Month: December 2008

Thanks

There are days when you get a word of “Thanks” and you know that you are in the right place at the right time of your life.  Two weeks ago I had a few of those days.

I attended a luncheon for a wonderful group of Lawyers and staff at O’Melveny & Myers LLP, with one of our precious moms from URM’s Hope Gardens Family Center.  O’Melveny & Myers LLP had gathered food, gifts and clothes for Union Rescue Mission.  They overwhelmed us with gifts!  Our mom did a wonderful job of sharing, she said, “Before I came to Hope Gardens all of my dreams were deferred, and I thought they were dead, but now my dreams have awakened and I am alive again, studying to be a nurse.”  It is hard to describe the joy I had inside.

The next day I received this letter from another mom at Hope Gardens:

I am a resident at Hope Gardens and I am writing you to let you know how grateful and appreciative I am. Around this time last year, I was 7 months pregnant and sleeping on the streets. I was cold, scared, hungry and tired. I was too scared to ask for help. I thought that everyone had turned their back on me. I didn’t think anyone would even want to help me. Finally I got tired of the cold and hunger and asked for help. I ended up staying at the cold weather shelter in West Covina and then a couple of nights at West LA shelter until I was able to find a more stable place. If it wasn’t for the cold weather shelters, I don’t know where I would be. I hope others see them as much of a blessing as I do. Also I want to thank you for all you do. Your staff here at Hope Gardens are so caring and loving. I have never felt so much love in my life. It’s so overwhelming I want to cry. Not because I’m sad, but because I’m happy. I hope that others will be able to experience this happiness.

Last night I learned that the first mom who walked into our Burbank Winter Shelter on Dec. 1st, cold, afraid, desperate for help, and clutching her beautiful 5 month old baby in her arms, moved into the safety of Hope Gardens last week!

This is too much joy to keep within me, and I had to share it with all of you who have made these words of thanks possible.  Bless you, Andy B.

“They’re living with cancer and little else” – LA Times

Steve Lopez of the LA Times writes about a mother and daughter who living in their car.

So you think you’ve got it bad this holiday season? Here’s a story that will put things in perspective for you, no matter how grim your job prospects or how invisible your shrinking retirement fund.

The other day, at their invitation, I met Kerry Himmel, an unemployed truck driver, and her 16-year-old daughter, Destiny, at a McDonald’s on Ventura Boulevard in the San Fernando Valley. 

But they weren’t there to eat. That’s where they live.

Mr. Lopez goes on to report that Destiny was recently diagnosed with high-risk acute leukemia.  Click here to read this heartbreaking story and see how Union Rescue Mission is responding.

LAPD and ACLU reach settlement on skid row searches – LA Times

Cara Mia DiMassa and Richard Winton of the LA Times write about the recent settlement between the ACLU and the LAPD.  

Los Angeles police officers face significant restrictions on when they can search people under a agreement announced Thursday that settles a landmark homeless right case.

The agreement comes 18 months after a federal judge found that the LAPD was unconstitutionally searching homeless people in the skid row area as part of Chief William J. Bratton’s crackdown on downtown crime.

Click here to read the rest of the article.

Los Angeles County shelters brim with families – LA Times

Jessica Garrison of the LA Times writes about the increase in families who are homeless this season.  Several individuals from Union Rescue Mission were interviewed.

The economic crisis and cold weather have created a larger than usual influx of families to shelters in Los Angeles County this year, according to shelter officials and other service providers.
On Wednesday, officials at the Union Rescue Mission, which runs the county’s cold-weather shelters, held an emergency meeting to figure out what to do when they run out of hotel vouchers for families, which could happen this month. The numbers, said Chief Executive Andy Bales, are sobering: The region’s winter shelters and the skid row mission have seen 86 families in the last three weeks.

By comparison, last year the agency took in 20 families at its emergency shelters over the entire cold weather season from Dec. 1 to March 15, with 15 to 20 more at its downtown mission. Two weeks ago, the mission downtown opened up its fifth floor to two-parent families and single fathers with children, something it has never had to do before. It may also convert its chapel to sleeping quarters.

Click here to read the article.

Shelters see significant rise in demand – KABC Channel 7 News

KABC news interviewed Union Rescue Mission’s CEO Andy Bales about the increase in individuals facing homelessness this year.

Officials at a winter shelter in Burbank say they have seen a 1,000 percent increase in demand since their doors opened on Dec. 1. They blame it all on a very troubled economy.

As they are dealing with increased demand in the valley, shelters in Downtown Los Angeles are retrofitting offices to accommodate more families.

“I’ve been doing this nearly 23 years and I’ve never seen anything close to this,” said Andy Bales, Union Rescue Mission.

Andy Bales runs the Union Rescue Mission on skid row in Los Angeles. He said homeless shelters like his are being inundated with young families.

“I believe that we’re going to have to take emergency steps to make sure that no family and no children spends time on the streets and suffers the devastation of homelessness,” said Bales.

Click here to see the video and read the rest of the story.

Shelters, missions overwhelmed by homeless demand – 89.3 KPCC

Southern California Public Radio interviewed Union Rescue Mission’s CEO Andy Bales regarding the increase in individuals who are homeless.

Los Angeles County’s homeless authority says on any given night 73,000 people are sleeping on the street. More than 10,000 are children or teens.

And it’s getting worse thanks to the slowing economy and big job losses. Union Rescue Mission President Andy Bales says the number of people visiting his shelters is up three fold over this time last year. He says it reminds him of the 1930s.

Andy Bales: “During the depression, the Union Rescue Mission provided 42 percent of the meals that were provided to the city of L.A. and somehow made it through. We’re trying to live up to heritage.”

Bales says it’s not easy. Demand for his nonprofit’s winter shelters is up sharply, while cash and food donations are shrinking.

Click here to read the article.

L.A. County shelters being overwhelmed by homeless – Inland Valley Daily Bulletin

Troy Anderson of the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin writes about the increase in visitors to winter shelters around Los Angeles County.

Despite innovative efforts by the city, county and nonprofit agencies to help keep homeless families off the streets, officials at rescue missions and winter shelters in Los Angeles County said Thursday their facilities are being overwhelmed by homeless families.

Andy Bales, president of the Union Rescue Mission in downtown Los Angeles, said the number of homeless families staying at the mission has tripled to 45 over this time last year.

At his winter shelters in Burbank, West Los Angeles, Culver City and downtown, Bales saw more families in the first three days this year than the entire winter last year.

“I think we’re in an emergency,” Bales said. “And I think this is just the tip of the iceberg. We get vouchers from the (Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority) to put families up when they come to winter shelters and we’ve used four-fifths of the vouchers we get for the entire season already.

“We have a bigger problem now than we’ve ever dreamed of before.”

Click Here to read the rest of the article.

Pray For URM Donors & Friends

I just got off of a call that broke my heart. A donor was broken hearted about a letter that I sent out quoting Matthew Chapter 25 in the Bible, “If you fail to feed a hungry/homeless person, it is like turning your back on Jesus himself.”  She said, “How can I help if I can’t even help myself?  I have always given in the past, but now I am very sick, my husband is in tougher shape, suffering from dementia, and our house has been foreclosed! How can I possibly help? Please pray for me!”  My heart was broken.  I shared with her that the Lord understood. I told her that the Lord heard her cry and knew her heart.  We prayed for healing and comfort, and I asked her to keep me up to date with how she is doing.  I ended the call with tears in my eyes.

Our donors are very special people.  We talked about these special, spiritual people this week in our staff meeting.  Two years ago I was amazed at the letters that I received, many from people in their 90’s, who were apologizing for not being able to send more. These are amazing people, many of whom are from the “Greatest Generation”, and I believe it with all of my heart.

This heartbreaking call was not the first.  Another donor, who normally sends a Christmas gift in the thousands, called and let me know that they could only send $25 this Christmas.  Then they asked me to pray for them, because they are struggling from day to day and fear becoming homeless themselves.

Please say a prayer, today, for these dear, sweet friends.  They have blessed so many with their generosity, and what hurts them the most is not being able to give to others at this difficult time.  Bless you.  Andy B.

E.D.A.R. video – LA Times

Union Rescue Mission’s CEO Andy Bales is interviewed about a new invention to provide shelter to individuals who are homeless. The invention is called E.D.A.R., which stands for Everyone Deserves A Roof.

Merrill Lynch Day at the Union Rescue Mission

On Saturday, December 13th over 100 volunteers from the Greater Los Angeles Region of Merrill Lynch will spend the day serving meals at Union Rescue Mission. The day was originally slated for the company Holiday Party. Instead, Regional Managing Director Chandler Root cancelled the party and encouraged his entire team to spend the day serving those in need.

Employees and family members from each office in the region will be participating including Kelly Caves, Resident Director – Long Beach; Nadia Allaudin, Resident Director – Century City; and Richard Rozman, Resident Director – Manhattan Beach. In addition to sharing their time serving people who are homeless, the group will be bringing donations for Union Rescue Mission’s annual Christmas Store.