Welcome Home. Here, Us, Now.
A space for all of us seeking what's real and sacred in a world that rushes past the soul.
Welcome Home. Here, Us, Now.
Kellye Oakman Shares How Community Helped Her Stay Sober And Start Over
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We talk with Kelly Oakman, supervisor of the Union Gospel Mission of Tarrant County food pantry, about what it takes to run a high-volume pantry receiving donations from partners like Target, Trader Joe’s, USDA, and local food banks, and why organization is more than neatness. For neighbors facing homelessness, addiction recovery, and the stress of starting over, order can be a kind of dignity.
Welcome And Guest Introduction
SPEAKER_02Welcome home, Hear Us Now, a podcast of the Union Gospel Mission of Tarrant County, a space for all of us seeking what's real and sacred in a world that rushes past the soul. I'm Eric Engelman, a volunteer at UGMTC, and your co-host, president and CEO of UGMTC, Charles Wolford. Well, this is Eric here, and next to me is a lady that takes care of our food pantry at Union Gospel Mission. Her name is Kelly Oakman. Good morning, Kelly. There we go. Welcome. And across the room from me is my wonderful co-host, Charles Wolford.
SPEAKER_01Eric, my friend, good to see you as always. I shouldn't have said president and CEO. You know, I answer just about anything nowadays. You know, you can you can call me a Chucky Booker, and I think I would actually respond to Chucky Book. I don't know what a Chucky Booker is. I don't either.
SPEAKER_00Okay, let's a new one for me.
SPEAKER_01So Chucky Booker actually was um instrumental in kind of this wave of music that was, you know, this this this kind of funky, it wasn't jazz, it wasn't RB, uh, but he was kind of the father of this what kind of this funky groove. So his name is Chucky Booker.
SPEAKER_00Oh, that's cool.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. So he's actually an artist. Yeah. Uh there's a there's a whole little subset of genre of music that uh was almost kind of house music, and you listen to Chucky Booker. Look him up when you get a chance.
SPEAKER_00I definitely will. Yeah, yes.
SPEAKER_01Well, Kelly, thank you so much for agreeing to be a part of the Welcome Home podcast. As we've shared, I enjoyed my time with you and your uh sharing with us when we had our conversations on the bench back in October. I can't believe it. That's now March of 2026. Um and here we are, uh had that conversation almost uh five or six months ago. So thank you for joining and agreeing to be on this podcast.
SPEAKER_00Yes, thank you so much for having me.
SPEAKER_01Tell us a little bit about what you're currently doing in the work at Union Gospel Mission, and you can back into that kind of your history
Running A High Volume Food Pantry
SPEAKER_01here. We know that you've been successful at several different jobs and roles here at Union Gospel. Tell us a little bit about your journey, if you don't mind.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Um so I currently am the supervisor of the food pantry. It's different than the kitchen, it's where we receive all the incoming food donations. They come from all different locations. You know, we get some from Target and our local food banks and whatnot. So yeah, I work with a team of skill builders who are residents. And yeah, we help organize the food pantry and get the food ready for the kitchen and also send out food to other organizations to help feed our community as well.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Well, I must say this, and I I I tell you as often as I can when I come into the food pantry how amazing it looks. So you have done an amazing job of organizing it and making it look it's it's almost as if you're walking into a Trader Joe's or some organized groceries because she's done such an amazing job. So thank you again for your detail and what you've done with the food pantry. So you've done an amazing job.
SPEAKER_00Yes, thank you so much. Yeah, it's a lot of organizing. I'm a professional organizer.
SPEAKER_01You're professional, or I like that. It's almost like a Martha Stewart kind of role, but you've done a great job. So again, thank you. Yeah, and there's a marked difference from where it was to where it is now. So you should be very proud of that success. So where were you prior to uh starting the work at the food pantry? You had another assignment here at UGM as well, correct?
SPEAKER_00Yes. So I originally when I started employment here at UGM was in our in the COC in the warehouse where we uh received clothes and furniture.
SPEAKER_01Okay.
SPEAKER_00And all of that. Yeah. That's where I started.
SPEAKER_01You've been boots on the ground from day one, huh? So you do have this knack for organizing because even when you were in the warehouse, I think uh we saw some marked difference of you being able to get in and and and make a difference there. And so how long have you been at UGM now?
SPEAKER_00May will be two years.
SPEAKER_01Amazing. Amazing.
SPEAKER_02God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind, and somehow organizing helps cultivate the things that God does inside people. Absolutely. So it's uh it's nice when you come in and you can receive a sense of not just organized but calm. Yeah. A calm organization.
SPEAKER_00Yes, absolutely.
SPEAKER_02That's that's great.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, mess can bring anxiety for sure. So and I also want to make sure that the best things are utilized and available for our residents and for our people. You know, I I just want them to get the best stuff. You know, I really want to make sure that we've taken the time to hand pick the things that are available for them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it makes a difference. And let me give you k now, this is gonna be a wow moment for us all listening, but also for just context. We receive over 760,000 pounds of food every year. And so the management of that is no small feat. So you're managing a lot of product that's coming in, and you mentioned a couple of partners, so we can give them a a little bit of shout-out while we're here on the podcast. So Trader Joe's is an amazing partner with us. Uh name some of the other ones you're saying. I think some of the Target Target is another major partner.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, those are the two consistent ones. Um, and then we have USDA.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely.
SPEAKER_00You know, we've received things from Dairy Queen, all all kinds of entities, organizations. We had a trucker the other day who was delivering food. I don't know exactly who he worked for, but he had an extra pallet of bananas. Wow. Just brought them on over. There you go. You know, people are always bringing us.
SPEAKER_01And that turns into some great banana nut bread. You can't have and you gotta do it quick. You have to do it quick. That's right. You have to turn it. Yep. And and just by note, uh one of our other major partners who helps coordinate with Trader Joe's and Target is the Terran Area Food Bank. So great shout out to them as well. So uh Kelly, where were you before you arrived at Union Gospel Mission?
From Homelessness To The Program
SPEAKER_00You mean like as when I got here as a resident?
SPEAKER_01As a resident. Tell us a little bit about that journey.
SPEAKER_00So before I worked at UGM, I was a resident of our program. Um and then before I arrived at UGM, I was homeless myself. I found UGM through Pine Street, which is a rehab. So I I struggled with substance abuse, and that led me into homelessness and losing almost everything that I had. So yes, I found UGM, and that was the beginning of the rest of my life, I suppose.
SPEAKER_01The rest of your life has seems to be absolutely amazing.
SPEAKER_00Yes, UGM has been incredible for me. I I never expected to work here. Um, you know, I I had no idea what was in store for me when I came here, but it's been incredible.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah and really helped meet a lot of my needs that felt impossible at at one time, you know. Like when you're starting over, there's so much in front of you and so much that you need to accomplish to reintegrate into society. It can be very overwhelming. Sure. And UGM really bridged some of those gaps of things that I thought I would would be impossible, just simple things like getting an apartment, you know, getting a car, things like that, you know. Um yeah, I just I'm I'm so grateful.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, we're we're grateful to you as well. So if we he's he's needing another applause button. So uh tell us a little bit about your uh uh your your season of sobriety.
Addiction Roots And Turning Point
SPEAKER_01What's your sober uh journey now? How long have you been sober?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so March 30th of this year um we'll make three years.
SPEAKER_01There you go. Congratulations for the years of sobriety. How beautiful is that. Part of that is heaven applause then. There we go. Well well, thank you again for sharing that. And let's just unpack that because the the journey towards sobriety is not an easy journey. And so if you don't mind, share a little bit about that. How that you went to Pine Street and you know, what's that been like for you and how you've maintained your sobriety?
SPEAKER_00I'm from the area and I grew up as a very dedicated athlete and soccer player.
SPEAKER_01Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00Um so that's what I did my whole life. Really? My parents had me at the highest level of athletics that you can be in, very dedicated, and then I went to college and played soccer.
SPEAKER_01Okay. Really? So you were soccer playing in college?
SPEAKER_00Yes, at Oral Roberts. Really?
SPEAKER_01In Oklahoma. In Tulsa. All right, wonderful.
SPEAKER_00While I was there during my time at school, just a lot of adversity came my way, um, a lot of different things. I got sick with an autoimmune disorder, lupus. My parents um split up. Um I ended up tearing my ACL. And then I also began, you know, dabbling and using drugs and experimenting and partying, and then eventually got hooked on prescription drugs when I tore my ACL. Okay. And so just in a span of a few years when I got to college, a lot of things happened in a in a short amount of time, and I kind of just lost my identity. I didn't have my family to lean back on anymore. I was just very lost. I didn't know where to go. And so I ended up uh dropping out of school in my junior year and was hooked on prescription pills and was really doing all whatever was available to me. And then I ended up moving back home to Texas and I had no direction. You know, I had played soccer for 16 years, wasn't doing that anymore. My parents sold my childhood home, and now I was just living with my mom. You know, my dad completely had gone out of my life at this point. Everything was just different. I had no direction. And so that just led to me inviting in the wrong friends. I was just working and not doing anything else productive. And so in the evenings I was just drinking and partying almost every night. And that turned into heroin use eventually. I met the wrong person, and that led into Ivy heroin use. And then that's when um my family was like, we cannot have this in our house, and they basically or my mom was like, I can't have this in my house. You need to go figure this out on your own, basically. And then that led me into almost a decade of using heroin and all kinds of drugs, moving states, you know, doing everything to try and get sober, going to treatment multiple times. Eventually, I had a moment of clarity and ended up here at Pine Street.
SPEAKER_01Wow.
SPEAKER_00And then at here at UGM. And things have um yeah, I've been really blessed, you know. I've just tried to do all the right things and everything has worked out.
SPEAKER_01Wow. Well, thank you for sharing that. That's a lot to unpack. Wow.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, the way my sister describes it is you've lived a lot of life, you know, like I just turned 30, but I feel like I've lived a lot of life in a short amount of time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, some of it you don't want to replay either.
SPEAKER_00Right, yeah.
SPEAKER_02So in that in the moment of clarity, what did God say to you that changed your life?
SPEAKER_00It really was um deciding that like I knew God loved me, but I didn't love myself. And I realized that you know nobody was gonna come and save me, and I already knew how bad it was. I just needed to give myself a chance. I was like, I care about myself enough that I'm gonna at least give this one more try, get clean. And I also had some incredible people around me that were encouraging me. Like when I didn't love myself, God brought in some incredible people that loved on me. And I was like, okay, well, maybe I am great. You know, these people are telling me I have good things, you know, I have potential, maybe I do have potential, and I just gave it a shot. Yeah, but I I think I think God the way that God speaks to me the most is through other people, and I think that God put people around me.
SPEAKER_01What a blessing. Thank you for that sharing that. And let's talk through so uh you know, oftentimes in journeys of sobriety, it gives us an opportunity to share with others our journey of sobriety. So I know that you get a chance to meet with a lot of our neighbors that come in that are either working in the pantry alongside you. Do you what's that been like for you with as a transferral of your uh your journey and being able to be an instrument? Seems like some wonderful people came alongside you. How has that been for you coming alongside others who are on our journey of sobriety?
SPEAKER_00It's been great. I really enjoy that. And like you say, I've had the people in my life that encouraged and supported me, so I just want to be that for somebody else. Because I know that I would not be in the place that I'm at without that just like subversive love. It just it might not even make any sense, but you know, like people just loved and believed into me. And so I want to do that too. I just want to treat them like I would anybody else, you know, just make them feel welcomed, let them know I've gone through this too, you can do this too. Um it's great though. I've had a lot of wonderful experiences. Like you can definitely see almost like a relief. Like when I tell my skill builders, like, this is where I've come from, you know, I've done this program. And they it's almost like they're like, oh, okay, people people are doing this, you know, like people are getting out of this and it's working out, you know. Because it's hard to see.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00It is so hard to see, like when you initially get here, it's like there's just so much in front of you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. You are very much a walking testimony for many of them because they may see themselves at that place where you know addiction is ravaging their life, they may have lost everything, but to see your story live and in living color is very hopeful. I mean, you you exude that and and and we're grateful to your testimony and what you're sharing. Um so we if if there is a nugget of information that you could provide to our listeners, Kelly, let's say that there's someone who's struggling with addiction uh and they're listening to this podcast, what would be uh the nugget that or the nuggets that you would share with them about uh how they can go about experience a good journey, one with God, to hear the voice that you heard, but then also to in turn to say there's value in you. What would you say with them, but then also in their journey of sobriety?
Practical Help For Getting Sober
SPEAKER_00There's so much I would say. I need to get the the nugget, like you say, the good nugget. Um well, obviously, I would say there are so many resources in the community. Okay. First of all, MHMR is a great resource. They can get you, like if you're having immediate needs that you need met, MHMR does incredible things. And there are free rehabs, you know, available. Um and then second of all, I would say um 12-step programs like AA and NA, because really for me, I needed to surround myself with people, other people, you know, isolating and being stuck in your own addiction every day. You know, like when you're just getting up and doing drugs every day, all day by yourself or or whatever you're doing, you only are around your own thoughts. And that's not good. You know, like we need other people around us to bounce things off of, to be inspired. And so I would say if if you can at first just surround yourself with with loving people, other people, um, just to get you going.
SPEAKER_01But that really is the trick of the enemy is to get you by yourself and to isolate you, and then give you self-doubt and to talk, you know, just to talk you out of the journey that that God has prepared for you. He wants to get you by yourself and Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00When I really yeah, when I really that's exactly right. And when I reflecting on my journey now, I'm it's so much of it is what other people did for me. So much. Just the acts of kindness and of love and the generosity and the compliments or or anything, you know, it was just so much of that because I had become hopeless, yeah, very low self-esteem, and I I needed that. I needed a reminder that I was worth saving.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely. Any last question or comments that you want to make, Eric? This has been absolutely a blessing to you.
SPEAKER_02Give me your hand. I love you. Thank you so much. Yes, sweet, thank you. The rules change so much from something like soccer, something that's so structured, then life hits and you're not even sure where the field is. You're not even sure what the rules are. Yeah. But telling yourself, again, getting uh I like that, getting locked into just being by yourself is not the solution.
SPEAKER_01That's right. That's
Presence Community And Closing Prayer
SPEAKER_01right. And and and to be quite honest, that's really what the Welcome Home podcast is really about hear us now. And it's about being present. Because our tagline is that oftentimes we live in a world where people just go past the soul and do not take the moment to be present with individuals. So your testimony is really about the presence of God, but then you felt the presence of other people coming alongside you, and and we find that that's the greatest gift that continues to give. Um, although Jesus had 12 disciples, but he had some individuals that are a little bit closer to him, Peter, James, and John. They were a little bit more in an intimate circle with him. And so we want to encourage anyone who may be listening today. God may be whispering to us that there's an opportunity to lean in just a little bit closer to someone that he may have been given an assignment. I was at a conference last week, and one of the catchphrases that really captured me is that are you uh the answer to someone else's prayer? And that's when we stand up and step into a moment where God is calling us, because we never know that we could be the answer to someone's prayer. You uh could be the answer to someone else's prayer. Someone in the pantry who's going through, they may be a skill builder, a resident, and they may not have ever met a Kelly. Uh, because you're a walking testimony. So thank you so much for sharing your story. And I want you to be encouraged that you are the answer to our prayer today because you've blessed us. And you're the answer to so many other people's prayer that may listen to the podcast, and hopefully someone gets blessed. But if someone is in the cycle of addiction, that they would find the freedom that can be found in Jesus Christ. So thank you so much for your time. We'll let Eric close us out as he always does so graciously. We appreciate our listeners who uh log in and pay attention to our podcasts. Amen.
SPEAKER_02Um Father, the the new covenant, the covenant that we have in Jesus means that you're gonna write your law in our hearts and in our minds. Thank you, God, for for giving us, uh letting us forsake old ways and turn to new. And thank you, God, for your presence. Continue to write your law in our hearts, and may your love be a little bit more contagious in and around UGM and Kelly Oakman in Jesus' name. Jesus' name.
