General

You Are Invited – Hope Gardens Open House

Saturday, October 15, 2011, from 3pm-6pm, we would like to invite you to the Hope Gardens Open House on the beautiful 77 acre campus in Sylmar, California. This fun-filled event will give you the opportunity to tour the beautiful campus, meet the incredible staff, enjoy some great food, and engage with the precious women and children of Hope Gardens.

For more information or to RSVP, please contact Latonja Lindsey at (213) 347-6341 or email llindsey@urm.org.

Please RSVP by October 12th

Far from the dangerous streets of Skid Row, nestled in the foothills of Sylmar, California, lies Hope Gardens Family Center, a transitional housing and permanent supportive housing campus for mothers, children, and senior women experiencing homelessness.

Back in August, 2006, after a long hard fight to acquire this property, Hope Gardens opened its doors to women and children in need.  With approximately 85 children, 42 mothers, and 21 senior women, Hope Gardens is a peaceful place of refuge for these beautiful people, a stop on the way home.

We look forward to seeing you at the Open House to help us celebrate the blessing of Hope Gardens and its guests.

Saturday, October 15, 2011, from 3pm-6pm, we would like to invite you to join us on this beautiful 77 acre campus for our Hope Gardens Open House. This event will give you the opportunity to tour the beautiful campus, meet the incredible staff, enjoy some great food, and engage with the precious women and children of Hope Gardens.

5-Star Dining Comes to Skid Row

A fantastic dinner fit to be served at any top restaurant was served on Skid Row last night!  2010 James Beard Award award-winning chef, Alexander Roberts, and Chris Gardner (whose story is told in Pursuit of Happyness) presented a delicious gourmet 4-course meal of Creole chicken, beans and rice, cornbread, salad with homemade buttermilk dressing, and a fresh peach and blueberry crisp.

With the help of fellow chefs and URM staff,  Alexander prepared over 700 meals for the precious men, women, and children living at Union Rescue Mission.

AARP’s Ambassador, Chris Gardner led 100+ AARP volunteers in serving the dinner to our guests.  Every plate served was scraped clean.  The only leftovers to be found were full bellies and big smiles!

This event, which is in conjunction with AARP’s annual national event, Life@50+, is shedding light on the sobering fact that there are nearly nine million people, 50 and older, at risk of hunger in this country.

Thanks to AARP volunteers, Chris Gardner, Alexander Roberts, and so many others, for serving our guests, many over 50, a wonderful dinner with generous sides of love and compassion.

For more pictures please visit our facebook album here.

Trump National Golf Club – Golf Clinic on Skid Row

It was a fun-filled day in our gymnasium yesterday!  Thanks to Kris Brown and Joey Lewis,  Trump National Golf Club instructors and two of the best teachers in the golf industry, our guests had a chance to play a simulated round of golf in the middle of Skid Row!

The dynamic duo walked participants through the golf stations, taught them how to hit the ball off the tee, into the hole, and everything in between.  Everyone who got the chance to swing a club had a blast and came away with some great advice and tips from the pros.

Andy Bales said “positive activities like this help our guests get through a very tough time. Job loss and the economy have forced so many families into shelters. I’m thankful to Kris and Joey for taking the time to share their gifts with our guests”.

A big thank you to Kris and Joey for donating your time and skills and providing such a unique and fun opportunity!

The Mission Newsletter – September 2011

Called to Cook

 

Thanks to generous people like you, men like Larry will discover God’s perfect recipe for a transformed life this Thanksgiving season.

They say everyone has a spiritual gift. Mine is cooking — though I didn’t know it until recently. For more than 50 years, the only things I ever “cooked up” were drugs, alcohol, and a wrecked life.

The child of an alcoholic, suicidal mother, I grew up rebellious and angry at the world. I started drinking and using drugs myself at 15. I also carried a knife and gun wherever I went, and I never hesitated to use them. Thankfully, I never killed anyone.

I refused to let anyone tell me what to do. Not even my wife. But I never expected her to leave me. When she walked out in 1999, it devastated me so bad I gave up on life, and for six years I lived on the streets of Pasadena.

Then I met Andy Bales.

Andy was ministering out of Lake Avenue Congregational Church at that time. I’d never met anyone who cared for me like he did. He never gave up on me. One day he said, “Larry, you’re a good man.” No one had ever said that to me. Then he asked, “Are you ready to change your life?”

I was ready. Andy introduced me to Jesus and gave me my first job as a cook. And later, when he started working as CEO of Union Rescue Mission, he invited me to start cooking here, as well.

Today I’m the head chef at the Mission, and I’m responsible for serving 3,500 meals every day to all the men, women, and children who seek our help. This November will mark my sixth time preparing a Thanksgiving feast at Union Rescue Mission for nearly 4,500 at one time! And no one is more grateful than me.

I’ve never been to cooking school. No one ever taught me how to cook. But God has given me a gift for it. And I’m never alone when I do it. It sounds funny, but when I’m cooking, the Holy Spirit shows me exactly what I need to do — and it works.

But as special as cooking here at the Mission is to me, what matters more are the men who work with me. Most of these men wrecked their lives just like me. But not only has God given me the privilege of training them to cook, I also get to share my own experience with them and show them how good God is and how to keep Him in their lives. Cooking great meals, helping men discover the Lord’s recipe for a great life — these mean the world to me. God, the Master Chef, is truly good.

Spare Change for a Special Thanksgiving

 

Union Rescue Mission will serve more than 80,000 meals this Thanksgiving season, and your spare change will make a huge difference. Just go online to download a special Savings Jar label at urm.org/savingsjarlabels.  Then attach the label to the biggest container you can find and collect change daily. Then send a check for that total amount to Union Rescue Mission!

 
 

Serving Up New Life

I first met Chef Larry at a small ministry I once ran in Pasadena called Villa 500. I could tell immediately he was giving up on life. And I couldn’t let him.

He started helping me cook meals, and we became instant buddies. As I got to know him, I discovered a kind, gentle, caring soul with a lot to give back. So when I came to Union Rescue Mission, I invited him to work in our kitchen. Today, he not only cooks our meals, he shares his life with other guys and gives them hope that they can make it too.

This Thanksgiving will mark our sixth together, deep-frying almost 500 turkeys all night long to serve nearly 4,500 precious guests seeking a holiday meal.

At Union Rescue Mission, when someone asks for our help, no matter how hurt or damaged they are, we see the possibilities in them. We offer them hope and give them every opportunity to succeed. You never know when you’ll find another Chef Larry.

Blessings,

Andy Bales, CEO

Andy’s End of Month Update – August 2011

August has been full of great moments! Seeing eight women graduate from our Hope Gardens program, passing out thousands of cold water bottles on these hot summer days and watching URM kids participate in VBS and surf camp are just a few. Unfortunately, giving is down and we need your help.

Be sure to check out the end of the month update to find out what has been going on. We praise God for your continued support and willingness to partner with URM.

It’s August 30th and we need your help.

Dear Friends,

The number of children coming to URM for shelter and services has increased 55% over last year.  This alarming trend makes the battle we are fighting to remain sustainable in these incredibly challenging times all the more difficult and…all the more important.

Weekly occupancy reports do not do justice to needs we are seeing every day.  For example, I made dinner for all of the moms and kids at Hope Gardens last week.  The campus is bursting with 70 moms and senior ladies and 100 children.  I was so thankful for the provision of Hope Gardens Family Center as we served these precious families in two shifts!  The next day, I greeted yet 1 more mom with her 12 year old son at URM bringing the total number of children downtown to 88.  That’s a total of 188 precious children currently depending on us for help!

 

Please stand with us, pray with us and support us during this

challenging time of great need by families and children!

Giving for July and August is almost 50% less than we budgeted.  This combined with, as of today, not being reimbursed by FEMA, $308,000, for providing last year’s Winter Shelters, has put us in a tenuous position for the next 45 days, when normal Fall giving should hopefully provide some much needed relief!

Could you find it in your heart,  despite these trying times, to give an early, generous gift to URM, to bridge the summer gap and keep this life-saving work going?

Thank you and God bless you.

Sincerely,

Rev. Andy Bales

Please Donate Now

On line► urm.org/donate

Via Smart Phone ► http://m.give.mobi/urm

The Mission Newsletter – August 2011

“Uncle Al” Finds a Family

Al’s traumatic childhood left him alone and at war with the world — and himself. Love gave him a family.

Al never had a family to speak of. Both his parents were raging alcoholics, so Al was passed around 54 times as a child to various friends and family. Later his father and sister were brutally murdered. He grew up never knowing love, safety, or trust.

“I bottled it all up and retreated into myself,” says Al, 56. “I hated the whole world and everyone in it.” And he hated himself. He was an alcoholic and crack addict who went to bed each night with the muzzle of a loaded gun in his mouth, hoping to pull the trigger in his sleep. He took up skydiving, hoping the parachute wouldn’t open. He tried provoking police to shoot him. And he served three long prison terms for robberies and violent crimes. “I was hurting,” he says, “so I wanted to go out and hurt other people and society.”

Following Jesus

But during his third term in prison, Al found Jesus. “That was the beginning,” he says. “I started praying, ‘God, if you lead me, I will follow.’” In 2003, God led him to Union Rescue Mission. Recovery was the hardest thing Al ever faced. “When I came to the Mission,” Al says, “I already self-destructed in every area of my life. And I had no clue how to put it back together.

“Most of the time I found myself grasping the edge of my bed, repeating, ‘This is where God wants you, don’t fight Him.’” Soon, Al found friendship with two men: his chaplain, Steve Borja, and his supervisor, Bob Forney. “Those were the first two men I ever trusted in my life.”

Over the next four years Al experienced love, trust, and safety he’d never known. It transformed his life. But when his friend Bob left Union Rescue Mission and moved to Oregon in 2007, Al faced another crisis: “He abandoned me, just like everyone else. I didn’t take that very good.”

Moving North

But a few months later, Bob wrote Al a letter, saying, “I bought you a trailer. I want you to come up and live with me and my family.”

Al didn’t hesitate. Today he owns the only bike shop in Oregon City, near Portland, and he’s a leader in his church. He builds bikes and gives them to children in need. He leads a ministry that reaches out to men recently released from prison and he mentors men who are still incarcerated. But best of all, he’s part of a family he never had.

“Bob’s family adopted me,” Al says. “It’s not only Bob and his wife, I have dozens of nieces and nephews, and they all call me ‘Uncle Al.’ I never knew people could experience so much love.”

Love Saved My Father from a Hard Life

Al’s story in this issue of The Mission reminds me of my own dad when he was growing up. Life was cruel to my father.

Dad grew up in an alcoholic home filled with violence, chaos, desertion and homelessness. When he was nine, his mom deserted the family, and the Des Moines Register featured his story, describing a little boy praying by his bed for his mother to return home. Then he went away to Boy Scout camp one year, and when he returned home he learned that his entire family had left him.

What saved my dad was the love he received from a family that took him in … and later, the love of a wife who believed in that boy from the wrong side of the tracks.

Over the years, I’ve learned that the most effective way to combat homelessness and hopelessness is through love. That’s why we work so hard to build healthy relationships with men and Union Rescue Mission.

Love gives them the courage to give life another try.

Blessings,

Andy Bales, CEO

The Mission Newsletter – July 2011

 

Meet an ex-cop who traded his gun for a sword.

Men like Rodney Tanaka turn your gifts into the care and love that transforms lives at Union Rescue Mission.

For 31 years, Rodney Tanaka policed the streets of Gardena, where every day he witnessed “the worst of the worst” — kids joining gangs, innocent children getting hurt, overdoses, stabbings, shootings, and the grieving mothers, fathers, and families the victims leave behind. His goal was to retire as Captain of the police force, but God had other plans. Five years ago, Tanaka left the police force and joined Union Rescue Mission as a chaplain, where he now ministers to hurting men like those he left on the streets of Gardena.

Being a policeman, I experienced a lot of things that God used to prepare me for coming to Union Rescue Mission. Most of the guys I minister to now have the same issues as the men I dealt with as a police officer. The only difference between what I do now and what I did as a policeman is that I’ve traded my gun for a sword — which is my Bible.

I love these men. Maybe that’s because when I was growing up, I drank, did drugs, and ran with the wrong crowd. I could easily have ended up on Skid Row. But God showed me compassion through many caring people and saved my life. And I want to show that same compassion to the men here.

And it’s not hard to care for these men when you know where they come from. These men grew up with parents struggling with addictions and mental issues. Most were neglected, beaten, abused, and never felt loved or needed.

These guys need attention, support, and someone who cares about them. Without that, a man loses hope. And when they lose hope, there’s nothing left but darkness. So I care about them, and through God’s Word I show them He cares about them — and I teach them God’s rules of life and how He hopes for them to live. Many of them are now back with their families, and if they ever need help they know who to call. They don’t all make it, and that hurts. When one of my guys goes back to the streets, I’ll often go out looking for him. I think it’s important to show that you care enough to leave the other 99 sheep to search for that lost one.

I believe Union Rescue Mission is where God wants me. When I can help one guy break through the darkness and succeed, that’s what keeps me going. This is the kind of ministry Jesus did — and someone will have to drag me out kicking and screaming before I leave this place.

Sugar Bear Finds Home

Seems like everyone loves Sugar Bear. On Skid Row, gangsters and prostitutes trust him. While inside Union Rescue Mission, recovering addicts confide in him, the chaplains respect him, and all the children feel safe in his strong, playful arms. He’s a legend on these streets and everyone knows him — but for most of his life, he didn’t know himself.

“Inside, I was lost from the day I was born,” says Sugar Bear, whose given name is Robert. “If you’re lost in a city or something, you can eventually find your way. But it’s hard to be lost within yourself and identify where you are. Especially when you never had a beginning.”

Born to a mother struggling with severe mental illness in Long Beach, Sugar Bear ran away from home by the age of eight and never had anyone but the streets to teach him how to live. He’s slept on streets from Pasadena to Long Beach, and Skid Row to Hollywood, selling papers, shining shoes, dancing, cooking, picking pockets, burgling cars, selling dope, using dope, and running from police. He’s been shot in the back and shot in the chest, and he even spent several years on Death Row — a story he won’t talk about.

But sitting in prison, waiting to die, he started reading the Bible.

“I always prayed and told God that I was all by myself and didn’t have nobody else,” he says. “And God told me that no matter what I’ve done that was bad, everything was going to work out. Jesus had a plan and special purpose for my life. So when I got out of prison, I quit drugs and came to Union Rescue Mission to get my life right.”

When he got to Union Rescue Mission, Sugar Bear was a broken man. “I’d been crying inside my whole life,” he says. “Then God put me here, and I found a family I never had.”

Today, Sugar Bear is a full-time volunteer at the Mission. “This is my home. I’m just a crazy man, but everyone pays attention to me here, and it’s just beautiful,” he says, laughing. “Union Rescue Mission gave me love I never got anywhere else in my life.”

Don’t Miss the Miracle

I hope Sugar Bear’s story inspires you. It’s hard to imagine a human being growing up with less going for him. A traumatized little boy with a mentally ill mother, he learned the rules of life from the streets.

But today, Sugar Bear is one of the finest human beings I know — and one of my best friends. When he learns I’m going out on the streets of Skid Row at night, he joins me to make sure I’m okay. He protects the ladies living at Union Rescue Mission, the kids adore him, and every man here listens to him. He’s a big, courageous, loving teddy bear — and a walking miracle.

Union Rescue Mission is filled with walking miracles just like Sugar Bear. That’s because we offer hardened, hurting men and women more than “three hots and a cot.” We offer them love and friendship, point them to God, and teach them the truth — and the truth transforms them.

Every day, Sugar Bear reminds me that no matter how damaged someone’s life is, you can never give up on them. You might miss out on a miracle.

Blessings,

Andy Bales, CEO

Andy’s End of Month Update – June 2011

June has been a month full of celebration. We held a luncheon event to honor some friends of Union Rescue Mission, and we celebrated with 17 men as they graduated from a Life Transformation program. Unfortunately, it was also a month of tough decisions.

I hope you will please take a moment to watch this video and catch up on what’s happening here at URM. Thank you so much for your continued support.

Blessings,

Andy Bales, CEO