Meeting Greater Challenges with Fewer Resources

It has been an interesting last few days at Union Rescue Mission. We are seeing things and taking on challenges that we have not faced in my 3 and ½ years here.

Another local shelter lost a great deal of their funding and had to reduce their beds by over 200. This put 200 more people on the streets of Skid Row and South LA. As their leadership shared their heartbreak with me regarding reducing their beds, they delivered some shocking news: 150 of their regular guests are either full-time students (some at USC and UCLA) or employed people who, if they put in their time at school or stay for their full shift of work, can’t line up early enough for a bed in their emergency shelter and end up not getting a cot for the night. We have welcomed many of their folks into our community, adding cots on our 2nd floor and in our 1st floor guest area, but at this moment I am wishing that we had 150 more beds for these folks dedicated to working so hard in school and work to get ahead. It pains me that they are being held back from making significant personal progress because of homelessness and near hopelessness.

We also found that one of our newest guests, a 77 year-old, was swindled out of her house by a reverse mortgage scam. This is the report I received from our Chaplain Tracy:

While interviewing for the Second Step women’s program, we heard one of the most heart-breaking stories yesterday from two of our homeless guests, Eva S and Genevieve S.

Ms. S, who is a recent widow, had owned her home for 44 years. One day two men whom Ms. S thought were nice, helpful loan brokers came to her front door, asking if she needed help with repairs on her home… After a while, they convinced her that they could help her to get a reverse mortgage. Long story short, they swindled her out of her home by instructing her to sign blank documents, which resulted in her unknowingly selling her home. She and her daughter are now homeless. Her daughter, Genevieve, is a dialysis patient and depends upon Eva (who is 77 years old) to drive her 3 days a week to the Dialysis center for treatment. Ms. S must have her daughter at the center at 4 a.m., which means they must get up at 3 a.m. to drive to the Dialysis center.

Ms. S and Genevieve have met with police officers, a legal aid clinic, and other lawyers who told them that they have a strong case due to the fraudulent activity, which involves finding the crooks who ran off with the proceeds from her home, but they need money in order to pursue the matter legally. Both Ms. S. and her daughter are on fixed incomes so they quite simply cannot afford the legal bills to bring about justice.

It saddens me to know that this kind of elder abuse is becoming so prevalent in our community. I would like to suggest that (with their consent) we publicize their story with the hope of some kind of advocacy on her behalf, and on behalf of helpless seniors like her who have ended up homeless and heart-broken.

We have turned this over to the City Attorney and the LA Times with hopes that Ms. S and her daughter may find eventually find their way back to their home.

Another recent challenge is the number of single dads with children showing up at our door. It is extremely challenging to find a place for dads with children in Los Angeles – there isn’t even enough emergency and transitional housing in the County for single moms with children, the reason our Hope Gardens facility was established. We were able to recently accommodate one single father and 2 boys on our floor where we normally house volunteers who come to spend time sharing their talents at URM.

Reflecting on all of these new challenges, we can’t help but see much more of this ahead. As families, who have been foreclosed on, expend everything they have to bounce back, some families will not bounce back but will come our way. With the current state of the economy, we realize that we will have to assist more people with fewer resources. The only way we can respond to more need with fewer resources is through creativity, partnerships and prayer. –Rev. Andy B.

Will you join me in prayer, creating partnerships, and thinking out of the box?

Will you let others know about elder abuse?

“Finding L.A.’s hidden homeless” – LA Times

Check out this great article written by Jessica Garrison of the Los Angeles Times.

“To most people, it’s just trash: A scrap of dirty blanket visible under some stairs. A glimpse of blue tarp peeking out of a bush. A bag of recyclables parked discreetly behind a concrete column.

But Courtney Kanagi, an outreach worker, has learned how to decode bits of urban detritus that most people ignore. She knows what these signs mean: the crawl space beneath the stairs was someone’s home.”

The article will give you good information on how many of our homeless friends live each day of their life. Click here to read the article.

Loving, Broken People

I just returned from a short visit to La Canada Presbyterian Church’s family camp. They invited me to enjoy the full week and although my schedule would not allow one week, I did find time to stay one day and night before assisting with a Homeless Family Simulation project. We divided everyone into five groups with five different outcomes as I presented the groups with a common challenge for our homeless friends. Each group needed to raise enough money in a short time period of time to move from living in a car to getting a motel room, a shower, and a good night’s rest, for a change. I was supposed to arrive and teach, but I learned more than I taught.

During the first evening, I shared the story of Irvin, a man who has gone from living on the streets near death for 7 years, to being a healthy, strong, tremendous member of our maintenance department at Union Rescue Mission. I shared how a simple cold bottle of water and Christ’s compassion made a big difference in Irvin’s life. I shared that our mission and my opportunity here is to love the folks that the rest of the world has given up on. After I finished my short talk, Bill Robinson, the President of Whitworth University in Spokane, Washington spoke.

Bill delivered a powerful message and one that I needed to hear. He told the audience that it was not just Irvin who needed the compassion of Christ, but that everyone we meet has hurts and brokenness, even if they don’t appear to, and that each encounter we have presents an opportunity to share the compassion and love of Christ. In fact, Bill eloquently shared that it is not proof of the Gospel or apologetics that will win doubters to Christ, but that a combination of proclaiming the Gospel and sharing the compassion of Christ that will have the most powerful effect. I have to admit that it is a easy and a natural tendency of mine to quickly share compassion with hurting folks on the streets, while I sometimes struggle to show that same compassion to folks who appear to have it all together. I’ve determined in my heart to love each and every person I meet with the compassion of Christ. Andy B.

Who do you find it easy to show compassion?

Who do you find it is difficult to show compassion to?

Moments on the Street

Interesting, heartbreaking, and encouraging moments can happen on the streets of Skid Row within minutes of each other. Yesterday, our water walk was put in jeopardy for a moment when a woman pushed another woman in front of a passing bus at 5th and San Pedro. The woman was injured and we have no status report as of yet, but this brought lots of police activity and closed the block off for a bit.

As we went out the back door of Union Rescue Mission, I saw a young man who looked out of place. A big, strapping young man, with piercing blue eyes, Hollywood good looks, and a great smile, full of life. He introduced himself to me this week as a young man with a very good job, but a deadly crack cocaine and newly found heroin addiction that has nearly killed him by overdosing several times in the last few weeks. My heart went out to him as I looked into his striking eyes and I told him, “You need to stay here and save your life!” Tears flowed down both of our eyes. He is still here. Pray for him!

Another man in a wheelchair grabbed my hand and yelled, “You are the unsung heroes! You are saving lives out here!”

As we walked, precious human beings lay in the corners of buildings, appearing to be near death. It was quite an experience for our young people visiting with us from Virginia on our Urban Experience. On the walk the day before, a drug crazed, very large and athletic man began jumping straight up into the air and kicking our boxes of bottles on the cart, telling the young people from Virginia that if anyone hurt them, he would take care of them. Our security person asked the man to calm down and he went off! We never know what to expect.
As we closed our walk yesterday, a tiny, quiet and very wrinkled lady walked up to me in front of the young people and gave me a theological lesson in God’s goodness. She said, “God provides! I needed a shower and clothes and He provided me with just what I needed at Union Rescue Mission just now. Now I am thirsty, and you have come along with a cold bottle of water, right on time. God always looks out for me, when I don’t try to run from Him!” She began trying to convert me until I let her know that Jesus was the reason that I was delivering the cold water. Jesus is the reason that we do what we do here at URM. Thanks for your support!