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Arizona State University

Final Paper: Civic Engagement, Identity, and Group Mobilization

Yakima Union Gospel Mission’s Civic Engagement

Alexander Euteneuer

PAF 112

Eileen Eisen-Cohen

12/8/2020
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Alexander Euteneuer

Dr. Eisen-Cohen

PAF 112

12/8/2020

Yakima Union Gospel Mission’s Civic Engagement

According to the USDA food insecurity is defined as “lacking of consistent access to

enough food for an active, healthy life.” (1) Food insecurity is a staple problem within the greater

Yakima Valley area not only with homeless residents, but also with the Hispanic population. The

Yakima Union Gospel Mission (YUGM) is a non-profit that was established in 1936 in Yakima,

Washington to help curb the issues both poor and homeless people deal with within the region.

(3) While this organization is specialized within the scope of helping this population go from

homelessness to wholeness, it also provides many services that are relevant to the issue of food

security. In this paper I will analyze how this organization uses its identity, social capital, and

social engagement to inspire change within our local establishment.

YUGM is, first and foremost, a religious organization that models its practices after

Christian values. According to their website, “YUGM is dedicated to serving men, women and

children experiencing homelessness with the compassion of Christ. We provide emergency,

preventative, recovery, and transitional services.” This kind of identity is helping YUGM to

extend a bridge to both donors, who are of the Christian identity and are willing to donate based

on shared values, and the homeless, who are looking for a stable environment and can find

comfort within a new social capital group of Christians. This type of Identity is an immensely

powerful connector as this connection has incredibly positive correlations not only with group
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participation but also being more psychologically sound and having a greater sense of life

satisfaction. (4) YUGM uses these identities to create extensive social capital.

YUGM is extremely active within our community, which leads to the creation of an

extensive social capital. With the beginning of 2020 bringing a global pandemic, they had to get

even more creative with the outreach to extend their social capital. What was once primarily a

face-to-face meeting with an employee of the organization has turned almost completely virtual.

Facebook, Zoom, and a concise email chain are all tools that are being used to keep both

members and hopeful volunteers stay connected during this unusual time. The usual food drive

that used to be done in person transitioned to a virtual donation service where a $2.07 donation

turned into one meal for a hungry person who uses YUGM (3). YUGM has also leveraged its

community standing into being able to purchase a second thrift store where the proceeds go

directly to make the organization better equipped to serve. An example of this is the hiring of

their first on staff physician. The social capital also extends to other organizations through the

region, such as Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences (PNWU) who requires its

student doctors to volunteer at the clinic under the supervision of a physician (5), Starbucks who

donates its leftover food to YUGM’s system of food shelves, and Yakima Virginia Mason

Memorial Hospital who not only has donated more than $235,000 but also offers free lab,

imaging, and other medical services for YUGM patients as needed (6). This shows that this

organization is engrained within this community and the community deservedly embraces being

a part of YUGM’s social capital and in turn leverages this capital into action.

YUGM is engaged both socially and politically within the greater Yakima valley area to

directly improve the lives of hundreds and indirectly the entire population of Yakima. Being a

pillar within the community comes with some huge benefits. Using the social capital already
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established, volunteers and employees are at the core of what YUGM does. These mobilized

volunteers and employees provide a myriad of services including: emergency services for both

physical and mental issues, meals that are served every day of the year, the New Life Recovery

Program which works with homelessness and addiction based problems, family shelter which

provides food, shelter, clothing among other services for families in need, the Bridge program

with helps build skills with the help of a case manager to reintegrate with society, vocational

education, dental care without insurance, medical care in which the medical volunteers serves

over 11,000 patients per year, Madison House Youth Center which gives children sanctuary from

gang activity, poverty, and substance abuse. These services have evolved in response to the ever

growing gap in federal services. YUGM puts an emphasis on mental health as the government

has shifted away from inpatient care in favor of halfway houses or private institutions for people

struggling with addiction or mental health issues. With the deinstitutionalization of mental health

hospitals after the Community Mental Health Centers Act of 1963, YUGM stepped up and

became both an advocate for this population and a resource for those who have been forgotten

and left behind by the federal government (7). While it is unclear if COVID-19 has anything to

do with the Washington government failing to pass 11 bills that would directly help this

population, it is not for lack of trying on organizations such as YUGM (8). This inaction by the

state government solidifies that they do not care about this most vulnerable population and want

to just forget about them.

To conclude, YUGM uses its identity, social capital, and social engagement to inspire

change within our local establishment. YUGM has solidified itself to become a pillar of the

Yakima community by showing through its actions that it genuinely cares about the entire

community, not just the homeless. Through the services provided, the people influenced by this
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organization will both make society better and better equipped to face the precariousness that

faces us as we look to the future.

Works Cited

1. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-

us/definitions-of-food-security.aspx

2. https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/99289/ap-084.pdf?v=372.7

3. https://www.yugm.org/

4. Greenfield, Emily A, and Nadine F Marks. “Religious Social Identity as an

Explanatory Factor for Associations between More Frequent Formal Religious

Participation and Psychological Well-Being.” The International journal for the

psychology of religion vol. 17,3 (2007): 245-259.

doi:10.1080/10508610701402309

5. https://www.pnwu.edu/inside-pnwu/college-osteopathic-medicine/academic-

departments/student-affairs/student-activities/union-gospel-mission-ugm

6. https://www.yakimamemorial.org/pdf/about/community-hna-2019.pdf

7. https://www.uniteforsight.org/mental-health/module2

8. https://www.ncsl.org/research/human-services/housing-and-homelessness-

legislation.aspx