Month: November 2008

Homeless shelter to open – Burbank Leader

Veronica Rocha of the Burbank Leader writes about the Homeless shelter that will be operated by Union Rescue Mission.

A winter shelter for the homeless will open Monday for the second consecutive year at the Burbank National Guard Armory, to provide shelter for up to 150 people during the year’s coldest months.

The armory will host the shelter through March 15, said Andy Bales, director of the Los Angeles Union Rescue Mission, which runs the program.

“We really think it’s important to get them out of the cold and rain,” he said.

Click Here to read the rest of the article.

Whoville Thanksgiving Celebration Wrap Up

Click here to check out all of our photos in our NEW Gallery

On Saturday, November 22, the Union Rescue Mission hosted a Whoville Thanksgiving celebration on Skid Row. An estimated 3,000 people came out to enjoy the Thanksgiving feast. Attendants included 2,500 guests from the homeless community, volunteers, URM staff, corporate and celebrity sponsors.

A BIG thanks goes to some of our corporate sponsors: Fox Entertainment, Dodgers, KJLH, Herbal Life, Clippers, City National Bank, HSBC, Nestle, Magic Johnson Foundation, and Disney.

Celebrity Sponsors include: Andre Ethier, Red Cloud, Jaynie Jackson, Jeremiah 22, and World Boxing Hall of Famers – Israel Vasquez, Alfonso Gomez, Bobby Chacon, Danny “Little Red” Lopez, Walter Sarnoi, Paul Banke.

In order to feed the large crowd with a delicious feast of roast/deep fried turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, salad, and apple pie, URM prepared: 100 deep fried turkeys (16lb ea), 90 turkey roasts (8lb-11lb), 75 pans of vegetables, 74 pans of stuffing, 40 pans of cranberry sauce, 64 pans of sweet potatoes, 80 pans of mash potatoes, 4320 dinner rolls, 510 pies (4080 slices), and 65 gallons of gravy.

Check out the joy and excitement of the thousands that participated.

Dodger’s Andre Ethier to spread holiday cheer throughout Los Angeles

Dodger’s outfielder Andre Ethier will be coming to Union Rescue Mission on Saturday, November 22 to help serve Thanksgiving meals to the homeless.

Ethier will then visit the Union Rescue Mission this Saturday, November 22 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in downtown Los Angeles. The Mission, located at 545 S. San Pedro St., will be a hosting “Thanksgiving in Whoville” event. Ethier will help serve Thanksgiving meals, hand out 1,000 blankets and sign autographs. This is Ethier’s second visit this year to Union Rescue mission. The outfielder kicked out his community initiative to help the homeless at Union Rescue mission in June.

Click here for the press release.

“Bed shortage forces L.A. County mental health staff to rely on police” – LA Times

Molly Hennessy-Fiske of the LA Times writes about the effect current laws have on the ability of Mental Health workers to effectively assist the mentally ill. 

Alarmed by reports that Los Angeles County mental health staff — hobbled by a countywide shortage of beds for the mentally ill — are increasingly forwarding emergency calls to police, commissioners overseeing the department on Thursday asked that a plan to end the practice be presented by early next month.

Department of Mental Health workers have turned to law enforcement officials because hospitals are required by law to take emergency mental health patients transported by police. If a county mental health worker brings a person in for treatment, facilities are not compelled to accept them.

URM’s Andy Bales talks about the importance of utilizing Mental Health professionals in dealing with patients on skid row.

Advocates for the mentally ill and the homeless say that there are not enough hybrid teams to go around and that police who respond alone can aggravate emergencies.

“Folks who are trained to deal with people who are having mental health issues have the experience to calm things down,” said the Rev. Andrew Bales, chief executive ofUnion Rescue Mission on skid row. “Somebody who’s distressed is probably going to panic when they see the police. I’ve been in that situation where I’ve been trying to help someone and they became upset when the police arrived.”

Click here to read the article.

“We are all in this together” – LA Daily News

Andy Bales, the CEO of Union Rescue Mission, wrote an article in the LA Daily News about the current financial difficulties and the effect it has on organizations like URM.

We here at the United Rescue Mission in downtown Los Angeles are facing extremely difficult times. More folks, especially families, are coming to us in need at this time. We’ve added another floor to house families devastated by the economic downturn, at a time when giving is way down.

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.

Click Here to read the article.

Dying Boy’s Wish Comes True

MEDIA ALERT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Kitty Davis-Walker

Email: kwalker@urm.org

2500 MEALS SERVED TO HOMELESS IN HONOR OF

11 YEAR OLD BRENDEN FOSTER

(A Dying Boy’s Wish)

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 14 AT UNION RESCUE MISSION

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. (November 12, 2008)——On Friday, November 14, 2008 The Union Rescue Mission will serve 2,500 meals to its friends who are homeless in honor of 11 year old Brenden Foster, whose dying wish is to feed the homeless.

Each guest will also leave with a sack lunch bearing a special message of love from Brenden.

Union Rescue Mission’s CEO, Andy Bales said “Brenden! We are inspired by you. I have been working to help my friends who are homeless for 23 years, and I will for 23 more. Much love to you!”

Union Rescue Mission’s Daily Meal schedule:

* Breakfast Served – 7:00 A.M. to 8:30 A.M.

* Lunch Served – 12:00 Noon to 2:30 P.M.

* Dinner Served – 6:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M.

For more information about Brenden Foster visit our website urm.org or call Kitty Davis-Walker @ (213) 673-4585.

About Union Rescue Mission

Union Rescue Mission is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving the poor and homeless. Established in 1891, URM is one of the largest rescue missions of its kind in the United States and is the oldest in Los Angeles. It provides a comprehensive array of emergency and long-term services, including food, shelter, clothing; medical and dental care; Christian recovery programs, transitional housing, legal assistance, education, counseling and job training to needy men, women, children and families. For more information, please visit our website www.unionrescuemission.org

Deconstructing Skid Row

As I stood speaking next to an LAPD Patrol Officer, a gentleman lay still on the sidewalk, covered in a sheet.  He had not awakened that morning due to what appeared to be an overdose of heroin.  Other folks in the same dire straits walked past and made signs of the cross, respectfully prayed, or blessed the man now departed.

The officer asked, “What is it going to take to change this area?”  I shared the usual answers: the difference and improvement the LAPD has made through the Safer Cities Initiative, the increased outreach, the building of permanent supportive housing and the plans to build more. But then I said what I believe needs to be said, “This area of Skid Row needs to be deconstructed, disestablished.  The plan to corral/contain homelessness in the 50 square block area known as Skid Row over the past several decades has created, what I describe as, the worst human made disaster in the United States.  Dropping off, dumping, and gathering all of our County’s most challenged, struggling, and, sometimes, desperate folks into one dense area has done the area and those individuals undue harm.”

My friends who are homeless would be best served if they could regularly connect with other healthy people in a community surrounded and filled with Hope.  That is why Union Rescue Mission founded Hope Gardens Family Center, far from the mean streets of Skid Row.  The transformational locale and community has done wonders for the spirit of our moms and children.  We moved ahead with the plan for Hope Gardens because of our own convictions, but also due to a study by University of Southern California which stated that our friends who are homeless would best be served in their own regions, in smaller facilities, away from the mean streets of Skid Row.

As the CEO of one of the largest Mission’s of its kind west of the Mississippi river and as the President of the Los Angeles Central Providers Collaborative on Skid Row, I now truly believe we need 100 facilities like Hope Gardens for each of our men, women and children homeless in our communities. Skid Row, as we know it, and the policies of containment and corralling need to be deconstructed and disestablished for the good of our community and the good of the individuals we are trying to assist, encourage and provide a hand up and out of homelessness.  -Andy B.