Update on Betty!

Many of you may have been following the story of precious Betty and I wanted to update you.
Betty is a wonderful mom who has done what only a mom or Jesus might do – she left all else behind to come to America and rescue her daughter from the streets by assuming herself the homeless plight of her daughter. I met Betty at the Burbank Winter Shelter on her 86th Birthday.

Watch the video at:

Please read this wonderfully written piece by her case manager, Olivia.

Good afternoon,

I wanted to update you on the good news! As you know Scott and I took Ms. Betty on a tour of Hope Gardens and Sequoia Lodge. She was very quiet on the way there but as we got closer to the mountains she started to relax and began talking. By the time we arrived and she stepped foot on the grounds she was quite reluctant. She was already expressing concern about being alone and feeling isolated. She was also very worried about her being new and whether or not anyone was going to like her.

By the time we approached the main lodge, Betty lit up when she finally took a moment and began to look around, seeing where she was and what she was surrounded by. She just stopped in her tracks, falling in love with the flowers and all the greenery. When we approached the door to the lodge, there were a few mothers outside with their children. They all greeted her and were so welcoming. Scott took us on a tour of the main lodge and the family area, where he stopped to show Betty a room and explained that this was where she would most likely be staying until something else opens up. She was still a bit reluctant to be by her self. We continued with the tour.

As we continued driving, Betty kept saying how “romantic” and “beautiful” it was there. When we arrived at Sequoia Lodge, the staff was there to greet Betty and she loved it. Of course, when Ms. Johnnie arrived she took over and Betty was drawn to her immediately. Ms. Johnnie has a knack for making people feel so welcome. Ms. Johnnie introduced Betty to everyone and then showed us to the dining area, where we all took a minute to sit down to have lunch. This definitely helped Betty relax and open up more. Once we finished lunch, the tour was on.

When Betty started to see everything there was to do there, she just fell in love. I learned so much more about Betty during that tour, she really opened up. It seemed everything they had there she wanted to do, learn and try. She was shown the rooms, library, piano room, garden, and so much more. She was so excited when Ms. Johnnie asked Betty to help her with the garden. Betty said she would love to teach a sewing class. She said she wants to exercise and learn to speak Spanish. She played the piano for us and it was so sweet. After all was said and done, Ms. Johnnie and I spoke with Betty about visiting Sequoia Lodge until she feels comfortable with the idea of being there with out her daughter. It seemed like Betty liked that.
However, by the time we got in the car to leave Betty said, “I am ready. As soon as possible, I will go.” Scott and I joked with Betty about what sealed the deal with her. We think it was the freedom to shower whenever she wants and she agreed!

I am pleased to say that I received a call from Scott Chamberlain this afternoon with the good news that Betty is being asked to be a part of the Sequoia Lodge and Hope Gardens family starting Monday.

As everyone knows, Betty has made a lot of sacrifices and left a lot behind in Indonesia to stay true to her husband’s last wish that she go to their daughter, get her off of the streets and make sure she is ok. She is definitely staying true to this promise, no matter how hard it has been.

As you also know, Betty’s daughter has mental health issues and requires a lot of attention, sometimes on a daily basis. There has been a lot of stress on her and her daughter over the last month or so. It seems her daughter’s housing situation along with several recent mental episodes have caused her daughter to take out her frustrations and emotions on Betty and this was neither good for Betty nor her daughter. Understanding how close they were, regardless of the pain they cause one another, I knew going into it was going to be hard to separate her and her daughter. Well, let me say that everyone involved in this has made the two of them feel so comfortable and safe, that they are so excited. With Betty at Union Rescue Mission’s Sequoia Lodge and her daughter here in our downtown shelter for single women, this will give me so much more of an opportunity to really focus on her daughter while Betty can feel at peace taking care of her own self. Now, Betty’s daughter will no longer use her mother as an excuse and can see the potential in herself to take care of the things she needs to on a daily basis.

Again, I can’t thank everyone enough for this opportunity to take a woman who has been through so much in her life and give her some peace of mind, while I do everything I can to help her daughter get focused, and learn to help her own self get her life back in order.

Olivia

Please keep Betty and her daughter in your prayers, and continue to support URM as we rescue precious people from the mean streets! Andy B.

What a Difference a Year Makes Part II

On Monday evening, we had the opportunity to celebrate the 1st Anniversary of moving our women and children to the safety of Hope Gardens Family Center. Many of the churches, volunteers, and donors, who have been the keys to success of Hope Gardens and responsible for creating an environment for change in the lives of our precious moms and children, came to celebrate the anniversary and witness a special graduation. 10 moms completed our 10 class program and some moms have achieved all of their goals and even moved into permanent housing!

Two things touched my heart the most.

Each child was exuding pride in their mom’s accomplishments, showing incredible behavior and peacefulness as they celebrated their moms! I was incredibly proud of the moms and their children.

But what made me the most satisfied and honored was the presence of our neighbors who once vigorously opposed Hope Gardens Family Center, now attended the celebration, congratulated our moms, and greeted us with thanks and warm hugs. Something special has happened in their hearts and ours!

Here is a sample of the attitude change from one of our neighbors who previously strongly opposed Hope Gardens. I hope it touches your heart like it touched mine.

Dear Andy,
Your Hope Garden yesterday was such a special day that I will remember it fondly forever. The pride I felt for your families and the joy shining from each of them for their individual and group accomplishments is so very apparent that many a moment I had tears come to my eyes.
Thank you for letting me join in your celebrations. What a splendid afternoon for all. It was lovely to see you although it is too bad you weren’t able to participate there in person for the entire festivity but you will enjoy it on video soon I’m certain.I thanked Scott Johnson a few times and told him how happy I was for all of you and I asked Scott Johnson to relay my special thanks to you and to Scott Chamberlain who did a quick disappearing act when his moment was done there. I had so wanted to express my feelings to him as well. Please let Scott C. know that I applaud you all very much.
Bravo all!

What a difference a year, hard work by staff and moms, resources provided by donors and volunteers, open hearts by our neighbors and God’s amazing grace makes in our hearts and lives. What an honor to serve at Union Rescue Mission. Blessings, Andy B.

What a Difference 1 Year Makes!

Union Rescue Mission is celebrating our very own Hope Gardens Family Center’s first anniversary. What a difference a year makes! Last year, in this season, we had just won a very challenging battle and began moving a few moms and children from the dangerous streets of Skid Row, to the safety and peace of Hope Gardens Family Center. Now, 30 moms, 55 children, including 10 precious babies, live in very supportive transitional housing, and 22 senior ladies live in permanent supportive housing, all surrounded by coastal redwoods, shady oak trees, beautiful flowers, and walking paths – all amidst tranquility and beauty.

We have established a Boy Scout troop, a Girl Scout troop, along with a Cub Scout troop, and our walls are plastered with pictures of children whose lives have been changed and are now on the honor roll in their respective schools.

Just this week, the neighbors somewhat near Hope Gardens, who had opposed us very effectively one year ago, asked us to come to their neighborhood meeting and team up on an issue that may affect their safety as well as ours. What a joy it was to walk into the Kagel Canyon/Dexter Park Community Building and feel a welcome and peace – I was humbled as this was not the case one year ago. I attribute this welcoming experience to their willingness to give us a chance, and our fantastic Hope Gardens team, led by Scott Chamberlain and Scott Johnson, managing this great challenge in a way that kept all of our promises to the neighbors and set up a fantastic environment in which our moms, children and precious senior ladies could prosper. This was difficult and courageous work – I applaud our team.

This welcome was also made possible by our donors, who stretched themselves and gave sacrificially to provide the needed resources so that we could hire staff and produce an environment that was conducive to positive life transformation – they helped us keep our promises. What a difference one year and a multitude of faith and courage can make in the lives of our women and children! Blessings, Andy B.

Never Too Late

This week was an especially encouraging week despite all of the challenges. In our Tuesday morning chapel, we heard the stories of 5 men who are graduating from our intense, 1 year training program here at Union Rescue Mission. These were 5 men with 5 powerful stories of transformation. All of the stories were amazing, but I will only share two:

Antonio shared the struggle of having a son who was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, at only a few months old! On shaky ground already, Antonio dealt with the pain by falling deeper into drug and alcohol abuse until he lost everything, including almost losing his family. But his wife directed him to the Christian Life Discipleship Program here at Union Rescue Mission. For the first time, Antonio read the Bible and experienced a change in his heart through accepting Jesus Christ as his Savior. After completing the program, Antonio shared that he now has his family, his sobriety, and a job! He has committed to living a pure life, so that his son, now 6 years old, will be able to accept a healthy lung transplant from Antonio when his son reaches age 18. Antonio has important reasons to stay alive and to live a healthy life. We were all brought to tears by his story and his commitment to save the life of his son.

Irvin then began to share his journey. He kidded that he started a camping trip in the year 2000 and it didn’t end until 2007. “Nobody goes camping for 7 years!” he said. Then Irvin got serious. He shared how he had run from God and for 7 years he was trapped by a cocaine addiction on San Julian, the mean street just behind our Mission. He said that one day, he was lying out there on the sidewalk, starving to death, thirsty in the heat, and he decided to come into the Mission. Irvin said that he came in with a commitment for 3 months only, but after arriving decided to give his whole self and heart to God. Irvin has now completed a year, works all over the Mission with our Maintenance department, and is looking forward to coming on staff at Union Rescue Mission. When Irvin mentioned that he was starving to death on the street behind the Mission in 2007, I suddenly saw the face and body of a man who I had handed a cold bottle of water to late last year. I remembered Irvin in red gym shorts, unable to stand up, a wisp of a man, ribs showing. I remembered calling my friend, Sergeant Deon Joseph of the LAPD, and telling him that a man was dying on the street on San Julian. After chapel, I asked Irvin if he remembered a big, strong, African American police officer coming to his aid on the streets. Irvin said, “Yes, he gave me your card and told me to get off the street and into URM’s program, but I wasn’t ready quite yet.” But Irvin didn’t forget. He came in and experienced a complete life change, when most experts and the world would have said it was too late. That shriveled up, dying man, lost in addiction is now a strong, hard working, friendly ambassador of life changing power.

I had a renewed strength and passion to go out onto the streets this week with cold water. Last night, as I joined a monthly neighborhood walk with several dignitaries, a young man approached me and said he needed help. He said he had been homeless in Portland for 10 years and had just arrived in town. I shared with him about our programs and opportunities at URM. I thought about waiting until after the walk to take him back to the Mission, but I looked at him and said, “I think you have done enough walking.” As we left the dignitaries and the walk behind, he was startled by the violence, behavior and smell of Skid Row. We only walked one block back to the Mission, but this young man asked me, “You walked all the way out here alone?” We walked into the Mission and were quickly met by staff members who are former program graduates. They welcomed Ray and after a tour of URM, he joined our program. What a joy it is to work at the Mission and get to be a part of bringing life changing hope to people who are struggling. Andy B.