It's been a tough year for the Yakima Union Gospel Mission battling COVID-19 along with all the usual challenges with a homeless population including death by addiction. Mission Executive Director Mike Johnson says so far they've had no deaths reported from the ongoing pandemic but he says 23 people or clients have died this year as a result of a drug overdose or complications related to drug use and homelessness.  The mission saw 16 die the same way last year. Johnson says because of the pandemic many services for addiction aren't as available as they were in the past and many services have moved to the internet where the homeless can't access services on a regular basis.

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