Gospel Mission saved Tri-Cities woman’s life. Now recovered addict is returning the favor
Two years ago Diane Alaniz Anzar found herself with nowhere to go but a Tri-Cities homeless shelter.
Today, thanks to the support she found there and along the way, her life is vibrant.
Alaniz Anzar hopes her story will help community members see just how much of a difference a new women’s shelter will make.
The Tri-City Union Gospel Mission has raised about $4 million of the $9.5 million needed to build its new women and children’s shelter in Kennewick. It will replace the cramped, 100-plus-year-old building in downtown Pasco.
Alaniz Anzar ended up there two years ago when she had nowhere else to go and was in need of a safe place to maintain her sobriety.
She says the mission not only helped her secure her path to recovery from addiction, but also gave her a whole new life.
Aging shelter
The first time she spoke to the Tri-City Herald in 2023, she was living at the aging Pasco shelter excited to advocate for a new facility. She said every day was filled with small miracles, helping her to rebuild her life.
Those blessings have continued.
Today she’s getting ready to make the transition from a small studio apartment in supportive housing in downtown Kennewick to an apartment of her own.
She said that wouldn’t have been possible without the mission helping her hold herself accountable.
“They really expect us to succeed, that’s why their life programs are so important,” she said. “That’s why I want to help fundraise, so I’m able to let the public know that recovery works here in Tri-Cities.”
Getting into the new apartment also means having the stability she needs to be able to get surgery for injuries that have caused her pain for decades.
While she works to take her recovery one day at a time, Alaniz Anzar reminds herself that these days, “change is good, and it wasn’t in the past.”
She hopes that a new shelter will mean many more women in the Tri-Cities can receive the same opportunities to better their lives.
Alaniz Anzar is part of the shelter’s case management program, which allows for stays of up to two years. Due to the space constraints though, they don’t have a place for the classes available at the men’s shelter or individual rooms.
Alaniz Anzar said that shelter staff and community support groups have helped her along a path that is similar to UGM’s New Life recovery program at the men’s shelter.
The New Life program focuses on faith-centered recovery and long-term success by addressing spiritual, physical and mental health needs.
Participants also learn to build skills for successful living and managing their lives.
That’s why it’s so important to her that the new women’s shelter gets built, so they can have the space to expand programs and help more women.
When Alaniz Anzar was staying at the shelter, she slept in a bunk bed in a room with several others.
The age and condition of the old shelter seriously limits the number of women and children it can serve in Pasco. It doesn’t have enough space for separate rooms for women with children either.
It also has electrical and plumbing problems and no place for children to play outside.
That kind of environment can make it hard to focus or relax, in addition to the stress that comes with homelessness. As part of the case management program she could have stayed in the shelter for up to two years.
Thanks to community partnerships, she was able to get into a place of her own much sooner.
Rescue, recovery, restoration
Her journey is a prime example of Union Gospel Mission’s “Rescue, Recovery, Restoration” motto.
“Our programs help to create long-term success by dealing with the underlying issues that caused someone to become homeless,” the Gospel Mission’s Executive Director Andrew Porter told the Herald in an email.
For Alaniz Anzar, that meant first finding a safe place to live where she didn’t have to worry about other people drinking or using drugs. Then she worked to get into a 12-step recovery program and counseling, started learning healthier coping mechanisms and connecting more deeply with her faith.
Eventually Alaniz Anzar was able to get into Benton-Franklin Community Action Committee’s supportive housing program.
She doesn’t have a lot of space in her studio apartment, but she’s made every inch of it her own.
The walls are covered in bright, colorful — and often sparkly — art, as well as Bible verses and sayings to help remind her to keep moving forward.
She said it means the world to her that she was able to get into the mission, learn what she needed to survive and get into a residential program.
What helped the most was having people who believed that she was worthy of love and help.
“It feels like you’re trusted and somebody believes in you, they really believe in you and you can feel it in your heart,” she said. “The mission saved my life, there are a lot of people like me. There are a lot of people that need help. The mission gave me a life I never thought I could have.”
She’s also working on becoming a peer recovery specialist, to help others on their journey toward recovery.
“Having somebody there for me, believing in me, it makes a big difference,” she said. “It taught me to be a lot kinder, a lot humbler, a lot more open minded and mindful of others. Just having more empathy and compassion.”
New women & children’s shelter
Porter recently told the Herald that while the men’s shelter has plenty of room, finding space for women and children can be a challenge, especially mothers with kids.
The new shelter is planned to come in at around 23,000-square-feet with room for up to 60 long-term beds. Not only will it function as an emergency shelter, but it will have apartments equipped for stays up to two years.
They’ll also have classroom and job training space, room for counselors and indoor and outdoor play areas for children.
The location, near the Toyota Center, also will provide easy access to the Three Rivers Transit Center and plenty of nearby jobs.
It will also have a lot more room. In winter when temperatures dip below freezing, the men’s shelter is able to use common spaces, such as their chapel, for overflow shelter and remain open during the day for people to come in and get warm.
The 40,000-square-foot men’s shelter opened in 2018 at 221 S. 4th Ave. in Pasco. It cost about $9 million at the time.
The women’s shelter is nearby at 110 N. 2nd Ave., next to the old men’s facility. That building is now home to Grace Collective, former Grace Kitchen, a nonprofit that helps women break the cycle of poverty through employment and training.
“We need the community right now. We need so much help ... I just want people to know recovery works, if we work it one day at a time,” she said.
“We don’t want to see people dying out here. We want to see them getting help. There’s a way we can do that, and it’s through the mission.”
To donate or learn more, visit Tri-City Union Gospel Mission’s website.
This story was originally published February 28, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
