You changed his life.
Krystian-Nathan couldn’t have prepared himself to lose everything. . .
The knock on the car window came on a Sunday morning.
Krystian-Nathan had been living in a privately rented vehicle for two and a half months. At night, he’d look for a place to park, pop back his driver’s side seat and curl up. And in the morning,
he’d start picking up as many food delivery jobs as he could.
For Krystian-Nathan, a car meant warmth. Safety. Income.
All that was lost when the car owner came tapping on the window, needing to take the vehicle back. What am I doing now? Krystian-Nathan thought.
“I was scared. Frightened. I didn’t know what was going to happen to me. I probably wouldn’t have
survived the night.”
Krystian-Nathan never planned to live in a car. But a sudden job loss turned life on its head. “I lost my way to make ends meet,” says Krystian-Nathan. He asked multiple family members if they could take him in temporarily. Everyone said no.
Krystian-Nathan thought he was out of options. But the car owner gave Krystian-Nathan an address: Central Union Mission. “This person even paid for an Uber. And it brought me here,” he says.
What Krystian-Nathan discovered inside the Mission’s doors changed everything.
MORE THAN SHELTER
Growing up, he’d built walls around his heart to protect himself from an abusive father. “I didn’t feel like I was a person,” he says. “But here, I was loved. I was a person. I felt worthy.”
After just a weekend at the men’s shelter, Krystian Nathan started volunteering in the kitchen.
“You’re giving me a bed, good food, somewhere to be all day. I want to give back,” he says. That simple act opened doors: introductions to mentors, discipleship and the Fresh Start Program.
Now, ten months later, Krystian-Nathan meets weekly with a counselor. He participates in workforce development, building his resume and participating in mock interviews. He dives into the Bible daily with other men. And he’s working toward independent housing, ensuring he never returns to sleeping in a car.
“The Mission is food. It’s shelter,” Krystian-Nathan reflects. “But it’s also much more. Without Central Union Mission, I wouldn’t be alive. I found belonging. I found a home. I found peace. I found love. I found Jesus.”
To the partners who make this work possible, Krystian Nathan gives his gratitude. “Thank you. Without you, the Mission wouldn’t be here. God bless you, because you’re blessing me.”