After 10 years, welcome to town - officially. The Union Gospel Mission's center for women and children opened in grand fashion Wednesday, ushering in a new era for recovery programs in Coeur d'Alene. It wasn't easy work, and it took a while to get here. A decade to be exact. That's when the idea to expand to Kootenai County first popped up at UGM's office in Spokane, Director Phil Altmeyer remembered, but that was just a seat-of-the pants idea way back when. "We got a lot on our plate here," said Altmeyer, addressing the hundreds who attended the center's ribbon cutting ceremony, on what he recalls thinking at the time. But then the USG team members asked themselves: "What would God have us do?" "That's when Kootenai County entered the map," he said. The $8.5 million project, funded through private donations, and with the help of a $1.8 million tax credit, is officially open/Tom Hasslinger, Coeur d'Alene Press. More here. (Coeur d'Alene Press photo: Gabe Green)

Question: How will the new Union Gospel Mission for women and children impact Coeur d'Alene?