1100 E. 11th St.

Doty, who came to the mission as a young staff member in the late 1970s, said his youth was very different from that of many of the people he now helps. He grew up in a small town in Michigan, where he had a sheltered life with loving parents.

"We didn’t even hear the word ‘homeless’ there. It just wasn’t something we were familiar with," he said.

His life was changed forever, though, when he moved to Chicago to attend a Bible college located next to one of the city’s poorest housing projects.

"So here’s this kid walking past these large groups of men huddled over 50-gallon drums, burning whatever they could find to keep warm. It was a whole new world to me," he said. "So I guess for me it all started when I got to know these men, and found out they had first names, mothers and fathers, skills and stories, and I fell in love with them - I realized then what I wanted to do. Our church worked with the City Union Mission, so I came to Kansas City and asked for a job at the mission under Rev. Maurice Vandenberg."

He said the mission was doing poorly at the time, with little money for staff, but he got the job. That was nearly 30 years ago.

"I stayed because I discovered that these people were just like me, except I had the benefit of wonderful parents who taught me right from wrong, who made sure I had skills, and prepared me for life. So now, at the mission, that’s why we feel it’s so important that we go back to the beginning to give these people support, a sense of value and a sense that somebody cares. We work with them on life skills and on getting along with a group."

Doty said one of his current favorite stories is about a man named Johnny.

"He was typical of the men we see here - he did a lot of drugs while growing up, and spent the first 30 years of his life going nowhere," he said. "He was in and out of our long-term program - he went through the program four or five times, and each time he’d get hold of his life, get some hope, and then he’d be gone and we wouldn’t see him for a while.

Johnny had eventually gone back to his old neighborhood where he found himself in the middle of a drug deal gone bad," Doty said.

"He was shot point-blank in the back with a shotgun," Doty said. "He was in very bad condition with no insurance. He was eventually released to City Union Mission where our nurses and infirmary staff took care of him. But on the weekends when the staff was gone the men in our long-term program would come down to see the patients. And that was a turning point for Johnny. He can’t tell the story without tearing up, and I can’t either. Johnny said those men, once down-and-out and homeless, who had come to the mission for help, would take the gauze out of the holes in his back, clean his wounds and take care of him."

"Johnny said to me, with tears in his eyes, that ‘men don’t often do that for people.’ Experiencing that kind of care ended his old life. Now he’s involved in a new life, and has turned things around for good."

The executive director of the 82-year old shelter in downtown Kansas City said he has one crucial message about the mission.

"What is important here is that we all realize that every one of these people has a name, a story - they’re real people just like you and me," he said. "And I wish I could say that the need for the mission would end - that we could close the doors because we aren’t needed anymore. But instead I have to say the need continues to grow."

The mission recently began a capital campaign, Building the Walls That Rebuild Lives, focused on meeting the increasing demand for services. In 2005, the mission provided about 292,000 meals for the hungry and more than 127,000 beds for the homeless. Many were turned away because there was no place to put them, Doty said. Most of the mission’s support comes from donors who give $15 to $25, he said.

"We don’t get government or United Way support," he said. "Just individuals, churches, and businesses who care."

All financial and material donations are tax-deductible, he said.

For information about the City Union Mission, including ways to donate or support the mission, click here or call (816) 474-9380.

City Union Mission would like to thank the following individuals and Kansas City Area Cadillac Dealerships for making this article possible in the Kansas City Star:

Superior Cadillac
James Jackson
1151 West 104th Street, Kansas City, MO 64114
816.942.7100

Major Cadillac
Jim Henderson
John Major
3200 Main Street, Kansas City, MO 64111
816.756.3300

Broome Cadillac
David Clutts
Paul Broome
11911 East Hwy 40, Independence, MO 64055
816.358.2500

Van Cadillac
Michael Margolin
100 North West Vivion Road, Kansas City, MO 64118
816.454.6666