The Union Gospel Mission Twin Cities will host a 24-hour live conversation on homelessness, addiction and mental health later this week.
The event, called Conversations on a Bench, is happening at ministries nationwide and will end on World Homeless Day, observed annually on Oct. 10.
Pam Stegora Axberg, the organization’s CEO, will participate in 40 conversations from 2 p.m. Thursday to 2 p.m. Friday on a bench outside the organization’s men’s campus in St. Paul.
Participants will include Ramsey County Attorney John Choi, Ramsey County Commissioner Rena Moran and Melvin Carter, the mayor of St. Paul. Officials from the Minnesota Association for Children’s Mental Health, the Minnesota Wild and Nourish MN, a food bank in St. Paul, also are scheduled to participate.
The conversations will focus on solutions to homelessness, addressing related issues such as addiction and mental health, while highlighting the roles of public, private and nonprofit organizations in driving change.
People can watch a livestream of the conversations on the organization’s Youtube channel and Facebook page.
More than 9,000 people were homeless on a single night in January 2024, according to the Minnesota Interagency Council on Homelessness. The Point-in-Time count is an annual nationwide count of people experiencing sheltered and unsheltered homelessness on a single night in January.
For more information go to ugmtc.org.
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