Budget cuts threaten emergency service and shelter for women and families
For nearly 18 months, Union Rescue Mission has experienced an unexpected, unprecedented spike in need on Skid Row and throughout Los Angeles County.
To be exact, Union Rescue Mission is serving 55% more women than this time last year. They’ve stepped up to the need, determined to keep their promise to the community to never turn away a woman or a family with children.
But the severe hit on an already shoestring budget is backing them into a corner—where the only solution is budget cuts to services.
Union Rescue Mission CEO, Andy Bales, says, “We’re the only organization in downtown Los Angeles providing immediate emergency shelter for single men, single women, moms with kids, dads with kids, and two-parent families with children. If we can’t raise $1.75 million by September 30, we’ll be forced to shut down our year-round shelter for single women and men, and put a cap on the number of families with children we serve.”
For Bales, it’s not just about dollars and cents. It’s about providing safety and refuge. It’s about saving lives, and seeing lives restored and transformed.
When asked about having to turn away women because of a lack of funding, Bales replied, “I can’t imagine. Just think, that would mean 400 vulnerable women on the streets of Skid Row, and falling prey to the 800 registered sex offenders hiding behind every dark corner.”
Bales is asking the Los Angeles community for support. He says, “Other service providers might be able to live with the fact that so many single women and moms with children are left on the streets, to suffer the agony of homelessness. But I can’t. Neither can Union Rescue Mission. Our hearts won’t let us. That’s why we need your immediate support—both financial and in prayer. I have nowhere else to turn. At a time when we’re seeing skyrocketing need, we can’t take a step back. We must go forward together. Thank you for understanding.”
You can give immediately to help raise the $1.75 million needed before September 30, and prevent the budget cuts that would force men, women, children, and families onto the streets of Skid Row.
Any gift, no matter how big or small, will make a difference.