The Latest

Stories From Skid Row: Robyn

 

People are often surprised to learn that many of the guests who stay with us each night do not have substance-abuse or addiction problems. The fact is, a majority of the women we meet are escaping some form of domestic violence. This is the case of Robyn and her 9-year old daughter Le Dai; after suffering in an abusive relationship for nearly 11 years, Robyn is now hopeful about her future and thankful for each day she is alive.

We hope you will take a moment to check out Robyn’s amazing story of determination, strength and hope – the latest release in the ground breaking series Stories From Skid Row.

Bright Space Kids Center Opens At Hope Gardens!

 

Hope Gardens Ribbon Cutting 1

Thursday, March 18th, marked the opening of the Bright Space day care room at Hope Gardens! After nearly two years of work, the area was finally ready.

Hope Gardens Ribbon Cutting 4

URM CEO Andy Bales did the honor of “cutting the ribbon” during the 10:00am ceremony.  

                                        Hope Gardens Ribbon Cutting 3 Hope Gardens Ribbon Cutting 2   

The families and children at Hope Gardens are thrilled to have this new play area available. We would like to thank NBC Universal and the Bright Horizons Foundation for blessing us with such a great gift!

Hope Gardens Ribbon Cutting 5 

Statistics Update: February 2010

Key February 2010 Stats (Compared to February 2009) INCLUDING WSP

                    *URM= Union Rescue Mission

                    *WSP= Winter Shelters – Downtown, Glendale, Culver City, and West LA

                    *HG= Hope Gardens Family Center

Total Dental Clinic Visits = 515

Total Legal Clinic Visits = 108

Total Mental Health/Counseling Sessions = 131

Total Medical Visits = 637

Volunteer:

Hours – 4532

Visits – 1251

 

 Meals Served:

URM:   80,424     avg/day: 2872   12% increase

WSP:   44,094   avg/day: 1575    (2009 Data only includes 1 winter shelter)

HG:     12,600     avg/day: 450      (same)

Total: 137,118    avg/day: 4897

Nights of Shelter: 

URM:     23,851   avg: 852   19% increase

WSP:    20,913    avg: 747    (2009 Data only included Downtown WS)

HG:         3,312    avg: 118    

Total: 48,076       avg: 1717       

                           

WSP Nights of Shelter

Downtown

                     Avg: 301 ppl per night    (20% increase from last year)

Culver City

                    Avg:  142 ppl per night

West LA

                    Avg:  130 ppl per night

Glendale

                    Avg:  174 ppl per night

 

** Increases as compared to February 2009 data. If no increase, 2009 data was not available/compete.

**Averages are per day.

 

Water Walk Returns with Warm Temps!

As the high in downtown Los Angeles neared 87 degrees yesterday, URM employees took to the streets with cold bottles of water!

It’s a tradition for us to distribute water to the people of Skid Row every time the temperature hits 85 degrees or higher.  The Water Walk is a great opportunity for us to build trust with the citizens of downtown Los Angeles – it is our hope that they will realize how much we truly care about them, and maybe they will stop in to see us sometime!

Lakers fans enjoy some refreshing H2O on a warm spring afternoon!

Although usually a summer activity, we are blessed to be enjoying beautiful weather early this year!

If you are interested in coming along for a Water Walk sometime, feel free to contact our Volunteer Department at (213) 347-6300 x1148.  If you would like to donate so that we can continue to provide for the people of Skid Row, please go to urm.org/donate for more information!

 

Employee of the Month Nominees Honored With Night Out!

Last night, 11 of our amazing employees were honored with a night out to enjoy the Clippers game in one of the VIP Suites!  These employees were all nominated by their peers or managers to be named “Employee of the Month: April”.

We would also like to send a big thank you to Rick Rozman of Merrill Lynch for providing us with the Suite so we were able to treat our nominees!

Also, big thanks to all our nominees for their hard work each and every day and the dedication they continue to show to URM and the people we serve –  we couldn’t do it without them!

This months’ nominees:

Laura Bartlett

Phillip Choi

Sara Farnsworth

Jeremiah Johnson

Rae Marie Johnson

Monica Jokiman

Michael Jones

Elizabeth “Betsy” Kelly

Roygene Robinson

William Robles

Steve Solis

 

 

Calvary Church Brings Carnival To URM Kids!

Weekends are sometimes boring when you live on Skid Row, but today is different. Calvary Church – Pacific Palisades brought more than 100 volunteers to host a huge carnival for all the kids at Union Rescue Mission as well as kids activities and work projects at Hope Gardens! 

The carnival was split into two sections, with Jr. High and Sr. High enjoying tug of war, bumper car kids (you have to see the picture!), and other games, while the elementary kids are able to have their faces painted, bounce around in the jumpers, and play games for prizes!

In addition to donating their time, volunteer participants are calling on their friends and family to text the word URM to 85944 to make a $10 donation to further help the Mission.  Check back for more pictures on our website at urm.org during the next week!

 

Celebrate Good Times! – March Graduation

Congratulations to all the men who graduated from our Christian Life Discipleship Program on March 7th!  We are so proud of you!

Disciples

Leb Bradley
Eddie Daniel
Jon Federonich
Charles Holden
Clyde Johnson
Jeffrey Knott
Damon Peebles
Johnny Werschin Jr.
Mark Wells

Eagles

Phillip Green
Wesley Hunter
Kevin Perkins
Darrell Richardson
Michael Starr
Earle Turner
John Wilson

Messengers

Asa Belton
Phillip Craig
Richard Dolf
Raymond Shelly
Franklin Smith

New Life

Reynaldo DeGuzman
Bernie Martinez
Ryan Martinez
Brian Mitchell
Marcos Sosa
Daniel Zeron

Overcomers

John Haynes
Frank Randolph
Christopher Silva
Hugo Sanchez
Jeremy Whorton
Aaron Yackey

Text To Give

A new way to support Union Rescue Mission! To donate $10 from your cell phone and have it billed to your phone text the keyword URM  to 85944. You MUST reply with YES to the confirmation message to complete your donation.

Union Rescue Mission is supporting the text-to-give campaign for the Pop Laval Foundation. A one-time donation of $10 will be added to your mobile phone bill or deducted from your prepaid balance. Message and Data Rates may apply.  All charges are billed by and payable to your mobile service provider. Service is available on most carriers.  Donations are collected by the Mobile Giving Foundation and subject to the terms found at www.hmgf.org/t.  You can unsubscribe at any time by texting STOP to 85944.

Oasis Christian Centers Hosts Food Drive for URM

We would like to send a special thanks to Oasis Christian Center for hosting a food drive, with the donations going to URM!  They were able to collect more than 2,500 cans of food.

In particular, we appreciate the hard work of Pastor Phillip & Holly Wagner, Pastor Alex Jones Moreno, and the whole Oasis team for being out in the rain collecting food!