More middle-class professionals join homeless ranks – LA Daily News

Troy Anderson interviews Andy Bales and some friends of ours at Union Rescue Mission regarding the increase in middle-class professionals who are struggling with homelessness.

Colin never thought he’d wind up on Skid Row.

As a middle-class father and business owner, he had achieved the American dream. But that all came crashing down recently when his coffee-bean importing business went under and the home he was renting in El Segundo went into foreclosure.

With nowhere else to turn, the Westmont College graduate sought shelter for his family at the Union Rescue Mission in downtown Los Angeles.

Andy Bales, president of the Union Rescue Mission, said he’s also seeing professionals and other middle-class people coming into the mission who are experiencing homelessness for the first time, including former mission donors.

Click here to read the article.

Economic Crunch Hits Downtown Non-profits – LA Downtown News.com

Richard Guzman writes about the drop in donations to organizations working on Skid Row.

Andy Bales has seen a lot of hard times during his years as CEO of the Union Rescue Mission. But now, the organization that for more than a century has helped those down on their luck is in need of desperate help of its own.

“We’re down about 25% over our normal donations, so we’re barely hanging in there,” Bales said. “I’ve never seen it this bad.”

Click here to read the full article.

Fire goes around Hope Gardens homeless facility – LA Daily NewsT

Troy Anderson of the LA Daily News reports on the LA Fires and Hope Gardens.

As 125 homeless women and children fled Hope Gardens early Sunday while a towering wall of wind-fueled flames swept down Lopez Canyon, the blaze suddenly changed course and veered around the rustic facility – leaving a green oasis in the midst of charred landscape.

“The fire captain told me the fire was coming down the hill, burning hot and high, and out of nowhere, it suddenly turned and went around our facility,” Hope Gardens Chief Operating Officer Scott Johnson said. “They have no idea why. We call it the hand of God.”

Click here to read the article.

How URM Responds to Depression/Recession

Launched 117 years ago, Union Rescue Mission faced a challenge similar to what it appears we are facing right now.  About 79 years ago, as the Great Depression hit the US and Los Angeles. During those tough years, URM actually expanded its services to meet the need – one point in time URM was feeding 50% of the hungry people in the City of Los Angeles. When we weren’t feeding people, our job training program was actively working to find employment for hundreds of desperate people hoping for work and a little money each day. This is what happens when the rest of the economic world seems to crumble around us. We can’t cut back on programs or services because the rest of the world and our fellow human beings need us more than ever.

I lied awake the entire night last Wednesday contemplating URM’s response to what appears to be coming our way. Calls to the Los Angeles County hotline from families losing their homes have doubled in recent months. The sheriff in Chicago, Illinois has put a moratorium on any further evictions after foreclosures or failure to pay rent because as he says, “there are just too many families on the streets already!”

After this sleepless night, I came in with the resolve that we will prepare for more families and not less. We have reorganized and opened up our 5th floor for families, in addition to the 4th floor of our building so that we can house double of the number of two parent families, single moms with children, and single dads with children who are coming our way in droves. We have prepared ourselves for the long haul by cutting costs where we can but increasing services and we realize that these desperate families will be staying with us for longer periods than they have in the past. We are at our normal capacity in our men’s and women’s guest areas, but we are creatively strategizing on ways that we can increase our capacity so that we don’t turn anyone in need away.

We want to live up to URM’s reputation and history of stepping up to the need during the most desperate of times. We can do this because our Hope is in the LORD and we know we can rely on our generous and faithful donors who give to others no matter how difficult things become in their own life.

Thanks to all who are helping us through this challenging time. Bless you! Andy B.

A Precious Man Known Only as John

The hearts of URM staff and guests are going out to a gentleman known as John, or Grimley, who was homeless and brutally doused with gasoline and lit on fire, causing his death this past Thursday evening in the Mid-Wilshire area of downtown. Our hearts also go out to the wonderful people who looked out for him each day, and to those who tried to save him from the fire.
His tragic death re-emphasizes the need for our work of loving people who have lost their homes and everything that they had only to find themselves reduced to trying to survive on the tough streets of our city. It also motivates us to speak up in an even stronger way that each one of our friends who is homeless is a precious human being, made in the image of God, and highly valued by God. That is why I strive each day to make sure that Union Rescue Mission stays focused on our calling to reach out to the folks who the rest of the world seems to have given up on and forgotten. As we approach our 118th year of serving the least and the lost of Los Angeles, we will continue that commitment in the years ahead, hoping that one day our great city will live up to the title of the City of Angels by making sure that not one precious human being is left to live on these mean streets. -Rev. Andy Bales

Fire Near Hope Gardens – Our Urgent Needs

The Angeles National Park Fire is close to Hope Gardens and helicopters and firefighters are battling it. Our Hope Gardens facility has been evacuated and all of the residents have been temporarily relocated to Union Rescue Mission – as a result the squeeze is on.

We are in dire need of:

– Diapers of all sizes
– Formula
– Canned Food
– Financial donations

Please call Scott Johnson at 213-494-0591 or Scott Chamberlain at 626-808-8214

Pray for our neighbors in Kagel Canyon and Hope Gardens itself. Pray for the firefighters.