The streets are no place for a woman
Your support matters for sick people on Skid Row
Stories from Skid Row
Notes from Andy
THE STREETS ARE NO PLACE FOR A WOMAN
Living Through the Unthinkable
As Debra stepped out of her apartment for the last time, she was scared. No longer able to afford the rising rent, and unable to find another place she could afford, the 55-year-old had few housing options.
At first, she tried living with one of her cousins. But it was so crowded, it soon proved untenable. The only other option she could see was once unthinkable: find her brother who was living outside in a local park. How did it come to this?
An Undeserved Fall
“I had a good childhood,” Debra recalls. “I had two wonderful parents who loved each other. They taught us respect and raised us with good morals. They made sure we went to school and worked hard. After I graduated from high school, I studied psychology and sociology at Cal State LA. I never struggled with drugs or alcohol. I worked for Los Angeles County, helping families, for 27 years. And when my parents died, I inherited their home. Life was beautiful.”
Her troubles started, however, when she lost the home due to some complicated legal issues she was unwilling to fight. Fortunately, she was able to find an apartment she could afford — for a while. When she eventually lost that place too, she went to live with her cousin — and finally to the park.
“It was horrible,” she says. “My brother and I slept on cardboard boxes. It was cold, wet, and really unsafe. It was hard to fall asleep because I was so scared. Then someone told me about Union Rescue Mission. I knew I had to get off these streets, so I came.”
A Long-Term Plan
That was in March 2016. “From day one, the people here really cared about me,” she says. “They encouraged me every step of the way. I got a lot of spiritual support too. They reminded me I didn’t have to do this alone, and they helped me develop a long-term plan to get back on my feet.”
It took a while, but Debra was finally able to save up enough money to afford a new apartment. And with Union Rescue Mission’s help, she found an apartment she can afford.
“Union Rescue Mission isn’t home,” she says. “But they helped me find a new home. I’m so happy how things turned out, I’m even going back to college to get a new degree in social work, so I can give back and help others like they helped me.”
Will you help SAVE PRECIOUS LIVES on Skid Row this summer?
The UCLA Primary Health Clinic at Union Rescue Mission is a licensed community health center and one of the few full-time clinics in Los Angeles devoted to caring for the primary medical needs of people experiencing homelessness.
Your gifts help ensure vulnerable people on Skid Row get the care they need. Here, Medical Director Tom Gladfelter shares the most common health concerns facing people at the clinic each summer.
How does summer heat affect people living on Skid Row?
When temperatures get hot on Skid Row, people suffer with more dehydration, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heatstroke. Also, the increased sweating in summer leads to more skin and wound infections.
What are some of the common ailments treated at the health clinic?
In the health clinic, we see more sunburn, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, dehydration, insect bites, skin wounds, skin infections, food poisoning, injuries from assault and other accidents, the effects of substance abuse and intoxication, sexually transmitted diseases, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and suicidal thoughts.
We also see many patients with diabetes, hypertension, arthritis, high cholesterol, hepatitis, asthma, chronic lung disease, kidney failure, poor nutrition, and anemia.
What is the Union Rescue Mission's health clinic able to do for people on
Skid Row who seek your help?
We’re able to treat many of their illnesses and chronic medical conditions. We’re also able to provide counseling and show them how to take better care of themselves so they can stay healthier.
When people need more extensive medical care we cannot provide them, we’re able to refer them to better-equipped facilities where they can get the care they need.
Perhaps most important, the people on Skid Row trust us and know they will be treated with compassion and the dignity they deserve.
It’s hard to imagine that thousands of hurting men, women, and children call the nightmarish streets and back alleys of Skid Row home this summer. It’s even harder to imagine the horrors they endure day after day, night after night. Hunger, thirst, violence, rape, fear, soul-killing hopelessness — and often death.
Yet thanks to caring people like you, hundreds of these precious men, women, and children find new hope and transformed lives at Union Rescue Mission every year. Your loving care gives them the hope and courage they need to give life another try.
Often it doesn’t take a lot to help a hurting man, woman, or child escape Skid Row and get back on their feet. Your generous gift of $25, $35, or more will help provide food, beds, shelter — and give more people the real long-term help they need to rebuild their lives. So please send the most generous gift you can today. Thank you!
You can help SAVE and TRANSFORM lives this summer!
Saving Precious Women
The streets are no place for a woman like Debra. Women on Skid Row have a 99% chance of being assaulted within the first few days they go out there. Yet right now, the number of women living on Skid Row, or in cars or parks, under bridges, or on sidewalks all over Los Angeles is epidemic.
And it’s getting worse. On April 1 this year, 468 precious single ladies experiencing homelessness slept under our roof — triple the number from last year. These are precious single ladies who have lost their homes, who have been deserted or abandoned by family and friends, who have been assaulted and abused, who have lost their kids. Their depression, grief, and mental illness are overwhelming.
I cannot comprehend how we, as a city, can let this happen. But it’s also why I’m so grateful that Union Rescue Mission is here — all thanks to caring, generous people like you. Because of you, Union Rescue Mission served 55% more people over the past 12 months than we did the year before. Thanks to you, we surround them with love and a caring community. We rebuild their trust. And we help women like Debra find home again.
Blessings,
